(Bologna 1557 Parma 1602)
THE VIRGIN AND THE CHILD WITH A SAINT
Pen and black ink, washed in brown. 260x199mm. Top corners made up. Inscribed Caraci in pen and black ink lower left.
PROVENANCE: Genevosio, Modesto Ignazio Bonaventura Luigi , L.545
When our drawing was published in the catalog of the Rasini collection, it was attributed by Antonio Morassi to Ludovico Carracci, albeit doubtfully.
See Antonio Morassi, Disegni antichi dalla collezione Rasini in Milano, Milan 1937; cat. No. XXXIX.
It seems preferable to refer the work to Agostino Carracci by comparing a drawing, also from the Genevosio collection, now kept in the British Museum Museum number 1972,0722.11
gostino Carracci, older brother of Annibale and cousin of Lodovico, was born on 15 August 1557 in Bologna. Agostino worked as a painter and printmaker, and his engravings, like his Omnia vincit Amor (1599), were celebrated as among the best of his day. He was, together with his brother, Annibale Carracci, and cousin, Ludovico Carracci, one of the founders of the Accademia degli Incamminati in Bologna. This teaching academy promoted the Carracci emphasized drawing from life. Like Lodovico, his first training was in the workshop of Prospero Fontana. He may have later moved to work with the engraver-architect Domenico Tibaldi and the sculptor Alessandro Menganti. He has also been connected to Bartolomeo Passarotti. Though an able painter, his career was primarily focused on engraving, which was highly profitable for him. Like the other Carracci, Agostino traveled to Rome, as well as Cremona, Venice, and Parma.