Annibale Carracci ( , , ; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

and later in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Along with his brother Agostino and cousin

Ludovico Ludovico () is an Italian masculine given name. It is sometimes spelled Lodovico. The feminine equivalent is Ludovica. Persons with the name Ludovico Given name * Ludovico D'Aragona (1876–1961), Italian socialist politician * Ludovico Arios ...

(with whom he also worked collectively), Annibale was one of the progenitors, if not founders of a leading strand of the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style, borrowing from styles from both north and south of their native city, and aspiring for a return to classical monumentality, but adding a more vital dynamism. Painters working under Annibale at the gallery of the

Palazzo Farnese Palazzo Farnese () or Farnese Palace is one of the most important High Renaissance palaces in Rome. Owned by the Italian Republic, it was given to the French government in 1936 for a period of 99 years, and currently serves as the French e ...

would be highly influential in Roman painting for decades.

Early career

Annibale Carracci - Self-Portrait - WGA4448

Annibale Carracci was born in

, and in all likelihood was first apprenticed within his family. In 1582, Annibale, his brother Agostino and his cousin

Ludovico Carracci Ludovico (or Lodovico) Carracci ( , , ; 21 April 1555 – 13 November 1619) was an Italian early-Baroque painter, etcher, and printmaker from Bologna. His works are characterized by a strong mood invoked by broad gestures and flickering li ...

opened a painters' studio, initially called by some the ''Academy of the Desiderosi'' (desirous of fame and learning) and subsequently the ''Incamminati'' (progressives; literally "of those opening a new way"). Considered "the first major art school based on life drawing", the ''Accademia degli Incamminati'' was the model for later art schools throughout Europe. While the Carraccis laid emphasis on the typically Florentine linear draftsmanship, as exemplified by

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

and Andrea del Sarto, their interest in the glimmering colours and mistier edges of objects derived from the Venetian painters, notably the works of Venetian oil painter

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

, which Annibale and Agostino studied during their travels around Italy in 1580–81 at the behest of the elder Caracci, Ludovico. This eclecticism was to become the defining trait of the artists of the Baroque Emilian or

Bolognese School The Bolognese school of painting, also known as the ''school of Bologna'', flourished between the 16th and 17th centuries in Bologna, which rivalled Florence and Rome as the center of painting in Italy. Its most important representatives in ...

. In many early Bolognese works by the Carraccis, it is difficult to distinguish the individual contributions made by each. For example, the frescoes on the story of ''Jason'' for

Palazzo Fava Palazzo Fava or Palazzo Fava-Ghisilieri is a historic palace at 2 via Manzoni in Bologna, now housing art exhibitions and the Caffè Letterario Carracci Fava. It is most notable for its three rooms of frescoes of scenes from the lives of Jason, M ...

in Bologna (c. 1583–84) are signed ''Carracci'', which suggests that they all contributed. In 1585, Annibale completed an altarpiece of the ''Baptism of Christ'' for the church of

Santi Gregorio e Siro The church of Santi Gregorio e Siro is a Renaissance architecture, Renaissance-style Roman Catholic parish church on Via Montegrappa 15 in central Bologna, Italy. Initially this was the Church of San Gregorio, but when the nearby parish church of ...

in Bologna. In 1587, he painted the ''Assumption'' for the church of San Rocco in Reggio Emilia. In 1587–88, Annibale is known to have had travelled to

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

and then

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, where he joined his brother Agostino. From 1589 to 1592, the three Carracci brothers completed the frescoes on the ''Founding of Rome'' for Palazzo Magnani in Bologna. By 1593, Annibale had completed an altarpiece, ''Virgin on the throne with St John and St Catherine'', in collaboration with

Lucio Massari Lucio Massari (22 January 1569 – 3 November 1633) was an Italian painter of the School of Bologna. He was active during the Mannerist and early-Baroque periods. Life and work He was born in Bologna, where he initially apprenticed with an ...

. His ''Resurrection of Christ'' also dates from 1593. In 1592, he painted an ''Assumption'' for the Bonasoni chapel in San Francesco. During 1593–94, all three Carraccis were working on frescoes in

Palazzo Sampieri A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

in Bologna.

Frescoes in Palazzo Farnese

Annibale Carracci Ritratto Turrini Oxford

Based on the prolific and masterful frescoes by the Carracci in Bologna, Annibale was recommended by the Duke of Parma,

Ranuccio I Farnese Ranuccio I Farnese (28 March 1569 – 5 March 1622) reigned as Duke of Parma, Duke of Piacenza, Piacenza and Duchy of Castro, Castro from 1592. A firm believer in absolute monarchy, Ranuccio, in 1594, centralised the administration of Parma and ...

, to his brother, the Cardinal Odoardo Farnese, who wished to decorate the piano nobile of the cavernous Roman

. In November–December 1595, Annibale and Agostino traveled to Rome to begin decorating the ''Camerino'' with stories of Hercules, appropriate since the room housed the famous Greco-Roman antique sculpture of the hypermuscular

Farnese Hercules The ''Farnese Hercules'' () is an ancient statue of Hercules made in the early third century AD and signed by Glykon, who is otherwise unknown; he was an Athenian but he may have worked in Rome. Like many other Ancient Roman sculptures it is a ...

. Annibale meanwhile developed hundreds of preparatory sketches for the major work, wherein he led a team painting frescoes on the ceiling of the grand salon with the secular '' quadri riportati'' of ''

The Loves of the Gods ''The Loves of the Gods'' is a monumental fresco cycle, completed by the Bolognese artist Annibale Carracci and his studio, in the Farnese Gallery which is located in the west wing of the Palazzo Farnese, now the French Embassy, in Rome. The fres ...

'', or as the biographer

Giovanni Bellori Giovanni Pietro Bellori (15 January 1613 – 19 February 1696), also known as Giovan Pietro Bellori or Gian Pietro Bellori, was an Italian art theorist, painter and antiquarian, who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Artists'', considered t ...

described it, ''Human Love governed by Celestial Love''. Although the ceiling is riotously rich in illusionistic elements, the narratives are framed in the restrained classicism of High

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

decoration, drawing inspiration from, yet more immediate and intimate, than Michelangelo's Sistine Ceiling as well as

Vatican Logge Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, Louisiana, Vatican, an unincorporated ...

and

Villa Farnesina The Villa Farnesina is a Renaissance suburban villa in the Via della Lungara, in the district of Trastevere in Rome, central Italy. Built between 1506 and 1510 for Agostino Chigi, the Pope's wealthy Sienese banker, it was a novel type of suburb ...

frescoes. His work would later inspire the untrammelled stream of Baroque illusionism and energy that would emerge in the grand frescoes of

Cortona Cortona (, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic centre of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo. Toponymy Cortona is derived from Latin Cortōna, and from Etruscan language, Etr ...

Lanfranco Lanfranco (active in Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. ...

, and in later decades

Andrea Pozzo Andrea Pozzo (; Latinized version: ''Andreas Puteus''; 30 November 1642 – 31 August 1709) was an Italian Jesuit brother, Baroque painter, architect, decorator, stage designer, and art theoretician. Pozzo was best known for his grandiose fresc ...

and

Gaulli Giovanni Battista Gaulli (8 May 1639 – 2 April 1709), also known as Baciccio or Baciccia (Genoese nicknames for ''Giovanni Battista''), was an Italian Baroque painter working in the High Baroque and early Rococo periods. He is best known for h ...

. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the Farnese Ceiling was considered the unrivaled masterpiece of fresco painting for its age. They were not only seen as a pattern book of heroic figure design, but also as a model of technical procedure; Annibale’s numerous preparatory drawings for the ceiling were widely studied and influenced later approaches to large-scale history painting.

Contrast with Caravaggio

The 17th-century critic

, in his survey entitled ''Idea'', praised Carracci as the paragon of

Italian painters Following is a list of Italian painters (in alphabetical order) who are notable for their art. A *Niccolò dell'Abbate (1509/1512–1571) *Giuseppe Abbati (1836–1868) * Angiolo Achini (1850–1930) * Pietro Adami (fl. c. 1730) *Eugenio Agn ...

