Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/297

CARRACCI. of San Giovanni. In Wnii'e he studied Titian and Veronese, wliile Aeostino I>eeanie a friend of Tintoretto, ;uul ixciipii'il liiinself cliielly with engraving, as a pupil ol Cornelius Cort (i|.v.). Upon their return to Bologna, in loSJ, l^odo- vico, who hail attained prominenec, associated them with him in the decoration of Palazzo tava. The subjects represented were '"Scenes from the .-Kneid" and the "Voyage of the Argo- nauts": and the frescoes, being lirst attempts, were of no great artistic merit. Hut the hostile criticism which they caused, especially by reason of their naturalism, caused the Carracoi to found their famous academy. (See BoLOo.NE.sE School OF P.WXTIXG.) They called it the "Accademia degli Incaminati"' (i.e. of those on the right road), and endeavored to give their pupils a theoretical and practical knowledge of painting, instead of the mere manual dexterity of the Mannerists. Their means of instruction included living models, dissection of dead bodies, plaster easts, the antique, drawings and engravings of the great masters, lectures on perspective and color. This was, in fact, the first modern acad- emy of art, and it .soon became the most impor- tant in Italy. Its chief endeavor was to unite the excellences of all Italian schools of the great period. The idea was originally Lodovico's, but the scholarly Agostino gave the theoretical and antiquarian instruction. At this period the Car- racci worked much together, and it is difTicult to determine the part of each in the common result. Their styles of painting are very similar: good drawing, a certain generality of type, and color based upon a study of the Venetians, and espe- cially of Correggio. In general, we can go no further than to say of this joint work that the design and composition are due to Agostino, but the execution to the other two. In 1.589 they finished their second important work in com- mon : the frieze of Palazzo Magnani, re])resent- ing the '"Story of RoTunlus." In their third joint commission, the decoration of Palazzo Sampieri, each painted the ceiling of a different room, I.odovico representing the "Battle of a Giant •with Zeus"; Agostino, "Harcules and Atlas"; and Annibale, "Hercules Encouraged by Virtue." Thus we have a basis for the comparison of their individual styles. Lodovico's art is more virile and grander in form than that of the others; it contains more pathos, more violent action, re- minding one somewhat of ^lichelangelo or Tin- toretto. It has traces of mannerism, from which the others are free. Ifis coloring is derived mostly from Correggio. and is inferior to that of his cousins. Agostino's was exact in drawing, harmonious in composition, and delicate in color. His work is the most refined of the three, and has greater intellectual content: for while his learning chastened his art. it did not interfere with it. Annibale was a more facile painter, and executed a far larger number of pieces. His imagination was more spontaneous, and his art more natural and naive. His colors are fresh and bright, but not so harmonious as those of Agostino. These differenees may be studied even better in their separate works, in which the Gallery of Bologna is richest. The earliest examples show the influence of the masters who were their models, and Lodovico's are strongly tinged with mannerism. His '"Sermon of .lohn the Baptist" (1591). in Uie Gallcrv of Polotnia, shows strong 249 CARRACCI. naturalistic tendencies, while the "Vision of Saint Hyacinth," now in the Louvre, is a charm- ing combination of the inllucnccs composing Ec- lecticism. In like manner, Amiibale's ""Assump- tion of the Virgin" (Dresden) and his ""Pieta" (Gallery of Parma) show the inlluence of Cor- reggio, while his '"Assumption," in the Gallery of Bologna, reminds one of Veronese. But his "'Santa Conversazione" (q.v.), also in Bologna, is a perfect specimen of Eclecticism. Annibale executed a large number of small compositions of this description, (harming in sentiment and execution. Among his larger canvases, the '"Jla- donna Appearing to Saint Luke and Saint Cath- arine" (1.51)2) and the ""Kesurrection," both in the Louvre, and his "Saint Roche Giving Alms" (Dresden), show his highest development in oil painting. His "Three llarys" in Castle Howard (Yorkshire) shows a wonderful pathos of grief. Agostino was more occupied with engraving than with painting. In 1589 he engraved Tinto- retto's "Crucifixion" in the Suola di San Rocco with such success that .Tintoretto himself pro- nounced the engraving better than the original. Agostino was fond of living in ^'enice, where his poetic and scholarly gifts were much appre- ciated, and where his son was born. Upon his return to Bologna he devoted himself anew to painting. His celebrated "Last Communion of Saint .Jerome," painted for the Church of San Michele in Bosco, now in the Pinacoteca of Bo- logna, dates from lo9'2. Though surpassed in some res])ects by Domenichino's picture of the same subject, which was modeled upon it, this composition is a masterpiece of careful drawing, delicate color, and truthfulness of expression. His "Adulteress Before Christ," painted some- what later, is also excellent in color and in action, and has a fine architectural background. Xot the least among the achievements of the Carracei was the revival of the landscape (q.v.). They treated it not only as a background for figure-painting, as their predecessors had done, but as an independent subject, in which the fig- ures were accessories, thus becoming the origina- tors of the modern landscape, and the true predecessors of Gaspard Dughet and Claude Lor- rain (q.v.). This was done by Agostino, and especially by Annibale, who excelled in this work. His landscapes may be found in the gal- leries of Paris, Saint Petersburg. Madrid, Flor- ence, and especially in the Palazzo Doria-Pam- fili, Rome. ^ In 1597 the Carracei were invited to undertake the most famous and extensive of their works, the decoration of the gallery of the Farnese Palace in Rome. After arranging the business details, Lodovico returned to Bologna, leaving the execu- tion of the work to his cousins. Agostino, as- sisted by Monsignore Agucchi, determined the composition. The subject was mythological, and rej)resented the "Power of Love" over the strong, the proud, the chaste — over the universe. The frescoes show the influence of the Ronian .School, especially of Raphael: the dispositioii of space is modeled upon Michelangelo's ceiling of the Sistinc Chapel. They are admirable pieces of decoration, the ornamental portion being partic- ularly good. Agostino executed the two princi- l)al pictures of the long walls, the "Triumph of Galatea" and the "Rape of Cephalus." his chief works in fresco-painting — both excellent compo- sitions, rich and symmetrical in line, fresh and