Nicolas Régnier

Who was Nicolas Régnier?

Nicolas Régnier, alternatively Niccolò Renieri, Niccolo Renieri, Niccolò Renieri, Nicolaas Regnier, Nicolaas Renier, Nicolas Renier, Nicolas Renieri in Italian, was a Flemish painter and art collector, active in Italy during the Baroque period.

Born in Maubeuge, he initially apprenticed in Antwerp with Abraham Janssens, a painter contemporary with Caravaggio in Rome. It is unclear if Régnier reached Rome in 1615 or 1621–1625. He appears to have met Bartolomeo Manfredi, of whom, Joachim von Sandrart calls him a follower. Régnier served as official painter to Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani, a prominent patron of Caravaggio. In Rome Régnier was also in close contact with Simon Vouet. By 1626, Régnier had moved to Venice, where in addition to painting, he began dealing in antiquities and paintings. In Venice, he was befriended Guido Cagnacci. He died in Venice.

Paintings by Nicolas Regnier can be seen at the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, Hungary, The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart in Germany, National Museum of Serbia and the Detroit Institute of Arts. The painting of the Allegory of Vanity-Pandora is in the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart.