Study of Hercules Resting, with Separate Studies of His Head and Foot (recto); Rectangular grid design (verso)
<p>This is a highly finished study for a fresco mural of the same subject in the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. Hercules, the hero of Greek myth, is identified by his club, a lion’s hide, and the apple in his right hand. Though lifelike, the figure was not drawn from a live model but rather from statues available to the artist in Rome, especially an ancient Roman<br>sculpture of a reclining river god.</p> <p>The blue paper creates a mid tone between the black and white chalks, granting Hercules a greater degree of volume and naturalism and dramatically enhancing Annibale Carracci’s fluid, masterful line.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1595
- Dimensions
- 25.9 × 39.5 cm (10 1/4 × 15 9/16 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Annibale Carracci
Artist
Painting
Annibale Carracci was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother Agostino and cousin Ludovico, Annibale was one of the progenitors, if not founders of a leading strand of the Baroque style, borrowing from styles from both north and south of their native city, and aspiring for a return to classical monumentality, but adding a more vital dynamism. Painters working under Annibale at the gallery of the Palazzo Farnese would be highly influential in Roman painting for decades.
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More by Annibale Carracci
Seated Satyr
1642 · Red chalk, over black chalk, on tan laid paper with blue fibers, laid down on cream laid paper
Madonna and Child with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist
1606 · Red chalk on ivory laid paper, tipped onto ivory wove card
Madonna and Child with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist
1606 · Engraving and etching in black on ivory laid paper
Christ Crowned with Thorns
1606 · Etching
Madonna and Child with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist (Madonna della Scodella), the seated Mary and the infant Christ hold a cup from which the young Baptist drinks, Elizabeth lifts both hands
1606 · Etching and engraving
The Adoration of the Shepherds
1606 · etching and engraving on laid paper
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Annibale Carracci
- Year
- 1595
- Dimensions
- 25.9 × 39.5 cm (10 1/4 × 15 9/16 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1595-119026
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified