Acquisitions of the Month: December 2020
This newly reattributed landscape scene with festive revellers is virtually without compare in the known oeuvre of Guido Reni. An early work, it shows Reni experimenting with the Bolognese style of the Carracci brothers, which he would soon abandon in favour of the graceful religious and mythological works on which his reputation rests. Acquired from the young artist by Scipione Borghese – an important patron – it was mentioned on the inventory of the Palazzo Borghese collections in 1693, but has been lost until now; with the new identification, and purchase at TEFAF last March, the pain...