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1 of 253523 objects
Attributed to Guido Reni (Bologna 1575-Bologna 1642)
The Virgin with the Sleeping Child c.1637-8
Oil on canvas | 60.6 x 50.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 403549
Attributed to Guido Reni (Bologna 1575-Bologna 1642)
The Virgin with the Sleeping Child c.1637-8
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The Virgin is seated, supporting the sleeping Christ on her lap and in the crook of her right arm. She is looking downwards and resting her head on her left hand. In the background is a grey curtain.
The design of the painting is Reni's, though a number of versions, including this one, have at various times been attributed to Carlo Maratta. However, after close examination, the quality of handling and tone of the background curtain indicate that this painting should be considered to be an autograph work by Reni and the best surviving version of the composition.
The painting appears in Pyne's illustrated Royal Residences of 1819, hanging in the King's Dressing Room at Windsor Castle (RCIN 922105).Provenance
Stated in the volume of miscellaneous inventories to have been bought personally by George III (as by Guido), its distinctive 'Consul Smith' frame was presumably borrowed from an unwanted painting from that source of similar dimensions; recorded in the Closet at Buckingham Palace in 1790
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Creator(s)
Previously attributed to after (artist)Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
60.6 x 50.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
80.3 x 70.0 x 5.5 cm (frame, external)
