Guido Reni, Lot n° 301

THE HOLY FRANCISCOUS PRAYING BEFORE THE CROSS Oil on canvas. 192,5 x 145 cm. The painting is accompanied by an expertise by Andrea Emiliani, Bologna, 29 March 2012. The expert report acknowledges the painting as one of the artist's major works, created around 1630, and cites the "Pala Olivieri", which Reni created for the cathedral in Pesaro but which is now in the Vatican Picture Gallery, as a comparison. Furthermore, the "Madonna in trono col Bambino adorato dei sue Santi Francesco et Catherine", created for the Capuchin Church in Faenza, is mentioned here, destroyed in 1944. The expert assumes that the present painting falls into the period of creation of this mentioned painting. Furthermore, the expert opinion reports on the provenance. Furthermore, some repetitions of the painting are mentioned, which have appeared in various collections or auctions. The painting in large format, created as an altarpiece, shows the saint in a cave with a view to the right into a wide landscape with cloudy sky. He is kneeling in front of an altar carved out of rough stone, holding a skull with his left hand, his head resting on his right hand, his upward gaze directed towards the cross with Corpus Christi standing before him. At the foot of the standing cross an opened book, in front of it a rosary with wooden beads and a small wooden cross. The painter has indicated the asceticism of his lifestyle by two radishes lying on a stone in the lower left corner and a water bowl. The illumination from the upper left emphasizes the face of the saint, draped over the hood and shoulder and is softened in the lower part of the picture. The dark background of the cave grotto gives the figure a special effect, especially as the other parts of the painting are also darkened. The painter has paid particular attention to the face of the saint, and apart from the upward view typical of Reni, the physiognomy of the young saint is reproduced here in naturalisti