Annibale Carracci

Art, Wit and Authority
Reveals the wit and brilliance of Renaissance master Annibale Carracci
In late sixteenth-century Bologna, Annibale Carracci reinvigorated painting through a renewed study of nature in vivid depictions of a bean-eater and butchers, and moving religious images. In Rome, Annibale painted the exuberant loves of the gods in the Farnese Gallery frescoes comparable to Michelangelos Sistine Chapel and Raphaels Villa Farnesina which catapulted him to fame as a new Raphael. He was celebrated as a man of wit and a devoted teacher. This first modern biography in English highlights Annibales incisive pictorial and verbal wit and the shifts in taste that later obscured his legacy. Reassessing his art with clarity and nuance, the book brings into focus a painter of remarkable breadth and intelligence who profoundly shaped European art.