The Story of Phaëthon, Apollo’s Son.
The story of the artist. Guido Reni was born in the little village of Bologna, Italy. As a small child he gave every promise of becoming an accomplished musician. His father, himself a gifted performer, began to teach him to play the flute and harpsichord as soon as he was old enough to handle the instruments. Guido had a beautiful voice, and the father hoped to make a fine musician of him. But the boy also had a beautiful, sunshiny face which attracted the attention of an artist, who asked permission to paint him as an angel in several pictures. After watching this artist at work, Guido began to wish to paint pictures, too, and was permitted to take a few lessons.
His first picture was a surprise to the artist, causing him to urge Guido’s father to allow the boy to develop his talent. About this time, too, Guido began to make all kinds of interesting figures in clay, and his fingers were always busy.
At thirteen years of age he so excelled the other pupils of the artist that he was allowed to teach some of them.
Later Guido went to Rome, where he remained for twenty years in great favor. He then moved to Bologna and there opened a large school for art students. He made his home in Bologna during the rest of his life. Guido Reni might have lived all his life in splendor and ease, for he earned great sums of money; but as his fame grew he became more and more extravagant in his habits, and so was always in debt. He was obliged to paint hurriedly, and to the utmost of his genius, that he might have more pictures to sell.
However, his keen sense of beauty did not desert him, and his popularity continued to the end. He was especially skillful in representing beautiful upraised faces of women and children. One day a young nobleman met Guido Reni and asked him where he found such lovely models for his paintings. He said the other artists were wondering about it and thought him very selfish to keep them to himself. Guido replied in a mysterious voice, “Come to my studio, signor, and I will show you my beautiful model.” So, filled with delight and eager anticipation, the nobleman tiptoed after the artist up the stairs to the studio. You can imagine how he must have felt when Guido Reni called his color-grinder, who has been described as “a great greasy fellow, with a brutal look,” and posed him.
As the color-grinder sat quietly looking up through the skylight, Guido took a pencil and after sketching very rapidly for a few minutes, showed his guest a sketch of a beautiful Magdalen gazing upward. Then turning to his visitor, he said earnestly, “Dear Count, say to your ‘other artists’ that a beautiful idea must be in the imagination, and in that case any model will serve.”
Guido Reni had the greatest admiration for the paintings of Raphael and went to Rome just to study them.
As he loved to work with clay himself, he spent much of his time in Rome studying the beautiful pieces of statuary there. He tells us that his favorites were the Venus de Medici and Niobe.
Pleasant and courteous to all, he made friends everywhere and was greatly beloved. Once when he was very ill his friends hired musicians to play just outside his door. This pleased him greatly, as he was always passionately fond of music. He said to them, “And what, then, will be the melodies of Paradise?”