Agostino Carracci - From goldsmith to painter and engraver
Agostino Carracci was born in Bologna on 16th August 1557. The son of a tailor and older brother of the famous Baroque master Annibale Carracci, his parents had intended for him to train as a goldsmith, but the intercession of his cousin Lodovico Carracci persuaded him to turn to painting. His teachers were Prospero Fontana, who had previously taught Lodovico, and Bartolomeo Passarotti. Agostino Carracci deepened his knowledge travelling through Lombardy and Venice, while also studying the latest findings in science and poetry. This versatility and enlightenment characterised Carracci's entire career and also had an impact on his later teaching activities at the Accademia degli Incamminati. One of the first art academies in Italy, the school was founded in 1582 by Agostino, his brother Annibale and their cousin Lodovico Carracci.
Fraternal jealousy drove Agostino Carracci into exile
According to the story, Agostino Carracci's relationship with his younger brother Annibale was not free of tension: When Agostino convinced the Carthusians in Bologna of his abilities with his painting The Communion of St Jerome, thereby outdoing his brother Annibale Carracci as well as several other artists, the latter is said to have persuaded him to renounce painting and devote himself solely to engraving. However, Agostino is thought to have reconciled with his brother Annibale, at least temporarily, as the two worked together on the frescoes of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. But tensions soon arose here too, as the older artist once again outdid the younger and won greater acclaim for his work. As a result of the new quarrel, Agostino Carracci withdrew to Parma, where he was in the service of Duke Ranuccio I Farnese. He painted at least two portraits of the Duke of Parma and Piacenza; he also painted frescoes in the Palazzo del Giardino depicting commercial love, earthly love and heavenly love. However, the artist was unable to complete the latter work as he died prematurely.
A gifted engraver with a penchant for frivolous motifs
Despite his merits as a painter, Agostino Carracci was primarily significant as an engraver. He modelled himself on the Dutch master Cornelis Cort, whose powerful and energetic style had gained great influence in Italy and which he enriched and refined with his own elegance and quality of drawing, modelling his work on paintings by Federico Barocci, Tintoretto and Titian. In addition to his famous ceiling frescoes, the older of the Carracci brothers also cultivated the art of erotic engraving, whereby his depictions sometimes left nothing to the imagination and were therefore not shown in public. Around two hundred years after Agostino Carracci's death, the French, who were always fond of the spicy facets of art, enjoyed the Italian master's pornographic drawings.
Agostino Carracci died in Parma on 22nd March 1602. His son Antonio Carracci was also a famous painter.
Agostino Carracci - Works that have already been sold at Kunsthaus Lempertz:
