Sainte Madeleine

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”.

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.

1630

Moves to Naples for the Chapel of San Gennaro

On 23 March 1630, in a letter sent to Naples, Domenichino accepted the appointment to the Royal Chapel of the Treasure of San Gennaro in the cathedral, and in June he moved to Naples (by other accounts he left Rome in 1631 for this most prestigious and very lucrative commission).

15 april 1641

Died