churches in the vicinity of Pesaro and Reni's mature style had an important influence on the young Cantarini. In particular, Catarini studied Guido Reni's Madonna and Child with Saints Thomas and Jerome that hung at the time in Pesaro Cathedral (now in the Pinacoteca Vaticana), and the Giving of the Keys to Saint Peter (1626, now in the Louvre, Paris) and the Annunciation (1620–21) that were in the church of San Pietro in Valle in nearby Fano. Cantarini started to receive commissions and one of his earliest masterpieces was the St Peter Healing the Lame Man, which was also placed in the church of San Pietro in Valle in Fano. This work reveals Reni's important influence. Presumably around 1634 Cantarini joined Reni's studio, which was located in the via delle Pescherie near the piazza Maggiore in the old city centre of Bologna. Reni's studio was a form of boarding school and artist's studio. Reni considered Cantarini an experienced artist as he was soon allowed to stay on the principal floor of the house, which was reserved for Reni's more valued followers. Here he proved to be a student who had problems connecting with the other students and failed to attend classes such as the nude class, which brought him in conflict with the teacher of that class. During his stay in Reni' s studio Cantarini learned to etch and became very skilled in that technique. Contemporary biographers describe a gradually deteriorating relationship between the master and pupil. The reasons for this are not entirely clear but have been attributed to Cantarini's inability to submit to the discipline of Reni's school and the fact that works of the pupil were sold with the signature of the master to increase their price. Cantarini further refused to engrave Guido's designs on the ground that his own works were as much worthy of publication. It is also possible that the pupil who had discovered the earlier masterpieces of Reni in the churches near his hometown was less impressed with the late style of Reni, which tended increasingly towards metaphysical visions populated with bloodless images. According to some stories the uneasy relationship between the two artists came to an explosive halt when Reni criticized a work of Cantarini in front of other students upon which Cantarini threw the painting against the wall. The break with Reni lead to a drought in new commissions, which forced