Pietà, or the "Christ of Caprarola", 1597
Annibale Carracciexpand_more
Etching, engraving and drypointexpand_more
The Winton Jones Endowment Fund for Prints and Drawingsexpand_more 2010.45.3
Not on Viewexpand_more
This is Annibale’s first print following his resettlement in Rome. The word Caprarola next to his signature is the name of a town about 50 miles outside the city, perhaps the place where he made the etching. In any case, the inscription suggests that Annibale visited the magnificent Villa Farnese located there, probably to study the spectacular frescoes painted on its walls, since the Farnese family had just hired him to paint major frescoes in their palace in Rome.
It had been a few years since Annibale had made an etching, and here he no longer had his Bologna studio mates for technical support. The result was a web of lines in the sky due to an accident during the etching process. Could he have considered this a happy accident' Afterall, he published the plate and may have appreciated the emotional resonance between the frazzled sky and the emotions of Jesus’s mourners.
Details
- Title
- Pietà, or the "Christ of Caprarola"
- Artist Life
- Italian (Bologna), 1560-1609
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2010.45.3
- Provenance
- Pierre Mariette, Paris, 1667 (cf. Lugt 1789, 1634-1716); [Craddock and Barnard, London]; Sale, Sotheby's, London, March 30, 2010, part of no. 8, to MIA
- Catalogue Raisonne
- DeGrazia Bohlin 18 vi/vii
- Curator Approved
This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
Does something look wrong with this image? Let us know
Zoom in on the left to the detail you'd like to save. Click 'Save detail' and wait until the image updates. Right click the image to 'save image as' or copy link, or click the image to open in a new tab.