Discover rare preparatory cartoons behind a masterpiece of the Italian Baroque.
In 1594, brothers Annibale and Agostino Carracci arrived in Rome to take on a major commission: decorating the grand Farnese Palace for the young Cardinal Odoardo Farnese. Their ambitious project would culminate in one of the greatest frescoes of the Italian Baroque period.
This exhibition presents two rare preparatory cartoons – large-scale charcoal drawings on paper – created in 1597 for the palace’s vast gallery. These works of arts are alive with mythical creatures, gods and tumbling waves, revealing the Carracci brothers’ inspirations, from ancient Roman sculpture to the masterpieces of Michelangelo and Raphael.
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