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Boy Drinking

1582-1583

Annibale Carracci

(Italian, c. 1560-1609)

Italy, 16th century

Oil on canvas

Framed: 79 x 67 x 5.5 cm (31 1/8 x 26 3/8 x 2 3/16 in.); Unframed: 55.8 x 43.7 cm (21 15/16 x 17 3/16 in.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1994.4

Location

217 Italian Baroque

Fun Fact

In this painting, the reflective quality of the jug enhances its naturalism: notice how it throws light onto the boy's shirt.

Description

Together with his brother Agostino and cousin Lodovico, Annibale Carracci introduced artistic reforms in Italy based on close observation of the natural world. Annibale’s innovative and highly influential style steered a path between the smooth artificiality of Mannerism––in which style and technique took precedence over fidelity to nature––and the heightened drama of paintings by Caravaggio. In this remarkable early work, the coarse surface of the canvas, the inelegant subject matter, and the striking distortion of forms from light passing through glass all speak to his naturalistic approach.

Provenance

[Harari and Johns, London];

Peter Jay Sharp [sold, Sotheby's New York, January 13, 1994, lot 70, to the Cleveland Museum of Art].

L. J. King, Esq., Dorchester, Dorset [Sale: Bonhams, London, July 11, 1985, lot 70];

Sir John Wood, Hengrave Hall, Bury St. Edmonds, Suffolk [Sale: Knight, Frank and Rutley, London, 1952];

Gage Collection, Hengrave Hall, Suffolk;

Lord Bateman, Shobdon Court, Herfordshire [Sale: Christie's London, April 11, 1986, lot 145 as Velazquez; sold for 7 Guineas];

Citations

Posner, Donald. Annibale Carracci; A Study in the Reform of Italian Painting Around 1590. London, United Kingdom: Phaidon, 1971. Mentioned: p. 19-29, vol. I; Reproduced: p. 5, no. 7A, vol. II

Freedberg, S. J. Circa 1600: A Revolution of Style in Italian Painting. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1983. Mentioned: p. 8-9

National Gallery of Art (U.S.), Pinacoteca nazionale (Bologna, Italy), and Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.). The Age of Correggio and the Carracci: Emilian Painting of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1986. Reproduced: p. 267, no. 84

Pepper, D. Stephen. The School of Bologna, 1570-1730, Calvaert to Crespi: [Exhibition] Harari & Johns Ltd., London, 8th April-15th May, 1987. London, United Kingdom: Harari & Johns, 1987. Reproduced: fig. 2

Emiliani, Andrea, and Grazia Agostini. La pittura in Emilia e in Romagna. Milan, Italy: Electa, 1994. Reproduced: p. 26

Morandotti, Alessandro. Pittura italiana antica: artisti e opere del Seicento e del Settecento. Milano, Italy: Fenice 2000, 1995. Mentioned: p. 104-106; Reproduced: p. 106

Iacono, Margaret. Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. New York,NY: The Frick Collection, 2006. Mentioned: p. 28-31; Reproduced: no. 4

Dickerson, C. D. Raw Painting: The Butcher's Shop by Annibale Carracci. Fort Worth, TX: Kimbell Art Museum, 2010. Reproduced: p. 55, fig. 50

Goldin, Marco. Da Vermeer a Kandinsky: capolavori dai musei del mondo a Rimini. Treviso, Italy: Linea d' ombra, 2012. Reproduced: p. 36

Rihouet, Pascale. "Veronese's Goblets: Glass Design and the Civilizing Process." Journal of Design History 26, no. 2 (2013): 133-151. Reproduced: P. 137, fig. 3.

Porzio, Francesco. "Per il linguaggio del comico figurativo: il lessico metaforico delle pitture ridicole." In Rire en images à la Renaissance, 129-142. Francesca Alberti and Diane Bodart. Turnhout: Brepols, 2018. Reproduced: p. 133, fig. 3; Mentioned: pp. 134-135

Ghirardi, Angela. Pittura e vita popolare: un sentiero tra Anversa e l'Italia nel secondo Cinquecento. Mantova: Tre lune edizioni, 2016. Reproduced: Pl. 68

Zerbone, Julien. "Le Repas Sous le Regard des Peintres." 303: recherches et creations 151 (2018): 233-239.
Reproduced: p. 239

Vodret, Rossella, et. al. Caravaggio: opere a Roma: tecnica e stile = works in Rome: technique and style. Cinisello Balsamo, Milano: SilvanaEditoriale, 2016. Reproduced: P. 167

Exhibition history

Masterpieces of European Painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Beachwood, OH (March 29, 2007 - July 8, 2007).

Realism and Naturalism in the Art of Annibale Carracci. Allen Memorial Art Museum (organizer) (April 15-June 1, 1997).

Masterpieces of European Painting from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Frick Collection (organizer) (November 8, 2006-January 28, 2007).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Boy Drinking|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1994.4|author=Annibale Carracci|year=1582-1583|access-date=24 September 2019|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Boy Drinking

Boy Drinking

Annibale Carracci

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