Monday, January 9, 2023

Figure Drawings by the Carracci and Unnamed Followers

follower of Annibale Carracci
Académie
ca. 1580-1600
drawing
Musée du Louvre

Annibale Carracci
Term
ca. 1597-1602
drawing
(study for fresco)
Musée du Louvre

Annibale Carracci
Atlante
ca. 1597-1602
drawing
(study for fresco)
Musée du Louvre

Ludovico Carracci
Decorative Scheme with Atlantes
ca. 1600-1619
drawing
Musée du Louvre

attributed to Ludovico Carracci
Figure Study
ca. 1600-1619
drawing
Musée du Louvre

Ludovico Carracci
Figure Study
ca. 1580-1600
drawing
Musée du Louvre

Carracci Academy
Young Fisherman
ca. 1580-1620
drawing
Musée du Louvre

Carracci Academy
Hermaphroditus
(study of antique statue)
ca. 1580-1620
drawing
Musée du Louvre

Carracci Academy
Satyr tied to a Tree
ca. 1580-1620
drawing
Musée du Louvre

Agostino Carracci after Raphael
Two Putti
before 1602
drawing
Musée du Louvre

Agostino Carracci
Rower
ca. 1596-97
drawing
(study for fresco)
Musée du Louvre

Agostino Carracci
Companion of Ulysses
ca. 1596-97
drawing
(study for fresco)
Musée du Louvre

Annibale Carracci
Ignudo
ca. 1597-1602
drawing
(study for fresco)
Musée du Louvre

Annibale Carracci
Ignudo
ca. 1597-1602
drawing
(study for fresco)
Musée du Louvre

attributed to Agostino Carracci
Figure Study
before 1602
drawing
Musée du Louvre

"As we are often wrong in our choice of beautiful things, we should first of all define beauty and examine it closely, principally where the human form is concerned, as the human body is the most perfect thing that God created on earth.  As we have already remarked that beauty is a result of the proportion of the different parts, we should move on to consider what is necessary in the proportion of these different parts in order to produce this admirable quality, so that the painter may have an exact knowledge of it and may equal the beauty of his subjects when he comes to draw them from life.  . . .  As proportion goes hand in hand with drawing, it must be observed in all parts of the painter's work.  The painter himself must learn to judge the fittingness and balance of each part, and the position of each figure in the picture; to bring them out to their best advantage he must judge the necessary degree of equilibrium or ponderousness that they require, while still attempting as far as possible to attain the degree of excellence in beauty and grace that we referred to above, that inexpressible je ne sais quoi which comes entirely from the drawing." 

– André Félibien, from Conversations on the Lives and Works of the Most Excellent Ancient and Modern Painters (1666-88), translated by Jonathan Murphy