GUIDO RENI
41 Holy Family with an Angel
Pen and brown ink; H: 14.2 cm (5^9 /i6 in.); W: 20 cm
(7^7 /s in.)
83.GA.26y
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: None.
PROVENANCE: Art market, Boston.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: None.THIS INTIMATE COMPOSITION HAS BEEN RELATED BY
S. Pepper^1 to another study of the Holy Family in pen and
ink in the Weld collection, Dorset.^2 Pepper has pointed
out that the two share a stylistic character that closely de-
pends on Agostino Carracci and has placed the Reni
compositions in the mid- to late 15905. The manner of
hatching and of rendering contours supports this analy-
sis. The Museum's drawing may have been made with
an etching in mind, though none relating to it survives.
Reni presumably at least considered an oval format, as is
indicated by the rounding off of all four corners of the
design.1. Conversation with the author, 1983.
2. C. Johnston, "Review of Guido Reni Zeichnungen," Master
Drawings 20, no. i (1982), p. 41, fig. i.104 ITALIAN SCHOOL • RENI