A Queen's Picture

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‘ The truth is I do not think that Guido has done a better painting and, considering his age, he will not be painting many more. But, as I say, its faults are serious ones in so much as they offend decorum.’
Two nude young bacchantes dance on a sandy surface, with a horizon of blue ocean and cloudy sky behind them. One plays the flute while the other is accompanying him on the tambourine. In the background Silenus arrives astride a donkey, supported by two putti. Based on the surviving evidence – both painted and engraved – it is safe to identify this painting as the far right portion of Guido Reni’s large painting, The Marriage of Bacchus and Ariadne, a highly celebrated work which was unfortunately subject to partial destruction. 1 1 See Giovanni Battista Bolognini’s engraving of Bacchus and Arianne on the Island of Naxos (after 1640) in the Museo dell’Accademia Carrara in Bergamo [fig. 1]
Page 1 and 2: A Queen’s Picture MORETTI
Page 3 and 4: A Queen’s Picture Guido Reni and
Page 8 and 9: fig. 1 Giovanni Battista Bolognini,
Page 10 and 11: ‘ Charles I amassed a collection
Page 12 and 13: The commission took on notable impo
Page 14 and 15: This plan was preceded by the arriv
Page 16 and 17: ‘ So that she might shine among t
Page 18 and 19: These works focus all attention on
Page 20 and 21: ‘ I have received the painting bu
Page 22 and 23: Anthony van Dyck, Portrait of Henri
Page 24 and 25: the painting in Bologna, which reve
Page 26 and 27: Guido Reni Bologna, 4 November 1575
Page 28: text by Elise Midelfart edited by P

A Queen's Picture

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