Christ Salvator mundi Guido Reni CC0988 Postcard

Guido Reni, Bust of Christ (Salvator mundi), circa 1633–34. A beautiful devotional painting of Christ. He is seen from the front, with lips parted as if in mid-speech, and although the image has an extremely iconic quality the representation is very naturalistic. The iconography is unusual. The painting is titled Salvator mundi, but Christ is not shown in the traditional way, making the sign of benediction or holding an orb with a cross. Guido Reni (1575–1642) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period, He became the dominant figure in the Bolognese School, and his eclectic classicism was widely influential. He painted primarly religious, allegorical and mythological subjects.