Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This study of Guido Reni considers his complexities, his formative experiences, his cultural surroundings and his sensibilities. It views his career from a variety of perspectives and sets his life and work in social, economic, historical, artistic, religious and psychological contexts.

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CHOICE Review

Utilizing topical organization of an artist's life and career, Spear has abandoned the customary chronological format in favor of examining the formative elements, psychological complexities, and the social, historical, and religious aspects that influenced the life and art of Guido Reni (1576-1642). Unique in this approach, Spear has been exhaustive, thorough, and erudite in his research, inquiry, and analysis of the material that influenced the artist, not only in 17th-century Italy but also in Greek and Roman antiquity; nor does he neglect the dogma of the Catholic church and its many changes, over the years, that affected Reni's iconographical interpretations of subjects and themes as well as the demands of his patrons. In-depth analysis is given Reni's character as a misogynist, a life professed to be virginal, his neurotic fear of witches and asexual women and the denigration of female sexuality, his perpetual inquiry into theological "grace," his acknowledged addiction to gambling countered by his religiosity, his marketing procedures and money, his relations with other artists, and his studio--personnel and practices. Concluding discussion involves those works by his own hand, his "ultima maneria," and his elevation to the plateau of "divine grace." Excellent bibliography; voluminous footnotes (72 pages). Upper-division undergraduate; graduate; faculty. R. R. Henry formerly, Pine Manor College