The 3D03 course text by Ann Sutherland Harris directs attention to the importance of a group of painters, Lodovico, Agostino and Annibale Carracci, who established an academy of art in the city of Bologna during the 1580s. Much has been written about these painters and their contribution to the origins of baroque art in Italy. The Carracci, as they are collectively known, have generally been credited with initiating a reform of art which displaced Mannerism and hailed a return to a classicized art perfectly balanced with the study of nature. According to the German art historian Walter Friedlaender, this reform of art coincided with an 'anti-Mannerist' sensibility. Friedlaender thus argued that that the Carracci were motivated to produce paintings that consciously rejected Mannerist style.
We do not know, of course, whether the Carracci truly did object to Mannerist painting and there is no real reason to assume that Friedlaender's argument is valid. His conclusions are understandable when we take into consideration his distaste for Mannerist painting and it is clear that in writing about 'Anti-Mannerist' (ie., early baroque) art Friedlaender invents the Carracci in his own image. To some extent the compulsion to write about the Bolognese reform in glowing terms may have had something to do with the fact that baroque art had conventionally been regarded as 'bad'. But Friedlaender's efforts to set aside the prejudice against baroque art only resulted in sustaining a bias towards Mannerism.
As we proceed with our exploration of early 17th-century art we will discover that the differences between Mannerism and the early baroque are not at all clear.
We do not know, of course, whether the Carracci truly did object to Mannerist painting and there is no real reason to assume that Friedlaender's argument is valid. His conclusions are understandable when we take into consideration his distaste for Mannerist painting and it is clear that in writing about 'Anti-Mannerist' (ie., early baroque) art Friedlaender invents the Carracci in his own image. To some extent the compulsion to write about the Bolognese reform in glowing terms may have had something to do with the fact that baroque art had conventionally been regarded as 'bad'. But Friedlaender's efforts to set aside the prejudice against baroque art only resulted in sustaining a bias towards Mannerism.
As we proceed with our exploration of early 17th-century art we will discover that the differences between Mannerism and the early baroque are not at all clear.
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