Agostino Carracci | |
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_-_Zelfportret_met_uurwerk_-_Bologna_Museo_della_storia_di_Bologna_29-04-2012_15-24-24.JPG) Self portrait as a watchmaker | |
| Born | 16 August 1557 |
| Died | 23 March 1602(1602-03-23) (aged 44) |
| Known for | Painting |
| Movement | Baroque |
| Children | Antonio Marziale |
| Relatives |
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Agostino Carracci (/kəˈrɑːtʃi/kə-RAH-chee,UK also/kəˈrætʃi/kə-RATCH-ee,Italian:[aɡoˈstiːnokarˈrattʃi]; alsoCaracci; 16 August 1557 – 22 March 1602) was an Italian painter,printmaker, tapestry designer, and art teacher. He was, together with his brother,Annibale Carracci, and cousin,Ludovico Carracci, one of the founders of theAccademia degli Incamminati (Academy of the Progressives) inBologna. Intended to devise alternatives to theMannerist style favoured in the preceding decades,[1] this teaching academy helped propel painters of theSchool of Bologna to prominence.
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Agostino Carracci was born inBologna as the son of a tailor. He was the elder brother of Annibale Carracci and the cousin of Ludovico Carracci. He initially trained as a goldsmith. He later studied painting, first withProspero Fontana, who had been Lodovico's master, and later withBartolomeo Passarotti. He travelled to Parma to study the works ofCorreggio. Accompanied by his brother Annibale, he spent a long time in Venice, where he trained as an engraver under the renownedCornelis Cort.[2] Starting from 1574 he worked as a reproductiveengraver, copying works of 16th century masters such asFederico Barocci,Tintoretto,Antonio Campi,Veronese andCorreggio. He also produced some original prints, including twoetchings.
He travelled toVenice (1582, 1587–1589) andParma (1586–1587). Together with Annibale and Ludovico he worked in Bologna on the fresco cycles inPalazzo Fava (Histories of Jason and Medea, 1584) andPalazzo Magnani (Histories of Romulus, 1590–1592). In 1592, he also painted theCommunion of St. Jerome, now in thePinacoteca di Bologna and considered his masterwork. In 1620,Giovanni Lanfranco, a pupil of the Carracci, famously accused another Carracci student,Domenichino, of plagiarising this painting. From 1586 is his altarpiece of theMadonna with Child and Saints, in the National Gallery ofParma. In 1598, Carracci joined his brother Annibale in Rome to collaborate on the decoration of the Gallery inPalazzo Farnese. From 1598 to 1600 is atriple Portrait, now inNaples, an example of genre painting. In 1600, he was called to Parma by DukeRanuccio I Farnese to begin the decoration of the Palazzo del Giardino, but he died before it was finished. His friend the poetClaudio Achillini composed anepitaph, which was later published byCarlo Cesare Malvasia in the life of the Carracci.[3]
Agostino's sonAntonio Carracci was also a painter, and attempted to compete with his father's Academy.
An engraving by Agostino Carracci after the paintingLove in the Golden Age by the 16th-century Flemish painterPaolo Fiammingo was the inspiration forMatisse'sLe bonheur de vivre (Joy of Life).[4]
While his undoubted value in the graphic field is widely recognised, Agostino, as a painter, although admired by his contemporaries, ended up being overshadowed by the fame of his brother Annibale. Perhaps even his long practice of engraving ended up putting him at a disadvantage, since he might have been perceived as more inclined to copy than to create.
Even Giovanni Pietro Bellori, who included Agostino Carracci in his selective collection of biographies of artists (Vite de' pittori, scultori e architetti moderni, 1672), described his activity as a painter, with the sole exception of theCommunion of Saint Jerome, a work that he praises, almost entirely limited to the role of supporting his younger brother Annibale, and reproaches him for having dedicated too much of his work to graphic production.[5]
The modern critical evaluation of the painter Agostino Carracci probably still suffers from the negative legacies of the past. The fact that there is still only one important monograph dedicated to him published (Stephen E. Ostrow, from theUnited States, 1966, never translated into Italian), and that an individual exhibition on this artist has yet to be held, are probably significant factors that show that he remains an underrated artist.
However, there has been a positive critical reevaluation of the painter, since there is now a better awareness of his artistic role, alongside his more famous relatives, and the knowledge of his personal work is now greater.
Oil on canvas unless otherwise noted
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