Guido Cagnacci

Guido Cagnacci painted sensual, pale-skinned women from history and scripture, Cleopatra, Lucretia and Mary Magdalene, set against dark backgrounds. The soft, almost glowing flesh and strong shadow make his pictures instantly recognisable, and they were made for private rooms rather than churches.

He was born in 1601 in Santarcangelo di Romagna and studied in Bologna and Rome, absorbing the work of Guido Reni, Guercino and Simon Vouet. Early in his career he painted altarpieces and devotional works around Rimini and frescoes in Forlì. From 1649 he worked in Venice, and in 1658 he moved to Vienna, where he served Emperor Leopold I and died in 1663. His Death of Cleopatra exists in versions in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna and the Brera in Milan. He was largely forgotten until an exhibition in 1959 brought him back to attention.

In The Death of Cleopatra, notice how still and quiet the scene is: drama through light, not action.