Friday, April 14, 2017

Studies by Annibale Carracci

Annibale Carracci
Youth holding lantern
ca. 1588
drawing
British Museum

Annibale Carracci after Michelangelo
Azor from Sistine lunette of Azor and Zadoc
before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

"Regarding money, then, Annibale was never either closefisted or avaricious; quite the contrary; he valued it so little that he kept it openly in his paint box, so that everyone was free to lay hands on it at will.  He was kept from such concerns by the continuous practice of his art and the relief that he sought from his labors, without putting his mind to domestic matters, as often happens with men devoted to their studies.  Together with money he despised ostentation, with respect both to his person and to painting, and he sought the company of men who were simple and without ambition.  He fled the haughtiness of courtiers and of the court, staying there against his will, with so little concern for himself that men accustomed to judging by appearances did not esteem him.  Hence he led a secluded life in his rooms with his pupils, spending his hours on painting, which he was wont to call his Lady.  He had little tolerance, therefore, for the proclivities of his brother Agostino, who had elevated himself to the showy ways of the courtiers,  and the sight of him in their midst and about the antechambers aroused his indignation. In this respect, it was also true that even though Annibale dressed and cared for himself decently and with cleanliness, nevertheless, as he was almost always preoccupied with matters of art, he paid only so much attention to his beard and collar, and at times, tearing himself wearily away from his work, he would emerge late, just as he was, to refresh himself and take the air, and he would be embarrassed to encounter his brother in the palace or in the piazza among gentlemen in grand attire.  And so one day as he was going up from the Gallery to his quarters, not quite tidied up from the tasks of painting, he ran into his brother and was vexed to see him walking about in the company of some cavalieri; and he called him aside as if he had some important business to talk over with him, and said to him very softly in his ear, "Remember, Agostino, that you are the son of a tailor." 

– from the Life of Annibale Carracci (1672) by Giovan Pietro Bellori, translated by Alice Sedgwick Wohl (Cambridge University Press, 2005)

Annibale Carracci
Youth near water pulling on sock
ca. 1585-90
drawing
British Museum

Annibale Carracci
Study for Sibyl
before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Angel playing violin
ca. 1585
drawing
British Museum

Annibale Carracci
Study of praying man, perhaps for Stoning of Stephen
before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Youth playing violin
 before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Circe
ca. 1595
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Study for fresco ornament at Palazzo Farnese, Rome
ca. 1596-98
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Annibale Carracc
Study for Perseus and Andromeda fresco
Palazzo Farnese, Rome

ca. 1596-98
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Two allegorical figures
before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection,  Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Reclining Venus in landscape
before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Study for Virgin Annunciate
before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Study of drapery
before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor