Bauernhäuser an einer Straße

april 1555

Born

1555

His father, a butcher from Cremona

Ludovico was born in Bologna into the family of Vincenzo, a butcher from Cremona, and was baptised on 21 April 1555. Annibale Carracci was his cousin, while Agostino is described as his younger brother or, according to other accounts, also a cousin.

1570–1580

Training under Prospero Fontana and journeys through Italy

Ludovico studies painting under Prospero Fontana and, probably, Camillo Procaccini; on his journeys through Italy he studies the works of renowned masters, visiting Florence, Parma, Mantua and Venice. According to Malvasia, Tintoretto noticed a lack of originality in the young Carracci's work and advised him to give up painting, but the headstrong pupil did not listen.

1578

Admitted to the painters' guild of Bologna

Ludovico is admitted to the painters' guild of Bologna (compagnia dei pittori a Bologna).

1580s

The academy's programme: eclecticism and drawing from life

Following the principle of conscious eclecticism, the Carracci sought to imitate Raphael in drawing and composition, Michelangelo in movement, Titian in colour and Correggio in chiaroscuro and grace. The academy aimed at a complete education, including perspective and plastic anatomy, and its pupils could draw from live nude models, which the Church of the Counter-Reformation forbade.

1582

Opening of the Carracci workshop-academy in Bologna

Together with Annibale and Agostino Carracci he opens a workshop, first called the Accademia dei Desiderosi and then the Accademia degli Incamminati (“of those on the right path”); Ludovico is regarded as its chief organiser. Other accounts date the founding of the academy to about 1585, and more recent conjecture holds that there was no formal academy with a curriculum, only Ludovico tutoring many pupils in his studio (among them Lorenzo Garbieri, Giacomo Cavedone and Francesco Camullo).