Italian school of the mid-17th century. After GUIDO RENI (Calvenzano di Vergato, Bologna, 1575 - Bologna, 1642).
"The Archangel Michael defeating Satan".
Oil on canvas and original stretcher.
In need of restoration. It has repainting, damages and patches on the back.
Measurements: 127 x 102 cm.
In this painting of purely baroque language is represented the archangel San Miguel treading on the devil, defeated at his feet. Dressed in armour and with his wings spread, the archangel carries a sword with which he prepares to finish off the beast. The work has the same aesthetic characteristics as the canvas of the same name painted by Guido Reni in 1635, now in the Santa Maria della Concezione in Rome.
Formally, it contrasts the beauty and grace of the figure of the saint with the grotesque face of the devil, who has a stocky body. According to tradition, Saint Michael is the head of the heavenly militia and defender of the Church. It is precisely for this reason that he fights against the rebellious angels and the dragon of the Apocalypse. He is also a psychopomp, i.e. he leads the dead and weighs the souls on Judgement Day.
The undisputed master of Roman-Bolognese classicism alongside Albani and Domenichino, Guido Reni was undoubtedly the best of the three. Closely linked to the Carracci family and to the city of Bologna, they all had a similar career. They trained in Bologna with Denys Calvaert, and then went on to the Accademia degli Incamminati, directed by Ludovico Carraci. In 1600 Reni arrived in Rome, where he worked with Annibale Carracci in the Galleria Farnese. His best period began in these years; in 1609, on Annibale's death, Reni became the head of the classicist school. In the city he was the protégé of Scipione Borghese, the future Pope Paul V, for whom the painter produced one of his most important works, "La Aurora" (Palazzo Rospigliosi). It reveals something that would always be characteristic of Reni's style, his admiration for ancient sculpture. Starting from classical statues, he developed an ideal of beauty and perfection that would be greatly admired by subsequent painters. In 1614 he returned to Bologna for good. Reni's style evolved in a clear direction, becoming more and more sculptural and cold, more and more fully classicist. His mature work was characterised by a cold, silvery palette. Finally, from the 1930s onwards, his style became sketchy, with an unfinished appearance and a tendency towards monochrome, of great interest from a technical as well as a formal point of view.Guido Reni is currently represented in the most important art galleries all over the world, including the Prado Museum, the Hermitage, the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the National Gallery in London, among many others.


The undisputed master of Roman-Bolognese classicism alongside Albani and Domenichino, Guido Reni was undoubtedly the best of the three. Closely linked to the Carracci family and to the city of Bologna, they all had a similar career. They trained in Bologna with Denys Calvaert, and then moved on to the Accademia degli Incamminati, directed by Ludovico Carraci. In 1600 Reni arrived in