Antonio Marziale Carracci
Encyclopedia
Antonio Marziale Carracci (1583 – 8 April 1618) was an Italian
painter
. He was the natural son of Agostino Carracci
.
Carracci was born in the parish of Sta Lucia in Venice
, probably in 1583, the product of an affair with a courtesan called Isabella, occurring on his father first visit to Venice. Giovanni Battista Agucchi, a friend and protégé of Cardinal Odoardo Farnese tells us in a 1609 letter , raised along with Sisto Badalocchio
and a near contemporary to Domenichino and Lanfranco
. He first apprenticed with his father. The main Baroque
artist biographers of his time, Baglione, Bellori
and Malvasia
, make some note of him.
He first apprenticed with his father. Malvasia recalls his father admired a ‘’Madonna and Child’’ that completed at the age of seventeen. Annibale’s 1590s portrait of a boy resembles those in Malvasia’s woodcut with 1678 ‘’’Felsina Pittrice’’’. He may also be the boy in the Brera portrait group, including Annibale’s father Mastro Antonio.
When his father died in 1602, Antonio moved to Rome to work under his uncle Annibale
to whom he developed a deep affection. He likely worked on the frescoes of the Galleria Farnese, on the lunettes for the Palazzo Aldobrandini chapel, and probably in the Herrera Chapel. After his uncle’s passing he received commissions in Rome from Cardinal Tonti and Cardinal Peretti-Montalto , including the ‘’Stanza del Diluvio’’ in the Quirinal Palace
, and major altarpieces like Berlin ‘’Madonna and Child with Saints and Galleria Corsini ‘’Nativity’’.
The self-assurance of the letters he wrote to Cardinal Farnese and his father’s old protector, Cardinal Spinola, after his uncle’s death suggest they were written by Agucchi, who in his slightly later (September 12, 1609) letter to Dulcini all about Antonio, speaks of a career that is already well begun. Malvasia misquotes this letter and copies it as ‘[Antonio’s work] seems that of a beginner’ the MS actually says the opposite ‘il suo fare non pare da principiante’. It is no surprise to see that Antonio speaks of the impegni that he already has, to read that he has learned enough ‘tanto da tirarmi avanti da me stesso’, and that he sees himself as maintaining the Carracci school in Bologna, and turning the studio to service to the Farnese ‘in essa scuola, procurerò che s’avanzino in essa per dovere indirizzare l’opera l’oro al servizio di V.S. Ill.ma...’
Antonio inherited the studio against the claims of Annibale’s surviving brother Giovanni Antonio, who contested the inheritance by throwing doubt on his nephew’s paternity. Despite gaining commissions, those from the Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, the main patron after the Farnese, declined once the cardinal's uncle Clement VIII died in 1605. This also coincides with the onset of Annibale’s incapacitating illness. The ascent of the Borghese Pope, Paul V, continued the decline of the studio. By report, Annibale could not receive Cardinal Scipione Borghese, slipping out of a back door when he came to the studio; but Antonio was introduced to the pope's Prodatario, Cardinal Tonti, also an avid collector. Tonti employed Antonio to paint four chapels in his church; other public commissions included a chapel in Santa Maria in Monticelli, work in Sant' Girolamo dei Schiavoni, Santa Maria in Trastevere, and Sant' Sebastiano fuori le Mura, and in Palazzo Mattei
. Antonio and Guido Reni
collaborated in the decoration of the Cappella dell’ Annunciata in the Palazzo Quirinal, painting a frieze of the Stanza del Diluvio. He contributed, around 1616, to the Alexander frescoes done for Cardinal Peretti Montalto; other works were done for Marchese Giustiniani, Cardinal Orsino, the Ludovisi
, Cavalier Sachetti, Dionigio Buonavia in Bologna; and of course he was under the protection of Cardinal Odoardo Farnese, who recognized him as his ‘pittor di casa’ and paid him a monthly stipend.
