FROM COSMOPOLITAN ITALY TO RURAL DORSET: THE SEPARATION OF NIGHT FROM DAY BY GUIDO RENI, 1599

AbstractThe Palazzo Zani in Bologna was designed for the Zani family by Floriano Ambrosioni in 1564, but not completed until 1594. Records indicate that by 1599, Guido Reni had been commissioned to paint two large ceiling paintings in adjacent rooms, THE SEPARATION OF NIGHT FROM DAY and The Fall of Phaeton. By 1840, the painting of THE SEPARATION OF NIGHT FROM DAY had deteriorated, and it was removed from the ceiling and transferred to canvas. It was subsequently bought by William John Bankes for his home at Kingston Lacy, Dorset, England. Its original location in the house is not known, but a 1904 Country Life photograph shows it framed on the Library ceiling. When Kingston Lacy was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1981, the painting was in such poor condition that it was removed from the ceiling. The painting was conserved over a period of two years, and the Trust has had to address several issues relating not only to the conservation treatment, but also to its re-presentation and reinstatement withi...