Annibale Carracci

Annibale Carracci was a respected Baroque painter from the 16th and 17th centuries

AnnibaleCarracci.com looks in details at the career of this creative Italian and displays some of his most significant works in a gallery below. Despite the centuries which have passed since his career took place, the reputation of Carracci remains strong, particularly in his native Italy where most of his art still remains. Annibale Carracci took on an unusually wide range of content during his career, with religious depictions, various portraits and landscapes all included. Typical for this period and throughout the Renaissance too was for artists to concentrate almost entirely on religious scenes, with related institutions being those who offered the best commissions at that time.

Annibale Carracci again is shown above with another of his art works. Italy continues to make a popular destination for art fans looking to discover the originals from one of the most significant periods in European art and there are several cities where most of the key contributors congregated. Carracci himself was brought up in Bologna and became part of their school of art before moving into larger cities where he could take in more influences and also have more opportunities to further his own career.

Italian art dominated Europe during the earlier Renaissance and it continued to have success in the Baroque movement which followed, though with other countries also contributing significant artists. Carracci was undoubtably one of the most influential from Italy, as the country was to become known afterwards. The paintings selected for display with in this website are a combination of those which are seen as technically his best as well as those which are most popular with fans of his career who may desire reproductions of them for their own homes. In truth, the two are normally fairly closely matched as publicity will always be greater around those that are most approved of by academics.

Carracci was an artist who liked to capture the lives of local people in his work and this is also relatively unusual for that period, with most good commissions coming from portraits of local noblemen, meaning few works of the poorer parts of society would have existed. Annibale Carracci seemed to prefer portraying those who he felt had more character and diversity and would only use richer subjects as a way of financing the work which he much prefered to do. Italy remains one of the centerpieces for European art and this country played a crucial role in pushing new ideas onwards from what had been seen around the Middle Ages and earlier.

The states of what is now Italy would compete against each other in lavishing their key buildings with the best art and cultural items that they could muster, thus increasing a worth of the best artists substantially. Carracci came about at a time when things were more established after the achievements of earlier artists.

Annibale Carracci Paintings

Annibale Carracci paintings feature elements typical of the Baroque period with use of light and movement which was bolder than had been seen in the various stages of the Renaissance. The artist's drawings are also worthy of note. Titian himself is known to have influenced many of those who followed through his subtle touches to add finer detail slightly differently to he likes of the Renaissance masters like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. See also Raphael and Caravaggio.

This artist became a major contributor to the Bolognese School which was one of the more significant regional schools of art to be found in the various regions of what we now call Italy at that time. All of these schools were excellent ways that Italy passed on it's artistic dominance onto future generations and help ensure that all artistic developments were secured and taken further onwards with each generation. Carracci was fortunate enough to be in the position in his early years of being able to travel around Italy for several years, with the intention of learning as much about painting and art in general as he could.

This period certainly aided his later career and it is widely accepted that Titian was to become one of the greatest influences on his own progression as an artist, with clear similarities between the work of the two having been pointed out by academics in recent years. Flight into Egypt was one of his most impressive landscapes and was carefully put into a circular canvas as part of an installation. It came around in 1603 at a time when the artist was fully established as one of the leading names in Italy and that allowed him to be bolder and more imaginative with his work, without having to pander to overbearing customers for his work.

Annibale Carracci Sculptures

Annibale Carracci Sculptures are much rarer than his paintings but still very much worth checking out, as shown in the picture above. Italy was clearly a more localised region during the time of this artist and as such it was necessary to put yourself in the right areas of the country in order to promote yourself. Nowadays the Internet has to a certain degree allowed artists to spread across boundaries far more easily. All artists over the centuries have sought to find a point in their career where their reputation is such that they can pick and choose which artistic projects they can on, as well as also having the respect from others to allow them the freedom to express themselves and make the most of their ability.

Carracci reached that very point, as the work included here suggests. The gallery included here is just a quick selection of the artist's career to provide a summary of his varied approaches but there are fuller displays available from the links provided with in this website at Art.com. We make a small amount from anyone who chooses to buy reproduction paintings or prints from their website. Having used them ourselves we are also more than happy to include them here. Those who are impressed by the work of artists mentioned here should really look into others of that era, with a plethora of Baroque painters appearing from across Europe around the same time as Carracci.

Besides the work of Carracci, other notable names from around this period include Giotto, Giorgione, Giovanni Bellini and Fra Angelico. Furthermore, key exponents of sculpture and painting include Masaccio and Gianlorenzo Bernini. It was then that other countries had started to offer the same artistic innovations as Italy and come up with their own ideas for how things should develop in the future.

Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne

Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne is shown above certainly rates as one of the more detailed and large-scale works from Carracci's career. It features the approach seen regularly during tht period of dramatic scenes over large canvases, with detail spread across the painting in a thorough way which makes seeing the original far more impressive than simply enjoying our photo of Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne as shown above.

Carracci took on religious paintings, such as shown with the likes of Assumption of the Virgin, The Baptism of Christ, Crucifixion, Descent From the Cross, Madonna Enthroned with St Matthew, Venus and Adonis, The Virgin Appears to the Saints Luke and Catherine, Lamentation of Christ, Mocking of Christ and The Martyrdom of St Stephen but he still had time to cover many other styles of work as well. Many artists from the early era of the Renaissance spent their whole careers just on this topic, but Annabale held much more ambition. The Beaneater was another interesting painting created between 1580 and 1590.

This has similarities to some of the work of Van Gogh, with both artists offering personal portraits of the poor, always managing to choose characters who wore their life visually upon themselves. In Beaneater there is a capturing of a working man, enjoying a rare moment of relaxation as he enjoys his hard-earned dinner. You will see many examples in the career of Van Gogh where this approach is continued, with Potato Eaters being amongst the best examples.

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ can be found in so many of the Christian-related works, such was the role that he played in that religion. The painting shown above was entitled Christ appearing to St Peter on the Appian Way and is one of the finer ones from his career. Typically the experiences and sacrifices made by Christ during his life for the benefit of others is the normal way in which he is depicted with in western art and these types of paintings are meant to serve as a reminder to others to never forget what he did.

Carracci was fundamental to parts of the painting section of the Baroque movement and the hallmark of this movement in general was the greater action and activity which could be found with in it's scenes, pushing ideas onwards from what the Renaissance artists had skillfully created several centuries earlier. There was very little gap from one to another and the two movements roughly crossed over for a short period as artists' styles began to change over time.

The religious institutions of the time were very keen to see baroque artists portray key themes related to their teachings in order to further strengthen the impact of them over the public, with visual displays making the narratives come to life and feel more believable. In the same way, illustrations with in Christian books were great ways of bringing an imagination to life and empower the stories.

A List of Famous Annibale Carracci Paintings

AnnibaleCarracci.com offers a great selection of significant art, but please see below for a more extensive list of the artist's highlights.

• The Nativity
• Christ appearing to St Peter on the Appian Way
• Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne
• Christ Carrying the Cross