around his hometown. He made copies of, and made sketches after, Reni's work. An early work reflecting this influence of Reni is St Peter Healing the Lame Man (church of San Pietro in Valle, Fano) dating from around 1634. Other works from this early period are the Saint Thomas of Villanova (Pinacoteca Civica, Fano) and the Virgin of the girdle. During his stay in Reni's studio the influence of Reni only became stronger. After the rupture with Reni, Cantarini's work developed towards a more personal style. He abandoned academic classicism in favour of the naturalism of his youth. He also developed a freer, more lyrical style. In this period he created the Rest on the Flight into Egypt (Louvre, Paris) and Susanna and the Elders (c. 1640; Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna). After his visit to Rome in the early 1640s he moved closer to the tradition of Raphael, yet without abandoning naturalism. His Rest on the Flight into Egypt (Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan) is based on Raphael's Madonna del Velo (Musée Condé, Chantilly). Other works from this period show an influence of Venetian painting and a development towards freeer brushwork. Portraits Already from his earliest days as an artist, Cantarini distinguished himself as a portrait painter. His earliest known portrait is a Portrait of a nun (1629, Galleria Pallavicini). Noble Pesaro families such as the Albani, Olivieri, Gavardini, Mosca and Baldassini ordered portraits from him. In 1633 he portrayed another prominent sitter: Antonio Barberini, the prominent Catholic cardinal, patron of the arts and a member of the House of Barberini. Another portrait, which shows the artist's skills as a portrait painter at their peak is the Portrait of a seated gentleman and a lady holding a rosary (Museo civico medievale in Bologna). It was painted around the same time as the portrait of Antonio Barberini. One of his best-known portraits is the Portrait of Guido Reni, which probably dates from around the time of the breakup between Cantarini and Reni. The portrait is in tondo format. Due do its success many copies were made and various versions exist, including a larger one with a diameter of 60 cm in a private collection in Pesaro and a smaller one with a diameter of 36 cm (possibly a copy) in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna. It is believed the larger one, which shows the sitter in half-length format, is the original. The