Annibale Carracci: A Famous Yet Forgotten Baroque Painter

Between absolutism and the Enlightenment, the Baroque era constitutes the last all-European period of artistry. Contrary to the controlled moderation of Neoclassicism, Baroque exhibited a diversity of form and expression that has been viewed for many centuries as merely eccentric offshoots of the Renaissance. The art style also showed a balance between worldly joys and sensuality, religious spirituality and stringent asceticism, wide formal diversity, and strict regulations, which made it better than any other European style of art. In addition, illusionism introduced theatrical and stagelike settings to art. Next, we know that Pageantry, pomp, and courtly ceremony showed an expression of Baroque exuberance, alongside helping in artistically portraying the crowd scenes. Now, it might be too much all at once when it comes to knowing the Baroque style of art, so I have written a separate article, which constitutes a piece of detailed information on the Baroque. Coming back to this article, we all know that in Rome, Caravaggio succeeded in achieving a decisive breakthrough in the Baroque style through his enriched use of chiaroscuro. At this same time, in Bologna, it was Annibale Carracci, who established this Baroque style of painting. Hence, it becomes crucial for us to read the artist in detail, which we are doing through this article. Never have I been impressed by the landscapes of any artist, other than the clever paintings of Carracci. It is because of this reason that they have autonomy, which is far beyond the scope of their pictorial role, unlike a mere setting of a nature event. Like untouched by a human hand, they have independence, which I haven’t seen before in another artist’s paintings. Once you closely look at them and compare them with other landscape pictures, you will feel it too, which you can tell me comments sections. Today, in this article, my only mission is to celebrate the excellent craftsmanship of the beginning of the Bolognese Baroque art through the life and art of Annibale Caracci, who decisively countered the Renaissance notion of a beautiful human individual by the Baroque love of anamorphosis and caricature through his invention and dissemination of art. Let’s get going.

Artist Abstract: Annibale Carracci.

Gianlorenzo Bernini wrote,

“Carracci brings together all that is good: Raphael’s gracious line, Michelangelo’s thorough anatomy, Correggio’s refined manner of painting, Titian’s coloring, and Giulio Romano and Mantegna’s powers of invention.”

Annibale Carracci is a significant painter because of the reason that his school formed a group of painters who became enormous decorators of the Baroque tradition. Some of his students were Francesco Albani and Domenichino, who were famous. Known as one of Bologna’s finest artists, he is increasingly respected today after he was relegated to an anomalous position in art history books, which acknowledged his significance while avoiding any enthusiastic commitment to his art. And this is why, at some point, you will find that though innovative and extremely talented, even today, he isn’t thought of as an exciting artist as others, despite the fact that his frescoes in Rome’s Farnese Gallery, a decorative scheme only, are admissible to third place behind two other triumphant decorative series like the Sistine Ceiling and Raphael’s Stanze. He took his starting point of art from Mannerism and later developed it through his study of Correggio at Parma and famous painters’ works like Titian and Veronese. After a detailed study of them, he finally created a form of art filled with sensual classicism enlivened by inner unrest and true-to-life naturalness. We will learn about his life in the next section.

Life of Annibale Carracci.

When Caravaggio was busy revolutionizing Baroque art, at the same time, the Carracci family voyaged forth in a new direction on the well-known principle,

“Il faut reculer pour mieux sauter (You have to go back to jump better).”

The two brothers Annibale and Agostino, with their cousin Ludovico, probably were born within the period of five years between 1555 and 1560. All of them worked together but were somewhat less harmonious. For instance, one time, Annibale complained in a letter to Ludovico that Agostino did not work that efficiently as he left all the work to him, while he (Agostino) spent his time cultivating famous poets, writers, and courtiers, bringing them up on the scaffolding to watch. Despite their disagreements, the Carraccis established a consolidated family partnership, which was enriched by influences absorbed from everywhere, making their name synonymous with eclecticism. Now, one of the significant points to understand here is that the term eclecticism has disparaging associations presently, which means the eclectic artist has no creative power of his own and that he just borrowed material for the surface attractions. However, this is not true for the Carracci family, as eclecticism was a new principle and a kind of reform. Annibale himself dug back into the sources of art like Michelangelo, Raphael, Correggio, and Venetians, and then, he re-examined them while applying their principles anew. Considered an exciting artist even today, Annibale showed the best of his work in the triumphant decorative series, as frescoes in the Farnese Gallery in Rome’s Palazzo. It was Cardinal Odoardo Farnese who had this spot in the entire art history as the man who underpaid Annibale for around ten years of service until his death. When he ran to the age of forty-five, Annibale, who excelled in his vigor and productiveness, became listless and depressed, finding it unable to work. His memory failed, and his speech blurred, making a scandal in Rome that the Cardinal reduced a great artist to impotence. Before Annibale died, at just forty-nine years, he made a partial recovery, which made him managing work about two hours a day over the last year. The historian-biographer Joachim von Sandrart laid Annibale’s trouble to “amorous disorders.” There is a lot more to learn about Annibale, but that’s only possible through his artworks, which overcomes changes faster and tells about his movements and influences. However, the book The Invention of Annibale Carracci pretty gives a brief idea of the life of Annibale Caracci. 

