The Immaculate Conception
1627
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
105 1/2 x 73 in. (268 x 185.4 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Victor Wilbour Memorial Fund, 1959
Accession Number
59.32
Tags
About this artwork
Guido Reni's monumental "Immaculate Conception" (1627) stands among Baroque religious painting's supreme achievements, combining theological doctrine with aesthetic transcendence. Commissioned around 1627 by the Spanish ambassador in Rome for the Infanta of Spain, this altarpiece (105 1/2 x 73 inches) subsequently hung in Seville Cathedral, where it profoundly influenced Spanish painters, especially Bartolomé Estebán Murillo, who adopted Reni's composition and coloring for his own celebrated Imm...
About the Artist
Guido Reni · 1575–1642
Guido Reni (1575–1642) was one of the most celebrated Italian painters of the Baroque era and the dominant figure of the Bolognese School. Born into a family of musicians in Bologna, he trained first with Denys Calvaert before joining the influential Accademia degli Incamminati led by Ludovico Carracci. Reni achieved international fame through his idealizing style that combined Baroque dynamism wi...