Author Description

The 17th century saw the flowering of Italian art in the "Golden Age of Bolognese Art." This sparkling period produced artists like Guercino, Guido Reni and Albano, who were pupils and followers of the masterful Carraccis, and their name is given to the age because of the enormous influence the Carraccis had on contemporary artists of their time. In the studio and academy they founded, brothers, Agostino and Annibale, with their cousin, Ludovico, created art that changed the course of European painting and drawing over several centuries. In their rejection of stylized approaches, they laid the foundation for Baroque art and introduced new ways of observing and recording life on the street and in the countryside. (Ashmolean Museum)