, who had fostered a "renaissance" of the great tradition of

and

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

. On the other hand, while admitting

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

's talents as a painter, Bellori deplored his over-naturalistic style, if not his turbulent morals and persona. He thus viewed the ''

Caravaggisti The Caravaggisti (or the "Caravagesques"; singular: "Caravaggista") were stylistic followers of the late 16th-century Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio. His influence on the new Baroque style that eventually emerged from Mannerism was profound. ...

'' styles with the same gloomy dismay. Painters were urged to depict the Platonic ideal of beauty, not Roman street-walkers. Yet Carracci and Caravaggio patrons and pupils did not all fall into irreconcilable camps. Contemporary patrons, such as Marquess

Vincenzo Giustiniani Vincenzo Giustiniani (13 September 1564 – 27 December 1637) was an aristocratic Italian banker, art collector and intellectual of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, known today largely for the Giustiniani art collection, assembled at the ...

, found both applied showed excellence in ''maniera'' and ''modeling''. By the 21st century, scholarly and public interest in Caravaggio's dramatic style had grown considerably, sometimes drawing less attention to Carracci's influence on Baroque fresco traditions. Caravaggio almost never worked in fresco, regarded as the test of a great painter's mettle. On the other hand, Carracci is particularly noted for his frescoes. Thus the somber canvases of Caravaggio, with benighted backgrounds, are suited to the contemplative altars, and not to well-lit walls or ceilings such as this one in the Farnese. Wittkower was surprised that a Farnese cardinal surrounded himself with frescoes of libidinous themes, indicative of a "considerable relaxation of counter-reformatory morality". This thematic choice suggests Carracci may have been more rebellious relative to the often-solemn religious passion of Caravaggio's canvases. According to art historian Rudolf Wittkower, Carracci's frescoes express "a tremendous joie de vivre" and mark "a new blossoming of vitality." In the 21st century, most connoisseurs making the pilgrimage to the

Cerasi Chapel The Cerasi Chapel or Chapel of the Assumption () is one of the side chapels in the left transept of the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. It contains significant paintings by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio and Annibale Carracci, two o ...

Santa Maria del Popolo The Parish Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo () is a titular church and a minor basilica in Rome run by the Augustinian order. It stands on the north side of Piazza del Popolo, one of the most famous squares in the city. The church is hemmed in b ...

would ignore Carracci's ''

Assumption of the Virgin The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...

'' altarpiece (1600–1601) and focus on the flanking Caravaggio works. It is instructive to compare Carracci's ''Assumption'' with Caravaggio's ''

Death of the Virgin The Death of the Virgin Mary is a common subject in Western Christian art, and is the equivalent of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Eastern Orthodox art. This depiction became less common as the doctrine of the Assumption gained support in t ...

''. Among early contemporaries, Carracci was an innovator. He re-enlivened Michelangelo's visual fresco vocabulary, and posited a muscular and vivaciously brilliant pictorial landscape, which had increasingly reflected the complexity and artificiality characteristic of the

Mannerist Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...

style. While Michelangelo could bend and contort the body into all the possible perspectives, Carracci’s treatment of the human figure in the Farnese frescoes demonstrated a dynamic approach to form and movement. The "ceiling"-frontiers, the wide expanses of walls to be frescoed would, for the next decades, be thronged by the monumental brilliance of the Carracci followers, and not Caravaggio's followers. In the century following his death, to a lesser extent than

Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, ; ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 1598 – 28 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor ...

and Cortona, Carracci and baroque art in general came under criticism from neoclassic critics such as Winckelmann and even later from the prudish

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

, as well as admirers of Caravaggio. Carracci in part was spared opprobrium because he was seen as an emulator of the highly admired Raphael, and in the Farnese frescoes, attentive to the proper themes such as those of antique mythology.

