Nicolas Régnier

Nicolas Régnier (1591–1667), known in Italy as Niccolò Renieri, was a painter, art dealer and art collector from the County of Hainaut, a French-speaking part of the Spanish Netherlands. He is often referred to as a Flemish artist because this term was often used to designate people from the Spanish Netherlands. After training in Antwerp, he was active in Italy where he was part of the international Caravaggesque movement. His subjects include genre scenes with card players, fortune tellers, soldiers and concerts, religious scenes, saints, mythological and allegorical scenes, and portraits. He also painted a few scenes with carnivals.

Life Régnier was born in Maubeuge. It was previously believed that his birth date was 6 December 1591. A review of his baptismal records has led to the conclusion that he may have been born at least a year earlier. He apprenticed in Antwerp with Abraham Janssens, a Flemish painter who had studied in Rome at the time of Caravaggio and was one of the first Flemish followers of Caravaggio.

It is unclear when Régnier reached Rome. He travelled to Rome via Parma where he was present in 1616–1617. He is definitely in Rome by 1620 when he is registered sharing lodgings with the Dutch painters David de Haen and Dirk van Baburen, both part of the Northern Caravaggesque movement. He became acquainted in Rome with the work of Bartolomeo Manfredi, an important Italian interpreter of Caravaggio. The German painter and biographer Joachim von Sandrart called Régnier a follower of Manfredi. In Venice, he expanded his activities to dealing in antiquities and paintings. In 1634 he was recorded trying to sell paintings to the Duke of Hamilton through an English agent. Regnier's only son, Giovanni Paolo, was baptised on 27 October 1639. Baptism of Christ, 1627, Church of San Giovanni Battista dei Genovesi, Rome David with the head of Goliath, 1616, Palazzo Spada, Galleria Spada, Sala IV, Inventory n° 176, Roma (Attribution has been discussed, some critics considering it may be a Bartolomeo Manfredi work)

Judith holding the head of Holofernes, Prado Museum, Madrid.