Le Ravissement de saint Paul

1601

Moves to Rome to work with Annibale Carracci

In 1601 (by other accounts 1602) Domenichino moved to Rome, settled with his friend Francesco Albani in the Monti district, studied Raphael and worked under Annibale Carracci, whose pupil he considered himself until the master’s death. Alongside him worked Giovanni Lanfranco, later his chief rival.

1604

Patron and friend: Giovanni Battista Agucchi

With the support of Giovanni Battista Agucchi, secretary to the cardinal-nephew Pietro Aldobrandini, in 1604 Domenichino painted the fresco The Liberation of St Peter in San Pietro in Vincoli. Agucchi became his friend: they discussed questions of art and collaborated on a Treatise on Painting, and his ideas are mirrored in Domenichino’s art.

1609

Death of his master Annibale Carracci

After Annibale’s death in 1609 his pupils who kept to the master’s Roman style, Domenichino and Albani among them, lost out to Guido Reni in the race for the most prestigious commissions. According to Malvasia, Domenichino went unrecognised and underpaid, was left without commissions and was forced to beg for work through intermediaries “at any price”.

1618

Leaves Rome for Bologna and Fano

In 1618 (by other accounts 1617) Domenichino left Rome: in Bologna he painted the altarpiece of the Madonna of the Rosary, then settled in Fano, where in 1618–19 he frescoed the Nolfi chapel of the cathedral with scenes from the life of the Virgin.

April, between 1618 and 1621

Marries Marsibilia Barbetti

After settling in Fano, Domenichino returned to Bologna in April to marry Marsibilia Barbetti.

1 April 1621

Appointed architect of the Apostolic Chamber

With the election of the Bolognese pope Gregory XV Domenichino returned to Rome, and on 1 April 1621 he was appointed architect general of the Apostolic Chamber. He built little, leaving designs for the façade of Sant’Andrea della Valle and the plan of Sant’Ignazio, and remained above all a painter, winning commissions for altarpieces in Roman churches.