Landscapes, genre art and drawings

On July 8, 1595, Annibale completed the painting of '' Saint Roch Giving Alms'', now in Dresden Gemäldegalerie. Other significant late works painted by Carracci in Rome include '' Domine quo vadis?'' (c. 1602), which reveals a striking economy in figure composition and a force and precision of gesture that influenced on

Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the Classicism, classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and ...

and through him, the language of gesture in painting. Carracci was remarkably eclectic in thematic, painting landscapes, genre scenes, and portraits, including a series of autoportraits across the ages. He was one of the first Italian painters to paint a canvas wherein

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

took priority over figures, such as his masterful '' The Flight into Egypt''; this is a genre in which he was followed by

Domenichino Domenico Zampieri (, ; October 21, 1581 – April 6, 1641), known by the diminutive Domenichino (, ) after his shortness, was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School of painters. Life Domenichino was born in Bologna, son of a shoe ...

(his favorite pupil) and

Claude Lorrain Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in I ...

. Carracci's art also had a less formal side that comes out in his caricatures (he is generally credited with inventing the form) and in his early

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

paintings, which are remarkable for their lively observation and free handling and his painting of ''The Beaneater''. He is described by biographers as inattentive to dress, obsessed with work: his self-portraits (such as that in Parma) vary in his depiction.

Under a melancholic humor

It is not clear how much work Annibale completed after finishing the major gallery in the Palazzo Farnese. In 1606, Annibale signed a ''Madonna of the bowl''. However, in a letter from April 1606, Cardinal Odoardo Farnese bemoaned that a "heavy melancholic humor" prevented Annibale from painting for him. Throughout 1607, Annibale was unable to complete a commission for the Duke of Modena of a ''Nativity''. There is a note from 1608, where in Annibale stipulates to a pupil that he will spend at least two hours a day in his studio. There is little documentation from the man or time to explain why his brush was stilled. In 1609, Annibale died and was buried, according to his wish, near Raphael in the Pantheon of Rome. It is a measure of his achievement that artists as diverse as

, Poussin, and

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...

praised his work. Many of his assistants or pupils in projects at the Palazzo Farnese and Herrera Chapel would become among the pre-eminent artists of the next decades, including

Francesco Albani Francesco Albani or Albano (17 March or 17 August 1578 – 4 October 1660) was an Italian Baroque painter of Albanian descent who was active in Bologna (1591–1600; 1609; 1610; 1618–1622), Rome (1600–1609; 1610–1617; 1623–1625), ...

Giovanni Lanfranco Giovanni Lanfranco (26 January 1582 – 30 November 1647) was an Italian Baroque painter. Biography Giovanni Gaspare Lanfranco was born in Parma, the third son of Stefano and Cornelia Lanfranchi, and was placed as a page in the household of Coun ...

Domenico Viola Domenico Viola (c.1610-1620 - 1696) was an Italian painter and draughtsman, who was born and died in Naples. His pupils included Francesco de Mura, whilst his contemporaries in the Accademia di San Luca included Michelangelo Cerquozzi. Many paints ...

Guido Reni Guido Reni (; 4 November 1575 – 18 August 1642) was an Italian Baroque painter, although his works showed a classical manner, similar to Simon Vouet, Nicolas Poussin, and Philippe de Champaigne. He painted primarily religious works, but al ...

Sisto Badalocchio Sisto Badalocchio Rosa (28 June 1585 – ) was an Italian Baroque painter and engraver of the Bolognese School. Born in Parma, he worked first under Agostino Carracci in Bologna, then Annibale Carracci, in Rome. He worked with Annibale till ...

, and others.

Chronology of works

Annibale_Carracci_-_The_Mystic_Marriage_of_St_Catherine_-_WGA4423

Paintings

* ''

Butcher's Shop ''Butcher's Shop'' is the title of two paintings by the Italian Baroque painter Annibale Carracci, both dating from the early 1580s. They are now in the collections of Christ Church Picture Gallery, Oxford, and the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Wor ...

'' (1580s)—Oil on canvas, 185 × 266 cm,

Christ Church Picture Gallery Christ Church Picture Gallery is an art gallery located inside Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. The gallery holds an important collection of about 300 Old Master paintings and nearly 2,000 drawings. The ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

* '' The Beaneater'' (1580–1590)—Oil on canvas, 57 × 68 cm,

Galleria Colonna Galleria Alberto Sordi, until 2003 Galleria Colonna, is a shopping arcade in Rome, Italy, named after the actor Alberto Sordi. It was designed in the early 1900s by the architect Dario Carbone and constructed on the Via del Corso as Galleria C ...

