The 17th Century: Baroque and Rococo

Baroque and Rococo

Baroque and Rococo Art Map

Agostino Carracci

Agostino Carracci
(b Bologna, 15 Aug 1557; d Parma, 22 March 1602).

Painter, engraver and draughtsman, cousin of Ludovico Carracci. He abandoned his profession as a tailor, which was also that of his father, Antonio, and began training as a painter. According to Faberi, he studied first in the workshop of the painter Prospero Fontana (like Ludovico), then trained under the engraver and architect Domenico Tibaldi and under the sculptor Alessandro Menganti (1531–c. 1594). However, it is likely that Faberi’s account was influenced by his desire to present Agostino’s career as an example of the versatile ‘cursus studiorum’ advocated by the Accademia degli Incamminati. Other sources (Mancini, Malvasia, Bellori) agree that it was his cousin Ludovico who was responsible for directing him towards painting. Only recently has it been assumed that he was a pupil of Bartolomeo Passarotti.