Antonio was well-known for doing cabinet-size compositions often based on the great variety of graphic material in possession of the Carracci studio. His masterpiece, The Deluge was one of Cardinal Mazarin’s most prized pictures, and influential for Poussin
’s early Battle paintings as well as his paintings of the Seasons for Louis XIV 40 years later. With his Reni
-like refinement, articulation of narrative, space, gesture and expression, the Deluge was an important academic collaboration with Agucchi.
Antonio was greatly admired by contemporaries, such that made his early death a particularly tragic loss "nel morire che seguì nel 1618 mostrò tal contritione e sentimento che simil passaggi si vedono in pochi". Recently, his reputation has declined, and he has been described as a small-scale and awkward mimic of his elder's works. His friend Giulio Mancini
said he not only inherited Annibale’s studio, but also "Herede dei suoi disegni et arte fù Antonio...". Antonio, being as Guido put it, the ‘ultima scintilla (del) valor Caraccesco’ had in fact more invested in the Carracci studio than anyone else.
The original of the much copied composition of the Martyrdom of St Denis (‘St Denis effrayant ses bourreaux’) is evidently by Antonio, and the companion subject to his St Paul
baptizing St Denis.
It was not an idle encomium on Mancini
’s part when he spoke that Antonio ‘mostrò gran segni di dover venir grande’. All the same, it was easy for his identity to be subsumed to that of elder Carracci. Because he shared the same initials as his father and uncle, and because the Carracci often collaborated, paintings by them were often confused. When Padre Resta gave the drawing of the Deluge, which he had had from Bellori, to Max Emmanuel of Bavaria, he was pleased to hear that the Elector treasured the gift and kept it on a table at his bedside; but ‘lo teneva per pittura d’Annibale’.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. He was the natural son of Agostino Carracci
Agostino Carracci
Agostino Carracci was an Italian painter and printmaker. He was the brother of the more famous Annibale and cousin of Lodovico Carracci....
.
Life
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, probably in 1583, the product of an affair with a courtesan called Isabella, occurring on his father first visit to Venice. Giovanni Battista Agucchi, a friend and protégé of Cardinal Odoardo Farnese tells us in a 1609 letter , raised along with Sisto Badalocchio
Sisto Badalocchio
Sisto Badalocchio Rosa was an Italian 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 1609, then moving back to Parma...
and a near contemporary to Domenichino and Lanfranco
Giovanni Lanfranco
Giovanni Lanfranco was an Italian painter of the Baroque period.-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 Count Orazio Scotti...
. He first apprenticed with his father. The main Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
artist biographers of his time, Baglione, Bellori
Gian Pietro Bellori
Gian Pietro Bellori , also known as Giovanni Pietro Bellori or Giovan Pietro Bellori, was an Italian painter and antiquarian but more famously, a prominent biographer of artists of the 17th century, equivalent to Giorgio Vasari in the 16th century...
and Malvasia
Count Carlo Cesare Malvasia
Carlo Cesare Malvasia was an Italian scholar and art historian from Bologna, best known for his biographies of Baroque artists titled Felsina pittrice, vite de’ pittori bolognesi, published in 1678....
, make some note of him.
He first apprenticed with his father. Malvasia recalls his father admired a ‘’Madonna and Child’’ that completed at the age of seventeen. Annibale’s 1590s portrait of a boy resembles those in Malvasia’s woodcut with 1678 ‘’’Felsina Pittrice’’’. He may also be the boy in the Brera portrait group, including Annibale’s father Mastro Antonio.
When his father died in 1602, Antonio moved to Rome to work under his uncle Annibale
Annibale Carracci
Annibale Carracci was an Italian Baroque painter.-Early career:Annibale Carracci was born in Bologna, and in all likelihood first apprenticed within his family...
to whom he developed a deep affection. He likely worked on the frescoes of the Galleria Farnese, on the lunettes for the Palazzo Aldobrandini chapel, and probably in the Herrera Chapel. After his uncle’s passing he received commissions in Rome from Cardinal Tonti and Cardinal Peretti-Montalto , including the ‘’Stanza del Diluvio’’ in the Quirinal Palace
Quirinal Palace
The Quirinal Palace is a historical building in Rome, Italy, the current official residence of the President of the Italian Republic. It is located on the Quirinal Hill, the tallest of the seven hills of Rome...