* ''

Descent from the Cross The Descent from the Cross (, ''Apokathelosis''), or Deposition of Christ, is the scene, as depicted in art, from the Gospels' accounts of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus taking Christ down from the cross after his crucifixion (John 19, ). I ...

'' (1580–1600)—

St Ann's Church, Manchester St Ann's Church is a Church of England parish church in Manchester, England. Although named after St Anne, it also pays tribute to the patron of the church, Ann, Lady Bland. St Ann's Church is a Grade I listed building. Architecture and setting ...

* '' Crucifixion with Saints'' (1583)—Oil on canvas, 305 × 210 cm,

Santa Maria della Carità, Bologna Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring gifts during the ...

* '' The Laughing Youth'' (1583)—Oil on paper,

Galleria Borghese The or Borghese Gallery is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana. At the outset, the gallery building was integrated with its gardens, but nowadays the Villa Borghese gardens are considered a separate touri ...

* '' Corpse of Christ'' (c. 1583–1585)—Oil on canvas, 70.7 × 88.8 cm,

Staatsgalerie Stuttgart The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (, "State Gallery") is an art museum in Stuttgart, Germany, it opened in 1843. In 1984, the opening of the Neue Staatsgalerie (''New State Gallery'') designed by James Stirling transformed the once provincial galler ...

* '' The Baptism of Christ'' (1584)—Oil on canvas,

* ''

An Allegory of Truth and Time ''An Allegory of Truth and Time'' is a 1584–85 oil on canvas painting by the Italian Baroque art, Italian Baroque master Annibale Carracci, now on display in Hampton Court as part of the Royal Collection. It is not mentioned in any of the 17th ...

'' (1584–1585)—

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic List of British royal residences, royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King ...

(

Hampton Court Hampton Court Palace is a Listed building, Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal ...

) * ''

Pietà with Saints Clare, Francis and Mary Magdalene ''Pietà with Saints Clare, Francis and Mary Magdalene'' is a 1585 oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian artist Annibale Carracci, now in the Galleria nazionale di Parma. It was produced for the high altar of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, ...

'' (1585)—Oil on canvas,

Galleria nazionale di Parma The Galleria nazionale di Parma is an art gallery in Parma, northern Italy. Painters exhibited in the museum include Beato Angelico, Fra Angelico, Canaletto, Ludovico Carracci ('' The Funeral of the Virgin Mary''), Agostino Carracci ('' Madonna ...

* '' The Mystic Marriage of St Catherine'' (1585–1587)—Oil on canvas,

Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy designed by Giovanni Antonio Medrano. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with sever ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

* '' Madonna Enthroned with St Matthew'' (1588)—Oil on canvas, 384 × 255 cm, Gemäldegalerie,

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

* ''

Venus with a Satyr and Two Cupids ''Venus with a Satyr and Two Cupids'' or ''The Bacchante'' (''La Baccante'') is a 1588-1590 oil on canvas painting by Annibale Carracci, now in the Uffizi in Florence. Its dating is based on its strong Venetian influence - the artist was briefly ...

'' (c. 1588)—Oil on canvas, 112 × 142 cm,

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery ( ; , ) is a prominent art museum adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums and the most visited, it is also one of th ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

* '' Self-Portrait in Profile'' (1590s)—Oil on canvas,

* ''

'' (c. 1590)—Oil on canvas, 130 × 97 cm,

Museo del Prado The Museo del Prado ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It houses collections of Art of Europe, European art, dating from the 12th century to the early 20th ce ...