13 of the Famous Annibale Carracci Paintings.

1. The Dead Christ.

The painting is listed in the inventory of the Cardinal Flavio Chigi (1693) in the Palazzo Chigi-Odeschalchi in Rome, which was passed by the descent from the Chigi to the Incisca della Rochetta Collection, from where the Stuttgart Museum acquired its rights. Presently, the painting is in damaged condition, with its side gravely abraded and damaged throughout the intended effect of the picture. The painting is an authentic early work of the artist. One of the intended features of the artwork, which defines his early work, is the use of audacious foreshortening of the subject with better life studies. The artwork forecasts the theme of a foreshortened dead Christ with pierced hands and feet, few nails, and a thorn crown. At the time, when Annibale painted this artwork, he probably knew the sixteenth-century versions of it, such as the prints of Scolari and Battista Franco. It must be also noted this theme was apparently famous in the Carracci Circle. This similar version, including two lamenting angels, was attributed to Agostino Carracci. In this artwork, the arrangement of the Christ is in extreme compression at the hips, suggesting that the picture was meant to be placed above the eye level.

2. The Butcher’s Shop.

The artwork at first belonged to the collection of John Gruise and then, later given to Christ Church in 1765. Firstly, it was owned by the Countess of Bristol, then Charles I brought it from the Gonzaga Collection. After a few years, a re-attribution of the artwork occurred where E. Arslan and H. Bodmer proposed it to Passerotti. Again, in the 1950s, Wittkower suggested that Ludovico actually painted it, but in 1956, Archangeli insisted again that it was Annibale, who painted the Butcher’s Shop. However, the accuracy is still suspect because of the fact that it was a large portrait of the Carracci family and could be hardly missed as it did, being copied or recorded in prints of the early literature. Furthermore, there were no agreements about the commission of the painting. The painting shows a low-life subject with the tints of Bolognese mannerism. It portrays two butchers, one who is busy with his knife, down-headed, and the other one with the flesh of the animals as he looks towards the beholder. There is an immaturity in the artwork, suggesting the early artwork of the artist. There is also another version of the painting, but none of its history is known to anyone. Similar to the first version of Butcher’s Shop, the second version also has certain attributes.

3. Fete Champetre.

The composition was first recorded in the 1622 inventory of the Lomenie de Brienne’s collection in Paris; then bought in 1668 from the sculptor Gaspard Marsy for the Royal Collection. The painting, Fete Champetre, is treated with exquisite landscape details closer to the Baptism of 1585, but the handling of figures points it to a slightly earlier date. It depicts lots of figures in the night-shade monumental background, taking inspiration from the Correggio.

4. Allegory of Truth and Time.

The painting is not mentioned in the source literature. The Royal Collection may have acquired it as early as the second quarter of the 18th century, although the first record of it, at Buckingham Palace, dates back to the third quarter of the nineteenth. Longhi and Voss first suggested that the painting is composed by Annibale as the picture is close to the Baptism of 1585 and especially to the Jason frescoes in the Palazzo Fava. The painting portrays the message, ‘Time has drawn Truth from the depths of a well into the light of day. As time passes, Truth emerges from a well and comes into the light.’ Here, the truth is the white naked lady wrapped around the old man with wings who tramples on a female figure, which could be a lie or deceit. On the right, you will see Eventus, whereas on the left you will see Fortune. There is better handling of color but negligence in anatomy.

