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| Agostino Carracci after Correggio Ecce Homo 1587 engraving British Museum |
AGOSTINO CARRACCI (1557-1602) – Painter, engraver and print publisher from Bologna. Active in Bologna, Venice, Cremona, Florence, Rome, etc.
The first certain dated works in engraving are of 1576. Worked for Domenico Tibaldi in Bologna 1579/81. Established as an independent printmaker c. 1581. In 1581 he may have been in Rome. He was in Venice in 1582 and again in 1588-89. In Rome 1597-c. 1600.
He produced single-sheet engravings after Peruzzi, Samacchini, Veronese, Tintoretto, Correggio, Barocci, Vanni and others. He published many of his own plates; others were published by Tibaldi, Luca and Orazio Bertelli, Rascicotti, Florimi, etc. The subject matter was wide: devotional, narrative, erotic, ornament and reproductive prints, as well as coats-of-arms, book illustrations, etc.
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| Agostino Carracci after Correggio The Madonna of St Jerome 1586 engraving British Museum |
"Correggio's picture of this subject [The Madonna of St. Jerome] had been painted in the 1520s as the altarpiece of the chapel of S. Girolamo in Sant'Antonio, Parma. Agostino's print [directly above] is the same way round as the painting. Prints after works by Correggio were few in the sixteenth century. Only a handful seem to have been made, two of them by Agostino. This must be regarded as among his greatest works, and the admiration of contemporaries can be judged by the speed with which copies were made. . . ."
"Agostino's assertion of his responsibility for both the cutting and the printing of this plate fits in with the way he inscribed other engravings that he produced in the years 1586-87 with assertive indications of his control of the plates. It seems possible that at this time he made an attempt to set himself up as a printer and print dealer with a shop in Bologna. The primary reason for announcing his ownership of the plates would have been to indicate to potential clients where impressions could be obtained if wanted."
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| Agostino Carracci after Paolo Veronese Pietà 1582 engraving British Museum |
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| Agostino Carracci after Paolo Veronese Mystic Marriage of St Catherine 1582 engraving British Museum |
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| Agostino Carracci after Paolo Veronese Martyrdom of St Giustina 1582 engraving British Museum |
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| Agostino Carracci after Paolo Veronese Virgin and Child with St Joseph, St John the Baptist, St Anthony Abbot, and St Catherine 1582 engraving (working proof for engraving directly below) British Museum |
"The print [in a working proof above and in finished form below] relates to Veronese'a altarpiece for the Giustiniani chapel in San Francesco della Vigna, Venice, painted in the 1550s. The inscription identifies the original painting and implicitly makes the claim to be a reproduction of it. However, there are very significant differences between print and painting, as DeGrazia noted. The direction of St. Joseph's glance has been altered so that he no longer looks out at us; St. Anthony's head is altered too. The height has been reduced, so that St. Anthony rises much higher in relation to the Virgin than was the case in the painting. The figures are all pushed slightly back from the front edge and a narrow gap is created between St. Anthony and the frame on the right. There is a transformation in the overall balance of light and shade. The cumulative effect of these changes is to give clarity to the figures and to the space around them, within the broad rectangular format that Agostino tended to prefer for his prints."
"Similar alterations are evident in other of the six engravings after Veronese done during this, his first visit to Venice, in 1582. Dempsey has argued that this represented a critical intervention, motivated by Agostino's desire to bring out the quality of Veronese's style in its full perfection, and thus to make his prints exemplary, rather than just records of imperfect originals. In the present case the prominence of Veronese's name and the fact that the indication of Agostino's role is expressed simply by his initials suggests that Veronese himself commissioned the print. He would certainly have been interested in having the quality of his style brought out to the maximum extent. However, for both artist and printmaker the visual effectiveness of the engraved image would have been a major consideration. What worked in oil paint might not work in the very different medium of print, and modifications would consequently be required."
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| Agostino Carracci after Paolo Veronese Virgin and Child with St Joseph, St John the Baptist, St Anthony Abbot, and St Catherine 1582 engraving British Museum |
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| Agostino Carracci after Jacopo Tintoretto Temptation of St Anthony 1582 engraving British Museum |
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| Agostino Carracci after Jacopo Tintoretto Madonna appearing to St Jerome 1588 engraving British Museum |
"This remarkable print [above] is the same way round as Tintoretto's painting, which it follows quite closely. As he was to do with the Crucifixion of 1589 [below], Agostino reduced the strong chiaroscuro of the painting, allowing each component of the composition to be seen more clearly. He also altered the proportions of the parts, significantly reducing the relative size of the Virgin and separating her from the figure of St. Jerome and from the landscape more than Tintoretto had done."
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| Agostino Carracci after Jacopo Tintoretto The Crucifixion 1589 engraving (plate 1 of 3) British Museum |
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| Agostino Carracci after Jacopo Tintoretto The Crucifixion 1589 engraving (plate 2 of 3) British Museum |
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| Agostino Carracci after Jacopo Tintoretto The Crucifixion 1589 engraving (plate 3 of 3) British Museum |
"This [the three-part engraving above] is one of the masterpieces of sixteenth-century Italian printmaking. The painting from which it is derived is the Crucifixion painted by Tintoretto for the Scuola di San Rocco in Venice in 1565. There are differences. The most important relate to the lightening of the strong chiaroscuro of the original, allowing all the elements to be clearly seen. A few figures, especially in the right and left backgrounds, have been removed and the landscape is extended in depth, with some added detail. A primary imperative behind the changes seems to have been to create a greater spatial clarity. Most significantly, the ambiguity of the location of the Cross is resolved by setting it back more clearly in space."
"According to Malvasia, Agostino not only asked Tintoretto's permission to undertake the engraving but also showed him a drawing, asking him to make corrections to it. Malvasia's informant was Alessandro Monti, whose father Bartolomeo had been a printer in Venice, and who had worked for Agostino during his final visit to that city in 1588/89. Malvasia tells of how pleased Tintoretto was with the result and Bellori adds that he became godfather to Agostino's son Antonio."
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| Agostino Carracci after Jacopo Tintoretto Mars driven away from Peace and Abundance by Minerva 1589 engraving British Museum |
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| Agostino Carracci after Jacopo Tintoretto Mercury and the Three Graces 1589 engraving British Museum |
– quoted texts by Michael Bury from The Print in Italy, 1550-1620 (British Museum Press, 2001)