CARRACCI, AGOSTINO

(1557-1602)

The brother ofAnnibaleand cousin ofLudovico Carracci, with whom he carried out theCarracci Reform. Agostino was primarily an engraver, though he also was active as teacher and painter. His career is not well documented. He is known to have been inVenicetwice, making engravings after the works ofTitianandVeronesewith which he introduced the Venetian visual vocabulary to his nativeBologna. In c. 1598, he joined his brother inRometo work in thePalazzo Farnesewhere he is believed to have been the one to execute thefrescoesdepicting Cephalus andAuroraand Galatea. Disagreements with Annibale forced him to leave Rome. He moved to Parma, where he remained until his death in 1602. His most notable work is theLast Communion of St.Jerome(c. 1592-1593; Bologna, Pinacoteca Nazionale), already greatly admired in his lifetime. One of his most unusual paintings is theTriple Portrait of Hairy Harry,Mad Peter,and Tiny Amon(c. 1598-1600; Naples, Museo di Capodimonte), which depicts a dwarf and other odd figures living in Cardinal Odoardo Farnese's court amidst exotic animals.