5. Pieta With Saints.

The artwork originally is located on the high altar of the church of the Capuchin Fathers in Parma, one of the well-known monuments of the seventeenth century. The artwork is one of the best early works of the artist, which is deeply inspired by the Correggesque qualities. A little history to the artwork is that when Bellori listed it as an early work of Annibale, Arcangeli mistakenly cites Bellori as attributing the commission to Duke Ranuccio Farnese. Because of this slight misunderstanding, the artwork was taken to Paris by Napolean troops in 1796 but was returned to Italy in 1815. The artwork depicts the mannerist devices and holds significance because of its firm statement of the ‘new style’ of the artist. Two other drawings by the artist for the Parma Pieta are also known; one is in the Uffizi as the study for the dead Christ and the other is in the Duke of Sutherland’s collection as the study of the St. Francis. The composition depicts a clear narration of the dead Christ with the Saints Clare, Francis, and Mary Magdalene and angels hovering in the cloud with a bigger cross.

6. The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine.

First mentioned by Malvasia and by Bellori as being painted in the Parma, it belonged to the Farnese Collection at first. Bellori reported that it was made ‘per servigio del Duca Ranuccio Farnese.’ When Annibale Carracci moved to Rome, he presented it to the Cardinal Odoardo Farnese. Though composed by Carracci, before 1810, when it came to Palazzo Reale in Naples, it was wrongly attributed to Marco Vecellio, who was a student of Titian. But in the inventory of 1834, it was later called the copy after Correggio, and in the 1907 inventory, the credit was given to Giulio Cesare Procaccini. Only in 1956, did F. Bologna re-identify it correctly and give its attributes to Annibale. The composition is an updated version of the Correggio’s Marriage of St. Catherine in the Louvre. It shows the sensuous sfumato with an extreme blend of Correggesque effect with a new mood of humility and piety. The composition was designed to involve the spectator, suggesting an inclusion in the scene. With illuminated faces, contrasting colors, sharp features, sfumato, and appropriate light and shadows, Annibale presented a completely divine environment to the spectator.

7. Assumption of the Virgin.

After being made for the San Rocco confraternity in Reggio Emilia, the artwork went to the Ducal Collection in Modena, where Malvasia and Bellori recorded it, and then to the Dresden Gallery in 1746. Throughout the sarcophagus, the date is written in Roman numerals on the base, where, to emphasize the theme of the ultimate triumph over sin and death, a relief depicting the temptation of Adam and Eve to the right and the expulsion from paradise to the left is painted. Above the relief, on the socle, there is an inscription saying ‘Liber generationis Jesu…’ (the first words of the Gospel of St. Matthew). Friedlaender and Pevsner discussed the painting’s dramatic and pictorial innovations, where Pevsner described it as Proto-baroque. In addition, Friedlaender suggested that the Apolstles’ poses may be influenced by Titian’s Assumption of the Frari. In fact, the painting is largely influenced by Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin.

8. Venus With a Satyr and Two Cupids.

Originally called by the name of ‘Venere in schena di mano del gia sig.r Annibale Caracia,’ it was first sold in 1620 to the Duke of Tuscany by Camillo Bolognetti for two hundred ducats. The painting is much abraded but a copy of the painting still exists and is the same size as the original. The painting depicts Venus in light and seems to be derived from the nymph of the right foreground of Titian’s Diana and Callisto. According to Malvasia, Ludovico ‘ch’era cicciosotto, e polputo’ served as the model for Venus’s back posture. The artwork depicts Venus looking towards the Satyr with a basket of grapes with two cupids on each side. Some of the other paintings including Venus as the subject of Annibale Carracci are Venus and Cupid (1592) and Venus and a Satyr (engraving).

9. The Crucifixion.

The painting has a sign on its lower right corner: Annibal Carativs and its lower left has the date MDXCIIII. Being a part of the Giustiniani Collection in Rome, it entered in Berlin Museum in 1815. It was then listed in the Giustiniani inventory of 1638. It is also possible that Annibale made a drawing of the painting, which is now in the Ashmolean Museum, which has a connection to this painting. The composition portrays Christ crucified in a dark background with Madonna saddened in grief on the left, attended by few other people. Annibale is probably the master of the painting, Crucifixion, as he made many versions of the same with different emotions each time. You can refer to Donald’s book, Annibale Carraci; A Study of the Reform of Italian Painting Around 1590, to understand the complete paintings of the Crucifixion with the change in style of the artist each time.

10. Christ Mocked.

Bellori and Malvasia reported that the painting was kept at the artist’s funeral later, which was made for Cardinal Farnese and was placed at the head of the catafalque. Now, it remained in the Farnese Palace but then later sent to Palazzo del Giardino in Parma in 1662. The artwork had stylistic links to the St. Roch Distributing Alms. There is an intensity of its Venetianism, which might be surprising at that point in Carracci’s career, so the picture was possible to be understood as a kind of self-assertion, brought on by an initial reaction to the new Roman environment. The painting reflects Christ in pain with his head covered with a crown of thorns and a man pinching one of its thorns to mock Christ through his finger. There is a furiousness and pitilessness in the painting, which Annibale Carracci carried on to introduce the spectator.