*'' Madonna and Child with Saints'' * '' The Virgin Appears to the Saints Luke and Catherine'' (1592)—Oil on canvas, 401 × 226 cm,

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

* ''

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

'' (before 1595)—Oil on canvas, 136 × 253 cm,

* ''

Hunting Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

'' (before 1595)—Oil on canvas, 136 × 253 cm,

* '' Venus, Adonis and Cupid'' (c. 1595)—Oil on canvas, 212 × 268 cm,

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

* '' Saint Roch Giving Alms'' (1595)—Oil on canvas, Gemäldegalerie,

* '' The Choice of Heracles'' (c. 1596)—Oil on canvas, 167 × 273 cm,

* ''

Mocking of Christ The mocking of Jesus occurred several times, after his Sanhedrin trial of Jesus, trial and before his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion according to the canonical gospels of the New Testament. It is considered part of the Passion (Christianity), ...

'' (c. 1596)—Oil on canvas, 60 × 69.5 cm, Pinacoteca Nazionale * '' Jupiter and Juno'' (c. 1597)—

Farnese Gallery, Rome ''The Loves of the Gods'' is a monumental fresco cycle, completed by the Bolognese artist Annibale Carracci and his studio, in the Farnese Gallery which is located in the west wing of the Palazzo Farnese, now the French Embassy, in Rome. The fres ...

* Frescoes (1597–1605) in the

* '' River Landscape'' (c. 1599)—Oil on canvas,

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

* ''

Pietà The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Mary (mother of Jesus), Blessed Virgin Mary cradling the mortal body of Jesus Christ after his Descent from the Cross. It is most often found in sculpture. ...

'' (1599–1600)—Oil on canvas, 156 × 149 cm,

* '' The Madonna and Sleeping Child with the Infant St John the Baptist'' (1599–1600)—Oil on canvas, 51.2 x 68.4 cm, Royal Collection (Hampton Court) * ''

Rest on the Flight into Egypt The Rest on the Flight into Egypt is a subject in Christian art showing Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, Saint Joseph, Joseph, and the infant Jesus resting during their flight into Egypt. The Holy Family is normally shown in a landscape. The s ...

'' (c. 1600)—Oil on canvas, diameter 82.5 cm,

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

* ''

The Three Marys at the Tomb ''The Three Marys at the Tomb'' is a c. 1410–26 panel painting usually attributed to Hubert van Eyck, now in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam. The painting was included at the seminal Exposition des primitifs flamands à Bruges in ...

'' (c.1600)—Oil on canvas,

, St. Petersburg * ''

Assumption of the Virgin Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of whether Mary died or whether she was ra ...

'' (1600–1601)—Oil on panel, 245 × 155 cm,

* '' Domine quo vadis?'' (1601–1602)—Oil on panel, 77.4 × 56.3 cm,

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

* ''

Pietà with Saint Francis and Saint Mary Magdalene ''Pietà with Saint Francis and Saint Mary Magdalene'' is a 1602-1607 oil on canvas painting by Annibale Carraci. Now in the Louvre, it was Napoleonic looting, looted from the Mattei family chapel in San Francesco a Ripa in Rome by Napoleon's tro ...

''—Oil on canvas, 277 x 186 cm, Louvre, Paris * '' The Flight into Egypt'' (1603)—Oil on canvas, 122 × 230 cm,

Galleria Doria Pamphilj The Galleria Doria Pamphilj (often Doria Pamphilj Gallery or Doria Pamphili Gallery in English) is a large private art collection housed in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome, Italy, between Via del Corso and Via della Gatta. The principal entr ...

* '' Sleeping Venus'' (c. 1603)—Oil on canvas, 190 × 328 cm,

Musée Condé The – in English, the Condé Museum – is a French museum located inside the Château de Chantilly in Chantilly, Oise, 40 km north of Paris. In 1897, Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, son of Louis Philippe I, bequeathed the château and ...

Chantilly, Oise Chantilly ( , ; Picard language, Picard: ''Cantily'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department in the Nonette (river), Valley of the Nonette in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region of Northern Franc ...

* '' The Martyrdom of St Stephen'' (1603–1604)—Oil on canvas, 51 × 68 cm,

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

, Paris * ''

Self-portrait Self-portraits are Portrait painting, portraits artists make of themselves. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, the practice of self-portraiture only gaining momentum in the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century ...

