Agostino Carracci is a representative of the famous dynasty of Italian painters of the 16th century. Together with the brothers Lodovico and Annibale, he created his own style of painting, which became a response to the expressiveness of mannerism. The Carracci dynasty played a key role in the development of academism in the visual arts.
Biography: early years
Agostino Carracci was born on August 16, 1557 in Bologna, in the northern part of Italy. He planned to go into jewelry. Thanks to his older brother, Lodovico became interested in painting, to which he devoted his whole life.
Agostino received his artistic education in Bologna. Such famous masters as Prospero Fontana, Bartolomeo Passarotti, Domenico Tybaldi became his mentors in the art world. Of course, Brother Lodovic also made a huge contribution to the development of Agostino as a painter.
In addition to painting and engraving, he was fond of philosophy and poetry. Agostino was the most well-read of the Carraci brothers. He spent a lot of time in Lombardy and Venice, where he studied the work of Correggio, Raphael, Titian.
Creation
At that time, European painting was going through hard times. Art was dominated by the so-called mannerism, which is characterized by unnaturalness, too bright colors, elongated figures of people. The Carracci brothers did not support this style and strove to return to the basics of Renaissance painting. Thus, Agostino's paintings are distinguished by warm colors and natural accuracy of objects and people.
In 1584, Carracci began working on the painting The Death of Actaeon. The painting was completed two years later. Immediately after completing work on it, Agostino began to paint "Portrait of a Lute Player".
In the same year, the Carracci brothers opened their own Academy of Painting in Bologna. It was a large workshop, where not only practical, but also theoretical studies were held. The brothers instilled in their students the principles of Renaissance painting, devoting a lot of time to the study of nature. Lectures were mainly delivered by Agostino.
In 1592 the painting "The Communion of Saint Jerome" was painted, and eight years later - "The Ascension of the Virgin". They are considered the most famous paintings by Agostino. And the first painting inspired Rubens and Domenichino himself to create the legendary altar pieces.
Carracci achieved success in the art of engraving. He borrowed a lot from the legendary Cornelis Court. The most famous prints by Agostino are "The Crucifixion", "Aeneas and Anchises".
No less popular are his engravings of erotic themes "Love positions", "Voluptuousness".
Personal life
There is no information about the wife and children. Around 1597, Agostino moved from Bologna to Rome to help his brother Annibala. He was there engaged in the decoration of the palazzo of Cardinal Odoardo Farnese.
Soon Agostino left for Parma, where he began to paint the Palazzo del Giardino. There he died in 1602, never completing the work he had begun.
