Gallery Label This exceptionally beautiful picture exemplifies the refinement of Reni's much admired style. The variously colored complexions of the three infants was intentional. The picture comes from the Liechtenstein collection, Vienna, where it is recorded in 1767. It may have been bought or commissioned in Italy by Prince Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein (1611–1684), who travelled in Italy in 1629–30. While not exactly datable, it has much in common with works by Reni executed about 1630.
Notes Four copies of our picture have survived. The example in a private collection, Milan (dimensions unknown), was previously thought to be Reni's original; the others are in the picture gallery at Sanssouci, Potsdam (141 x 109 cm), the Musée de Tours (155 x 130 cm), and in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna (dimensions unknown).
Provenance Joseph Wenzel, Prince of Liechtenstein (by 1767–d. 1772; cat., 1767, no. 498, as by Guido Reni); Princes of Liechtenstein, Vienna (1772–1858; cat., 1780, no. 581, as by Guido Reni); Johann II, Prince of Liechtenstein, Vienna (1858–82; cat., 1873, no. 62; sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May 16, 1882, no. 21, as by Guido Reni, for Fr 820); private collection, Paris (until about 1933; as by or attributed to Simon Vouet; sold to Reder); Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Reder, Brussels, later New York (about 1933–64; as attributed to Simon Vouet; sold to French & Co.); [French & Co., New York, 1964; as attributed to Simon Vouet; sold to Wildenstein]; [Wildenstein, New York, 1964–68; as by Guido Reni; sold to Wrightsman]; Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, New York (1968–74)
Exhibition History New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965–1975," December 6, 1975–March 23, 1976, unnumbered cat.
References Vincenzio Fanti. Descrizzione completa di tutto cio che ritrovarsi nella galleria di pittura e scultura di sua altezza Giuseppe Wenceslao del S.R.I. principe regnante della casa di Lichtenstein . Vienna, 1767, p. 98, no. 498.Déscription des tableaux et des pièces de sculpture que renferme la Gallerie de son altesse François Joseph de Liechtenstein . Vienna, 1780, p. 175, no. 581.Deutscher Bildersaal . 2, Berlin, 1864, p. 350, no. 141.Die vornehmsten Kunstdenkmäler in Wien . part 1, Vienna, 1866, p. 261.Katalog der Fürstlich Liechtensteinischen Bildergallerie im Gartenpalais der Rossau zu Wien . Vienna, 1873, p. 9, no. 62.Die Gemälde und Skulpturen in der Bildergalerie von Sanssouci . Berlin, 1930, p. 25.Art News 68 (1969), p. 61.Apollo 90 (September 1969), pp. 208–13, ill. (whole, color and details).in L'opera completa di Guido Reni . Milan, 1971, p. 89, no. 35b, ill.Il seicento e il settecento a Bologna . Milan, 1971, p. 83.in "Paintings, Drawings." The Wrightsman Collection . 5, [New York], 1973, pp. 170–80, no. 19, ill. the whole (color) and details.in The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions, 1965–1975 . New York, 1975, p. 96, ill.Die Gemälde in der Bildergalerie von Sanssouci . Potsdam, 1975, pp. 55–56, ill.The Metropolitan Museum of Art . New York, 1980, p. 295, fig. 531 (color).Guido Reni, Zeichnungen . Exh. cat., Graphische Sammlung Albertina. Vienna, 1981, pp. 140–42, ill.Guido Reni: A Complete Catalogue of his Works with an Introductory Text . New York, 1984, pp. 31, 261, no. 124, pl. 151.Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen 27 (1985), p. 141.in The Age of Correggio and the Carracci: Emilian Painting of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries . Exh. cat.Washington, 1986, p. 514.in Guido Reni und Europa: Ruhm und Nachruhm . Exh. cat., Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt. Frankfurt, 1988, p. 468.in Important Old Master Paintings: Devotion and Delight . Exh. cat., Piero Corsini, Inc. New York, Fall 1989, pp. 84–85, ill.Guido Reni's "Abduction of Helen": The Politics and Rhetoric of Painting in Seventeenth-Century Europe . Cambridge, 1997, pp. 8–9, ill.The "Divine" Guido: Religion, Sex, Money and Art in the World of Guido Reni . New Haven, 1997, p. 231, ill. (detail).Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 62 (Winter 2005), pp. 30, 32, fig. 27 (color).in The Wrightsman Pictures . New York, 2005, pp. 45–49, no. 12, ill. (color).in Philippe de Montebello and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977–2008 . New York, 2009, p. 37.
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