Widely regarded as one of the greatest draughtsmen of all time, Annibale Carracci (1560-1609) is celebrated for his naturalism. Born in a time when the elegant deformations and exaggerations of Italian mannerism were still in vogue, Carracci turned instead to nature as his principal inspiration. Much attuned to the everyday world around him, he took as much interest in studying a man bowling, a butcher weighing a piece of meat, or a street entertainer with his monkey as he did in the preparatory studies for his grand mythological and religious paintings. The fruit of this intensive study is abundantly evident in his magnificent drawings of the human figure - from his early works in Bologna to those made in preparation for his greatest commission, the decoration of the Farnese Gallery in Rome. This stunning publication brings together a plethora of Carracci's masterful drawings to provide a unique insight into the technique and skill of one of the premier artists of his time.

The decisive role of the Carracci in seventeenth-century art was as apparent to their contemporaries as it is now, in our own time. Annibale Carracci ranks directly after Caravaggio as the most important Italian painter of the Baroque era. He established the tradition of Roman baroque classicism so firmly that it flourished in an unbroken line--Carracci to Albani to Sacchi to Maratta--for more than a century. Generation after generation of artists came to Rome to study his frescoes in the Farnese Gallery, and his influence in the development of French neo-classicism is still being explored. The classical concept of the "composed landscape," largely his invention, was to prove of central importance, first to Poussin and later to Cezanne. The translation, the first into English, is from Bellori's Vite de' Pittori, Scultori ed Architetti Moderni published in Rome in 1672. A friend of Poussin, Bellori was librarian to Queen Christina of Sweden. Pope Clement X recognized his many works on ancient art (still of value today) by making him Antiquarian of Rome. Unlike many earlier and later art historians, Bellori did not attempt to write about all the artists of a given area or epoch, but selected only those he considered significant. Schlosser called him "the most important historian of art not just of Rome but of all Italy, indeed of Europe, in the seventeenth century."

The art of the Renaissance is usually the most familiar to non-specialists, and for good reason. This was the era that produced some of the icons of civilization, including Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Last Supper and Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling, Pietà, and David. Marked as one of the greatest moments in history, the outburst of creativity of the era resulted in the most influential artistic revolution ever to have taken place. The period produced a substantial number of notable masters, among them Donatello, Filippo Brunelleschi, Masaccio, Sandro Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, and Tintoretto. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Renaissance Art contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on artists from Italy, Flanders, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, and Portugal, historical figures and events that impacted the production of Renaissance art. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Renaissance art.

A comprehensive re-assessment of Raphael's artistic achievement and the ways in which it transformed the idea of what art is.

This volume explores early modern recreations of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, focusing on the creative ingenium of artists and writers who freely handled the original text so as to adapt it to different artistic media and genres.