11. The Choice of Hercules.

In 1662, it was sent to the Palazzo del Giardino in Parma, and then to Capodimonte after 1734, where it served as the centerpiece of the ceiling decoration of the Camerino in the Farnese Palace in Rome.As evidence that Agostino intervened in the execution of this painting. Because of its intended position among the frescoes, the picture is remarkably light and clear in color. As Panofsky indicated, a seated Hercules is unusual in representations of this subject, suggesting Annibale Carracci drew inspiration from the antique Hercules and Hesperides relief now on display at Villa Albani. Being one of the important works of the artist, the painting depicts Hercules with two women flanking him, as if they represent the opposite destinies of life. The left one, Virtue calls out to take the hardest path, which will lead to glory, and the right one calls for an easier path with worldly pleasure. There is a muscularity in Hercules’s body, which seems to be inspired by Michelangelo’s figures and a balanced effect of color and contrast. There is a use of Correggesque character in the painting with radiant and Venetianizing surfaces, making it an exemplary late Bolognese work of the artist.

12. The Temptation of Saint Anthony.

Recorded in the Borghese Villa, Rome, where it was attributed to Annibale by Manilli in 1650, this painting is one of the finest late works of the artist. The picture was listed in the 1693 inventory of the Borghese collection, from where it went to the Lord Radstock of England. In 1826, it was sold to Lord Dartmouth, and then the National Gallery purchased it from the Earl of Dartmouth in 1846. The artwork depicts St. Anthony surrounded by devils, frightened when Jesus with his cupids reaches to save him. Iconographically, the painting follows a well-established formula. There is a balance in color, contrasts, light, and shadows, which clearly reflects the emergence of Annibale’s ideal style on the vault of the Farnese Gallery.

13. Bacchus and Silenus.

Together with Silenus Gathering Grapes, Bacchus, and Silenus seem originally to have decorated a harpsichord. Despite the fact that this picture first appears in the Lancellotti Palace in an inscription on D.Cunego’s print of 1770 after it-it would be years before it was passed, unlike its companion piece, from Buchanan to Porter. Bringing it to the Porter Sale in 1810 was J.Angerstein, whose collection was acquired by the National Gallery in 1824. In his mistaken attribution of this painting and its companion piece to the young Albani, Tietze pointed out that the figure of Bacchus is derived from the ancient Pan and Olympus statue in the National Museum of Naples, as well as the figure of Silenus is derived from two antique comeos in the same museum, all three of which were previously part of the Farnese Collection.

There are numerous more paintings by the artist that are significant and worth studying. However, among all the paintings, you can’t miss the Ceiling Decoration of the Farnese Gallery, which I can’t summarise in this article. So for the ones, who wish to read it in detail, go for Dempsey’s book, which evaluates every aspect of it. Also, since it is part of the late and matured works of Annibale, it becomes crucial to study.

Final Words.

Annibale Carracci started painting with milder influences from artists like Raphael, Titian, Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Correggio and ended up getting into the shape of Neo-Correggio style with a classical aspect, initiating Baroque style, seen never before. Annibale revived Raphaelesque forms, and the young Rubens who filled the summation of the opposite aspect of Baroque art was also influenced by Annibale’s sensuous realism. Being the inspiration to many artists, Carracci died at a young age but reformed the art with the principles and conventions of Baroque painting. Dempsey explains,

“Paradoxically, for Annibale, the index to naturalism lay, not in the artfully pure and bright colors of Veronese, but elsewhere, in the golden lights and rusted darks of Titian, and in the extravagantly dramatic, and occasionally downright irresponsible, chiaroscuro of Tintoretto.”

Resources.

1. Baroque by Hermann Bauer, Andreas Prater, and Ingo F. Walther.
2. Annibale Carraci The Farnese Gallery, Rome by Charles Dempsey.
3. Annibale Carracci and the Beginnings of Baroque Style by Charles Dempsey.
4. Annibale Carraci; A Study in the Reform of Italian Painting Around 1590 by Donald. CN Posner.
5. Baroque Painters by John Canaday.
6. Featured Image: The Coronation of the Virgin by Annibale Carracci, via The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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