Lodovico Carracci

Lodovico Carracci was the eldest of the Carracci and the one who stayed in Bologna. His religious paintings are emotional and dramatic, with broad gestures and flickering light that aims straight at the feelings, a break from the cool formality of late Mannerism.

He was born in Bologna in 1555 and trained with Prospero Fontana, then travelled to Florence, Parma and Venice to study. With his cousins Annibale and Agostino he painted fresco cycles in Bolognese palaces, including the stories of Jason and Medea in the Palazzo Fava, and led the Accademia degli Incamminati. After his cousins left for Rome he remained the head of the Bolognese school and taught artists including Guercino. His Madonna dei Bargellini of 1588 is one of his key altarpieces. He died in Bologna in 1619.

In the Bargellini Madonna, notice the warm light and the direct, human feel of the saints.