# Putto Holding Staff

**Guido Reni** (Italian, 1575–1642)  
n.d.  
Black chalk with pen and brown ink on cream laid paper  
27.8 × 18.8 cm (11 × 7 7/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1922.1737. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/83729).

## About this work

Guido Reni painted this (n.d.). It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of black chalk with pen and brown ink on cream laid paper.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Chalk.** Natural black, red and white chalks. Used together on toned paper they could give the warmth of flesh with very little effort, and they were favourites for studies from life.
- **Pen and ink.** Drawn with a quill or reed pen, often with wash added by brush to model light and shadow.
- **Laid paper.** Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.

### [Guido Reni](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/guido-reni)

Italian, 1575–1642; born in Bologna; died in Bologna

Reni trained in Bologna, first with Denys Calvaert and then at the Carracci academy, and spent the early 1600s in Rome, where his fresco Aurora won wide fame. Returning to Bologna, he ran a large studio and became the most admired painter of his generation, prized for idealised figures, cool, clear colour and graceful movement. His late works, such as Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist, are freer in handling and paler in tone.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Drawing and Watercolor
- Culture: Italy
- Real size: about 11 × 7 in (27 × 18 cm). The 8 × 10 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 17th century
- Movement: [Baroque](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/baroque)
- Colour: white
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/225.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/225/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/putto-holding-staff-aic-83729).