, and major altarpieces like Berlin ‘’Madonna and Child with Saints and Galleria Corsini ‘’Nativity’’.
The self-assurance of the letters he wrote to Cardinal Farnese and his father’s old protector, Cardinal Spinola, after his uncle’s death suggest they were written by Agucchi, who in his slightly later (September 12, 1609) letter to Dulcini all about Antonio, speaks of a career that is already well begun. Malvasia misquotes this letter and copies it as ‘[Antonio’s work] seems that of a beginner’ the MS actually says the opposite ‘il suo fare non pare da principiante’. It is no surprise to see that Antonio speaks of the impegni that he already has, to read that he has learned enough ‘tanto da tirarmi avanti da me stesso’, and that he sees himself as maintaining the Carracci school in Bologna, and turning the studio to service to the Farnese ‘in essa scuola, procurerò che s’avanzino in essa per dovere indirizzare l’opera l’oro al servizio di V.S. Ill.ma...’
Palazzo Mattei
thumb|250px|right|The courtyard of the Palazzo Mattei di Giove.The Palazzo Mattei di Giove is the most prominent among a group of Mattei houses that forms the insula Mattei in Rome, Italy, a block of buildings of many epochs...
. Antonio and Guido Reni
Guido Reni
Guido Reni was an Italian painter of high-Baroque style.-Biography:Born in Bologna into a family of musicians, Guido Reni was the son of Daniele Reni and Ginevra de’ Pozzi. As a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. Soon after, he was joined in that...
collaborated in the decoration of the Cappella dell’ Annunciata in the Palazzo Quirinal, painting a frieze of the Stanza del Diluvio. He contributed, around 1616, to the Alexander frescoes done for Cardinal Peretti Montalto; other works were done for Marchese Giustiniani, Cardinal Orsino, the Ludovisi
Ludovisi
Ludovisi can refer to:*Ludovisi , a noble Italian family*Ludovisi, Lazio, a rione in the City of Rome* Alberico Boncompagni Ludovisi, prince of Venosa and proprietor of Latium wine estate Fiorano...
, Cavalier Sachetti, Dionigio Buonavia in Bologna; and of course he was under the protection of Cardinal Odoardo Farnese, who recognized him as his ‘pittor di casa’ and paid him a monthly stipend.
Antonio was well-known for doing cabinet-size compositions often based on the great variety of graphic material in possession of the Carracci studio. His masterpiece, The Deluge was one of Cardinal Mazarin’s most prized pictures, and influential for Poussin
Nicolas Poussin
Nicolas Poussin was a French painter in the classical style. His work predominantly features clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color. His work serves as an alternative to the dominant Baroque style of the 17th century...
’s early Battle paintings as well as his paintings of the Seasons for Louis XIV 40 years later. With his Reni
Guido Reni
Guido Reni was an Italian painter of high-Baroque style.-Biography:Born in Bologna into a family of musicians, Guido Reni was the son of Daniele Reni and Ginevra de’ Pozzi. As a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. Soon after, he was joined in that...
-like refinement, articulation of narrative, space, gesture and expression, the Deluge was an important academic collaboration with Agucchi.
Giulio Mancini
Giulio Mancini was a noted physician, art collector and writer on a range of subjects.A native of Siena, he came to Rome in 1592 and quickly made a brilliant medical career, becoming personal physician to pope Urban VIII in 1623....
said he not only inherited Annibale’s studio, but also "Herede dei suoi disegni et arte fù Antonio...". Antonio, being as Guido put it, the ‘ultima scintilla (del) valor Caraccesco’ had in fact more invested in the Carracci studio than anyone else.
The original of the much copied composition of the Martyrdom of St Denis (‘St Denis effrayant ses bourreaux’) is evidently by Antonio, and the companion subject to his St Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
baptizing St Denis.
It was not an idle encomium on Mancini
Mancini
Mancini is an Italian surname etymologically meaning "left handed" and may refer to:-Art and literature:*Antonio Mancini, Italian painter*Dominic Mancini, 15th century traveler and author*Don Mancini, who wrote Child's Play...
