Nicolas Regnier

 Nicolas Régnier (1591–1667)

Nicolas Régnier (1591–1667), alternatively Niccolò Renieri, was a painter and later art dealer from the County of Hainaut, a French speaking part of Spanish Netherlands, active in Italy during the Baroque period. His subjects include many groups of card-players or scenes of fortune-telling, saints, often largely nude, and scenes or female figures from classical myth. He painted Saint Sebastian Tended by Saint Irene three times, as well as a number of nearly-nude single figures of Saint Sebastian and John the Baptist. He painted Mary Magdalene numerous times.

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 by Guido Cagnacci. He died in Venice.

He was the subject of an exhibition, "Nicolas Régnier l'homme libre" in Nantes(December 2017 to March 2018). Paintings by Nicolas Regnier can be seen in many museums including the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, Hungary; the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart; National Museum of Serbia and the Detroit Institute of Arts.