Oil painting, 'The Union of Design and Colour', after Guido Reni, 18th century

Set against a neutral dark background, on the left a male figure wrapped into a blue cloak is holding a pen in his right hand while he embraced with right arm a female figure on the right, wearing a greyish turban and an ochre and red dress. She holds a palette and some brushes in her right hand while hiding a breast with the other.

Bequeathed by Mrs Duroure

Bequeathed by Mrs Duroure, 1864
The V&Acentral inventory indicates that nos. 305/312-1864 were bequeathed by Mrs Duroure and the annual report of the Science and Art Department describes briefly the individual works.
A hand written note (Kauffmann?) in the Paintings object files reads:

'the Duroure pictures are described in the letter of acceptance g 6.4.1864 as follows:
2 small Dutch pictures- drinking subjects
1 landscape, Roman
1 Rubens, Samson and lion
1 Simon Vouel [sic]
1 Sir Walter Raleigh
2 Landscapes, Waterloo'

Historical significance: Originally catalogued as Dutch (1893 Catalogue, p. 189), this is a reduced copy, perhaps of the 18th century, after Guido Reni's Union of Design and Colour, executed around 1620-25, in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (Inv. 534), of which there are versions in the collections of the Duke of Devonshire and of Sir W. Worsley, Bt. The original was engraved (in reverse) by S. Le Roy and Le Villain for the Galerie du Musée Napoleon, 1804, no. 179. The engraving shows more clearly than 312-1864 that 'design' is putting pen to paper.

In this painted copy the soft modelling of the flesh and its pale greyish tone with subtle chiaroscuro reflects a technique Reni learned from Cavalier d'Arpino, but the pastel-like palette suggests an 18th-century date. The composition depicts two allegorical figures: 'Design', on the left, shown as a young man holding a pen against a sheet of paper, embraces 'Colour', on the right, shown as a young woman holding a palette and brushes. Reni's original composition is oval whereas this copy is rectangular; it also reduces the originally half-length figures and the colour of their clothes varies. In the original composition, 'Design' wears an ochre cloak, which is blue in the copy, and 'Colour' wears a lilac turban.which is grey in the copy.

The subject-matter alludes to Carracci's academic rules, expounded at the Accademia degli Incamminati from 1585, which emphasised the union of Colour and Design in order to avoid the eccentricity of Mannerism.

Guido Reni (1575-1642) was born in Bologna, where he became a pupil, along with Francesco Albani (1578-1660) and Domenichino (1581-1641), of the Flemish painter Denys Calveart (ca.1540-1619). Reni and his fellow pupils transferred in 1595 to the Carracci Academy, where he studied under Lodovico and Agostino Carracci. He left in 1598 and by late 1601 was in Rome, where he received important commissions and befriended the leading painter Giuseppe Cesari Cavalier d'Arpino (1568-1640). By 1614 Reni had returned to Bologna, where he remained, except for short visits to other cities, such as Ravenna and Naples.

Reni and his Bolognese contemporaries stand as the greatest exponents of the artistic reform, commonly known as High Classicism, which remained a dominent force in European painting until the 19th century.

History paintings based on religious, classical, literary or allegorical subjects, particularly developed in Italy during the Renaissance (15th-16th centuries). The term was most frequently associated with Classical subjects. The development of art treatises, in which the compositional rules guiding the art of painting were discussed also notably, influenced the evolution of history painting.

Guido Reni (1575-1642) was born in Bologna and became there a pupil, along with Francesco Albani (1578-1660) and Domenichino (1581-1641) of the Flemish born painter Denys Calveart (ca.1540-1619). They would all transfer to the Carracci Academy in 1595, where he studied under Lodovico and Agostino Carracci. Reni left the Academy in 1598 and by late 1601 had moved to Rome where his received important commissions and befriended the leading painter at this time, Giuseppe Cesari Cavalier d'Arpino (1568-1640). By 1614, Reni resettled in Bologna where he would remain for the rest of his life, undertaking short trips in the Italian provinces such as Ravenna and Naples. He died in Bologna in 1642.

This painting is a copy with colour variations of a composition by Guido Reni executed probably in Bologna during the 1620s. It shows the allegory of Design as a young man on the left and the allegory of Colour as a young woman on the right. The pastel-like palette and the somehow loose brushwork betray 18th-centiry origins.

312-1864