’s part when he spoke that Antonio ‘mostrò gran segni di dover venir grande’. All the same, it was easy for his identity to be subsumed to that of elder Carracci. Because he shared the same initials as his father and uncle, and because the Carracci often collaborated, paintings by them were often confused. When Padre Resta gave the drawing of the Deluge, which he had had from Bellori, to Max Emmanuel of Bavaria, he was pleased to hear that the Elector treasured the gift and kept it on a table at his bedside; but ‘lo teneva per pittura d’Annibale’.
List of works
- The Flood http://cartelen.louvre.fr/cartelen/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=18492 (LouvreLouvreThe Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
) - Latona, with her children Apollo and Diana, turning the Lycian peasants into frogs Whitfield Fine ArtWhitfield Fine ArtThe Whitfield Fine Art Gallery is an art gallery in Mayfair, London, owned and founded by Clovis Whitfield in 1979. The gallery specialises in Italian Old Master paintings.-History:...
, London - Landscape with Bathers http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/c/carracci/antonio/landscap.html Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- The Martyrdom of Saint Stephen http://www.nationalgalleryimages.co.uk/search.aspx?q=CARRACCI%2C+Antonio&mode=artist&frm=1 National Gallery, London
- Christ healing a blind man (ModenaModenaModena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
) - Lute Player (Modena)
Further reading
- Clovis WhitfieldClovis WhitfieldClovis Whitfield is an art historian and art dealer based in London, where he runs Whitfield Fine Art. He is a member of the Society of London Art Dealers....
, Antonio Carracci. Catalogue Raisonné of the paintings and drawings. (in preparation) - Clovis WhitfieldClovis WhitfieldClovis Whitfield is an art historian and art dealer based in London, where he runs Whitfield Fine Art. He is a member of the Society of London Art Dealers....
, "Landscape paintings and drawings by Antonio Carracci" in Paragone, November 2006 pp. 3–20 - Anne Sutherland Harris, "Annibale's Legacy: Proposals for Giovanni Angelo Canini and Antonio Carracci" in Master Drawings Vol. XLIII 2005, pp. 440–454
- Clovis WhitfieldClovis WhitfieldClovis Whitfield is an art historian and art dealer based in London, where he runs Whitfield Fine Art. He is a member of the Society of London Art Dealers....
, “A name for a ridiculous man – Rinaldo Coradini by the Carracci” in Festrift for Dr. Alfred Bader, 2004, pp. 239–244 - Clovis WhitfieldClovis WhitfieldClovis Whitfield is an art historian and art dealer based in London, where he runs Whitfield Fine Art. He is a member of the Society of London Art Dealers....
, "Antonio Carracci" in Studi di Storia dell'arte in onore di Denis Mahon, Milan 2000 - Stephen M. Bailey, "Newly identified drawings by Antonio Carracci" in Master Drawings, XXXVII/3 (1999), pp. 277–286
- Classicismo e Natura; La Lezione di Domenichino, Exhibition catalogue, ed. Sir Denis Mahon & C. Whitfield, Rome, Gallerie Capitoline 1996/97
- C.Van Tuyll van Serooskerken " Two Preparatory drawings by Antonio Carracci" in Master Drawings, XXXI (1993), pp. 428–32
- R. Zapperi, "I ritratti di Antonio Carracci" in Paragone, XXXVIII/449 (1987), pp. 3–22
- E. Schleier, "Ancora su Aontonio Caracci e il ciclo di Alessandro Magno per il Cardinal Montalto" in Paragone XXXII/381 (1981), pp. 10–25
- F. Frisoni, "Antonio Carracci: Riflessioni e aggiunte" in Paragone, XXXI/367 (1980), pp. 22–28
See also
- Agostino CarracciAgostino CarracciAgostino Carracci was an Italian painter and printmaker. He was the brother of the more famous Annibale and cousin of Lodovico Carracci....
, father - Annibale CarracciAnnibale CarracciAnnibale Carracci was an Italian Baroque painter.-Early career:Annibale Carracci was born in Bologna, and in all likelihood first apprenticed within his family...
, uncle - Lodovico Carracci, father's cousin