Sunday, April 16, 2017

Perfidy of Fortune

Annibale Carracci
Figure of Justice for Palazzo Farnese
ca. 1596-98
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

"Now that Annibale had completed the Gallery as well as the other works in the palace, the cardinal desired him to paint in the hall the heroic deeds of the great Alessandro Farnese who had died not many years before in Flanders, and he also had it in mind to employ him on the cupola of the church of the Gesù in Rome, which had been painted earlier on commission of his uncle, with little success, in the styles of those times, hence he had resolved to do it over again, with the four Doctors below on the pendentives.  But such noble plans were not realized, nor did the Roman Alexander have his Appelles, owing to the perfidy of fortune, which always opposes virtue and stands in the way of beautiful and honorable enterprises.  The cardinal wished to remunerate Annibale for his labors during his engagement in so many works over the course of eight years, from the time of his arrival in Rome; and while he awaited the results of this prince's liberality, his fortunes were crossed through the wicked intervention of a favorite courtier, Don Juan de Castro, a Spaniard, who was wont to meddle in all his master's affairs.  That man counted up the bread, wine, and wages for the whole time that Annibale had been a member of the household, and putting this against the account, he persuaded the cardinal to send him a gift of five hundred scudi, which accordingly were brought to him in his room, on a salver.  Poor Annibale fell speechless at that outcome and made no response; he did show his chagrin quite clearly on his face, not in regard to the money, for which he cared not at all, but at the thought that he had exhausted his spirits and had no hope of relief as to the necessities of life, having fallen victim to the injustice of fate.  Such is the unfortunate situation of the court, of princes, and of the fine arts, when certain men oppress others for their own advantage and being in favor arrogate everything to themselves, driving virtue from the house with their ignorance and their presumption. At which point, I cannot keep from reflecting on the ways of the world, when nowadays we see the same amount or a greater price than that of the Gallery paid for a few daubs, or to express it better, trifles from his brush: such is the power of the mere name of talent, which in most cases time brings to light too late.  Now because Annibale was by nature melancholic and extremely apprehensive, he grew so much worse thinking of his misfortune that he was never again able to be cheerful; and he fell into a state of not painting any more, and when he wanted to he could not, and was forced to abandon the brushes that melancholy took from his hand."

– from the Life of Annibale Carracci (1672) by Giovan Pietro Bellori, translated by Alice Sedgwick Wohl (Cambridge University Press, 2005)

Annibale Carracci
Apollo giving the lyre to Mercury
ca. 1600
drawing
Royal Collection,  Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Mars and Venus embracing on a bed in a landscape
before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Youth asleep in a chair
before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Head of a youth
before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Study for St Andrew
before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

attributed to Annibale Carracci
Battling Centaurs
before 1605
drawing
British Museum

Annibale Carracci
Young painter at work
before 1605
drawing
British Museum

Annibale Carracci
Figure study from the back
ca. 1595-98
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Crowned figure with book and palm branch
before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Study of drapery for seated Virgin
before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Study of drapery for kneeling prophet
before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Classical statue - daughter of Niobe
before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor

Annibale Carracci
Head of youth in profile
before 1605
drawing
Royal Collection, Windsor