The Nativity with Saints Francis and Agnes
c. 1605
Medium
pen and brown ink and brown wash with white heightening over black chalk; traces of incising
Dimensions
overall: 20.2 x 29.5 cm (7 15/16 x 11 5/8 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Adolph Caspar Miller Fund
Accession Number
1975.52.1
Art Historical Context
Lodovico Carracci (1555–1619) created this intimate drawing around 1605 during a period when Bolognese artists were leading a return to naturalism and emotional clarity in religious art. As one of the Carracci cousins who founded the influential Accademia degli Incamminati, Lodovico helped move Italian painting away from the artificial elegance of Mannerism toward the warmth and accessibility that would define early Baroque style. The scene depicts the newborn Christ adored by the Virgin and saints, with Saint Francis of Assisi—known for his humility—and Saint Agnes, symbol of purity, flanking...
About the Artist
Lodovico Carracci
Lodovico's style is charaterized by being less classical than that of his younger cousins, Agostino and Annibale, his figures have a sense of other-worldliness, and he is more influenced by Mannerist art than his cousins. Like his cousins, he espoused the direct study of nature, especially through figure drawing; he was influenced by the paintings of Correggio and the Venetians.