Head of an Apostle

Head of an Apostle at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm (c. 1620–25) is a devotional character study from Reni's apostle series — concentrated images of the twelve disciples of Christ used both as independent devotional objects and as components of complete apostle sets commissioned for church sacristies and private chapels. The apostle series was a standard commission type in Italian Baroque painting: a set of twelve (or thirteen including Paul) half-length figures, each identified by attribute, providing a comprehensive visual meditation on the founding witnesses of Christianity. Reni's apostle heads were widely reproduced by his workshop and subsequent copyists, their refined combination of psychological intensity and classical idealization setting a standard for the type. The Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Sweden's national museum of art and design, holds Italian Baroque paintings among its European collections reflecting the cultural connections between Sweden and Italy during the age of Swedish imperial ambition in the seventeenth century.

The apostle's inspired expression is rendered with Reni's refined technique. The luminous handling and idealized features create a concentrated devotional image.