# The Immaculate Conception

**Guido Reni** (Italian, 1575–1642)  
1627  
Oil on canvas  
105 1/2 x 73 in. (268 x 185.4 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 59.32. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437423).

## About this work

The Virgin stands on a crescent moon in a golden sky, her hands joined and her gaze lifted, while angels gather around her. The Immaculate Conception, the belief that Mary was conceived free of original sin, was especially cherished in Spain and widely celebrated in the art of the Counter-Reformation. Reni painted this canvas in 1627, and his serene, idealised type of the Virgin, with its cool blues and luminous flesh, was widely imitated by later painters.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Guido Reni painted this in 1627, aged 52. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [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: Paintings
- The artist was 52
- Real size: about 106 × 73 in (268 × 185 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 20 × 30 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 17th century
- Subjects: Angels, Virgin Mary
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1144.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1144/1920.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
- 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/the-immaculate-conception-met-437423).