Annibale Carracci

Following the recent restoration which has returned the painting to its original appearance, the Museo del Prado presents one of the most important works by the Bolognese artist Annibale Carracci (Bologna, 1560 - Rome, 1609).

A contemporary of Caravaggio and a member of one of the leading Italian artistic dynasties, in the late sixteenth century Annibale developed a new style of painting together with his brother Agostino and his cousin Ludovico. Their innovations were based primarily on a rejection of Mannerism and a return to nature, taking their knowledge of the Renaissance tradition as their starting point. Around 1582 they founded an Academy in Bologna whose pupils included Domenichino, Francesco Albani and Guido Reni.

The present exhibition analyses the creative process behind the work, painted between 1588 and 1590, prior to Annibale's definitive departure for Rome. It includes two related preparatory drawings and the X-radiograph. In addition, it aims to reconstruct the artistic context in which the work was made through the inclusion of its most direct sources of inspiration: the paintings of Venus and Adonis by the Venetian artists Titian and Veronese.

Pressetext

Annibale Carracci: Venus, Adonis and Cupid