larger format allowed the artist to represent his master in stylish clothing with a fine lace over the white collar and a golden collar pendant on his chest. The brush in the larger portrait is smoother, more fluid and richer in the soft passages than in the smaller portrait. The face of Reni thus acquires a greater liveliness and is infused with an expression of inner balance, rather than with impulsive anger as in the smaller copy in Bologna in the sample. Etchings Cantarini was a prolific etcher to whom are attributed with certainty 37 plates of mythological, religious and allegorical subjects, all of exceptional quality. His prints were praised in his lifetime for their extraordinary delicacy and vibrant and luminous quality. Cantarini was able to imbue his plates with a new spirit, treating them in the same way as a piece of paper by using nervous and flickering signs. This gave his creations a modern movement and a vibe. Cantarini's skill as a designer/draughtsman informed his work as an etcher by allowing him to arrive at a graphic simplification of great beauty and effectiveness. Cantarini is known to have followed a set procedure in the design and creation of his prints: he would start with a general sketch of the composition in pen or pencil. After having thus studied the details of the composition one by one, he traced the design in red stone, with the details defined. The design was then replicated in pen in its final dimensions using a grid and then transferred on a copper plate and etched. References External links 1612 births 1648 deaths People from the Province of Pesaro and Urbino 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Painters from Bologna Italian etchers