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Lot Essay
The least well known painter from the Carracci family, Antonio was the son of Agostino and a Venetian courtesan named Isabella. After his father's death in 1602 he joined the Roman household of his uncle Annibale for whom he may have worked with other studio assistants on the frescoes in the Galleria Farnese and the decoration of some rooms in the Palazzo Mattei di Gove, Rome. After a brief sojourn in Bologna, Antonio returned to Rome in 1610 to assist Guido Reni, by whom he was strongly influenced, in the decoration of the Pauline chapel in the Palazzo del Quirinale. The decoration of three chapels in S. Bartolomeo all'Isola, Rome, commissioned by Cardinal Michelangelo Tonti, (probably in 1611), constitute his major public work.
The present picture can be added to a small group of easel paintings convincingly attributed to the artist, of which he best known is the Deluge of circa 1616 in the Louvre, Paris (inv. no. 230). In these pictures as well as in his public work, Antonio's style displays a personal blend of Emilian naturalism and Roman classicism.
We are grateful to Sir Denis Mahon and Dr. Stephen Pepper for both independently confirming the attribution, having examined the painting in the original.
The present picture can be added to a small group of easel paintings convincingly attributed to the artist, of which he best known is the Deluge of circa 1616 in the Louvre, Paris (inv. no. 230). In these pictures as well as in his public work, Antonio's style displays a personal blend of Emilian naturalism and Roman classicism.
We are grateful to Sir Denis Mahon and Dr. Stephen Pepper for both independently confirming the attribution, having examined the painting in the original.