Annibale Carracci

Annibale Carracci helped invent Baroque painting. He took the strong drawing of Florence and Rome and the warm colour of Venice and joined them, and he could do almost anything: altarpieces, myths, landscapes, portraits, even rough everyday scenes like The Beaneater.

He was born in Bologna in 1560 and trained with his cousin Ludovico. With Ludovico and his brother Agostino he founded an academy in Bologna based on drawing from life. Around 1595 he moved to Rome for Cardinal Odoardo Farnese, and there he painted the ceiling of the Farnese Gallery, The Loves of the Gods, one of the great fresco cycles. His Flight into Egypt set the pattern for the classical landscape. Domenichino, Guido Reni and Lanfranco trained with him. He died in Rome in 1609 and is buried in the Pantheon near Raphael.

In Domine Quo Vadis, which we offer, notice how Christ seems to step out of the picture towards us.