'' (c. 1604)—Oil on wood, 42 × 30 cm,

* ''

Portable Altarpiece with Pietà and Saints ''Portable Altarpiece with Pietà and Saints'' is a 1603 oil on canvas painting by Annibale Carracci in a gold, ebony and copper frame. It is now in the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Rome. A small altarpiece commissioned by cardinal Odoar ...

'' (1604–1605)—Oil on copper and panel, 37 × 24 cm (central panel), 37 × 12 cm (each wing),

Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica The Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica or National Gallery of Ancient Art is an art museum in Rome, Italy. It is the principal national collection of older paintings in Rome – mostly from before 1800; it does not hold any antiquities. It has two s ...

* '' The Birth of the Virgin'' (1605–1609)—Oil on canvas, Louvre, Paris * ''

Lamentation of Christ The Lamentation of Christ is a very common subject in Christian art from the High Middle Ages to the Baroque. After Crucifixion of Jesus, Jesus was crucified, his Descent from the Cross, body was removed from the cross and his friends mourned over ...

'' (1606)—Oil on canvas, 92.8 × 103.2 cm,

Drawings

* ''Atlante'' Red chalk,

, Paris * Drawings (exhibit,

)

Works after Carracci

* ''Venus and Adonis'' (c. 1595)—Oil on canvas, 217 × 246 cm,

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien ( "Vienna Museum of art history, Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts, Vienna") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, i ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Paintings

The tradition of

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

painting and the mature Renaissance artists like Raphael, Michelangelo, Correggio, Titian and Veronese are all painters who had a considerable influence on the work of the Carracci, in his use of colours. Carraci laid the foundations for the birth of Baroque painting. The preceding sterile Mannerist style had its recovery now in the Baroque painting in the early sixteenth century, succeeding in an original synthesis of the many schools. The paintings of Annibale are inspired by the Venetian pictorial taste and especially the paintings of

Paolo Veronese Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , ; ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana (Veronese), The Wedding ...

. The work that show traces of it are the ''Madonna Enthroned with Saint Matthew'', a work made for Reggio Emilia and now in the Gemäldegalerie, Dresden, and the ''Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria'' (ca. 1575), now preserved at the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice. File:Annibale Carracci - Christ Wearing the Crown of Thorns, Supported by Angels - WGA04427.jpg, ''Christ Wearing the Crown of Thorns, Supported by Angels'' File:Annibale Carracci - The Samaritan Woman at the Well - WGA4446.jpg, ''The Samaritan Woman at the Well'' File:Annibale Carracci Madonna del silienzio.jpg, ''The silent Madonna with Saint John the Baptist'' File:Annibale Carracci susanna.jpg, ''Susanna in the bath'' File:Annibale Carracci, Pietà, Kunsthistorichen, Vienna.jpg, ''Pietà'', Kunsthistoriche Museum, Vienna File:Annibale Carracci - Lamentation of Christ - WGA4436.jpg, ''Lamentation of Christ'' File:Carracci, Annibale - Madonna and Child with St John - Google Art Project.jpg, '' Madonna and Child with St John'' File:Annibale Carracci San Rocco e l'Angelo.jpg, ''Saint Roch and the Angel'' File:Annibale Carracci, Autoritratto .jpg, Self-portrait, c. 1580 File:Annibale Carracci, attrib., Portrait of an African Slave Woman, ca. 1580s. Oil on canvas, 60 x 39 x 2 cm (fragment of a larger painting.jpg, ''Portrait of an African Woman Holding a Clock'', c. 1585''Apollo'' (8 March 2017).
Pick of the fair: Tomasso Brothers
. Retrieved 14 June 2020. File:Annibale Carracci - The Temptation of St Anthony Abbot (detail) - WGA4426.jpg, ''The Temptation of St Anthony Abbot'' (detail), 1597–98 File:Carracci, Annibale - Head of an Old Man - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Head of an Old Man'' File:Annibale Carracci ritratto del medico Bossi.jpg, ''Portrait of Dr Bossi'' File:Annibale Carracci - Venus and Adonis - WGA4429.jpg, ''Venus and Adonis'', c. 1595 File:Jupiter and Juno Annibale Carracci fragment.jpg, ''Jupiter and Juno'', 1602,

File:Annibale Carracci - Sleeping Venus - WGA4449.jpg, ''Sleeping Venus'' File:Annibale Carracci - The Choice of Heracles - WGA4416.jpg, ''The Judgment of Hercules'', 1596,

National Museum of Capodimonte Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy designed by Giovanni Antonio Medrano. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with sever ...

File:Annibale Carracci - Venus with a Satyr and Cupids - WGA4430.jpg, ''

'', 1590 File:'Boy Drinking' by Annibale Carracci, 1582-83.JPG, ''Boy Drinking'' by Annibale Carracci, 1582–83 File:Carracci - Der Bohnenesser.jpeg, '' The Beaneater'', 1580–1590,

File:Carracci-Butcher's shop.jpg, ''

'', 1580,

File:Annibale Carracci - The Butcher's Shop - Google Art Project.jpg, '' The Butcher's Shop'', 1580,

Kimbell Art Museum The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, hosts an art collection as well as traveling art exhibitions, educational programs and an extensive research library. Its initial artwork came from the private collection of Kay and Velma Kimbell, w ...

Footnotes

References

Catholic Encyclopedia: Carracci
* Christiansen, Keith

In ''Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History''. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. (October 2003) * * * H. Keazor: ''"Distruggere la maniera?": die Carracci-Postille'', Freiburg im Breisgau, 2002. * C. Dempsey: ''Annibale Carracci and the beginnings of baroque style'', Harvard, 1977; 2nd ed. Fiesole, 2000. * A. W. A. Boschloo: ''Annibale Carracci in Bologna: visible reality in art after the Council of Trent'', 's-Gravenhage, 1974. * C. Goldstein: ''Visual fact over verbal fiction: a study of the Carracci and the criticism, theory, and practice of art in Renaissance and baroque Italy'', Cambridge, 1988. * D. Posner: ''Annibale Carracci: a study in the reform of Italian painting around 1590'', 2 vol., New York, 1971. * S. Ginzburg: ''Annibale Carracci a Roma: gli affreschi di Palazzo Farnese'', Rome, 2000. * C. Loisel: ''Inventaire général des dessins italiens'', vol. 7: Ludovico, Agostino, Annibale Carracci (Musée du Louvre: Cabinet des Dessins), Paris, 2004. * B. Bohn: ''Ludovico Carracci and the art of drawing'', London, 2004. * ''Annibale Carracci'', catalogo della mostra a cura di D. Benati, E. Riccomini, Bologna-Roma, 2006–2007. * M. C. Terzaghi: ''Caravaggio, Annibale Carracci, Guido Reni tra le ricevute del Banco Herrera & Costa'', Roma, 2007. * H. Keazor: ''"Il vero modo". Die Malereireform der Carracci'', (Neue Frankfurter Forschungen zur Kunst 5), Berlin: Gebrüder Mann Verlag, 2007. * C. Robertson: ''The Invention of Annibale Carracci'' (Studi della Bibliotheca Hertziana, 4), Milano, 2008. * F. Gage: "Invention, Wit and Melancholy in the Art of Annibale Carracci." ''Intellectual History Review'' 24.3 (2014): 389–413. Special Issue, The Nature of Invention. Edited by Alexander Marr and Vera Keller.

External links

*
Annibale Carracci artistic context, technique and artworks

Annibale Carracci at the WikiGallery.org

Annibale Carracci, ''Christ Healing the Sick'', 16th century, etching, Bryn Mawr College Art and Artifact Collections

''Jusepe de Ribera, 1591–1652''
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Carracci (see index)
''Painters of reality: the legacy of Leonardo and Caravaggio in Lombardy''
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Carracci (see index) {{DEFAULTSORT:Carracci, Annibale 1560 births 1609 deaths 16th-century Italian painters Italian male painters 17th-century Italian painters Italian Roman Catholics Painters from Bologna Italian Baroque painters Burials at the Pantheon, Rome Sibling artists Catholic painters