RENI, Guido
(b. 1575, Calvenzano, d. 1642, Bologna)

The Martyrdom of St Catherine of Alexandria

1606-07
Oil on canvas, 277 x 195 cm
Museo Diocesano, Albenga

This altarpiece was commissioned by the Genoese banker Ottavio Costa around 1605. Here Reni combined his earlier compositions of St Cecilia (in the Santa Cecilia Trastevere, Rome) into a highly consistent image. This painting is a fine example of the way Guido Reni tried to absorb the whole range of artistic innovations created by among others the Carracci and Caravaggio.