 Annibale Carracci, Venus, Adonis and Cupid, c.1590-1595, Prado Museum, Madrid. |
Annibale, with Ludovico (1555-1619) and Agostino Carracci (1557-1602), established the Accademia degli Incamminati en 1582. This was an academy in which proportions, anatomy, perspective and architecture were studied. In addition, the academy was an important center in which philosophic and literary matters were discussed. A great number of painters are formed in this place, and some of them will be the more brilliant masters of the 17th Century.
The most representative Annibale´s masterpieces belong to the roman limit. Annibale Carracci is considered like an eclectic painter. His first genre pictures are influenced by flemish painters. Later, Carracci fixed his eyes in great masters of the past: Corregio and Rafael, but he put the naturalistic tone so typical in Baroque. He painted several frescos in different palaces. The influence of Mannierism is very evident in these frescos. Mythology, Religion and Nature are recreated by a brilliant and clear light and colour.
If we understand Caravaggio like the most important tenebrism painter, we have to understand Annibale Carracci like the most classical figure of Baroque.
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Annibale Carracci, Venus, Adonis and Cupid, c.1590-1595, Prado Museum, Madrid. With comments |
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A. Carracci, The Beaneater, 1580-1590, oil on canvas, 57 x 68 cm, Colonna gallery, Rome. |
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A. Carracci, The Choice of Heracles, c.1596, oil on canvas, 167 x 273 cm, Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples. |
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A. Carracci, Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne, c.1595-1605, fresco, Palazzo Farnese, Rome. |
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A. Carracci, Rest on Flight into Egypt, c.1600, oil on canvas, diameter 82´5 cm, The Hermitage, St. Petersburg. |
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A. Carracci, Domine Quo Vadis?, 1601-1602, oil on wood, 77´4 x 56´3 cm, National Gallery, London. |
Written by:
Beatriz Aragonés Escobar.
Licentiate in Art History.