of landscape, theater, genre, and religious themes offers
a direct and immediate impression of the events of his
time.ANNIBALE CARRACCI
Bologna 1560-Rome 1609
Annibale Carracci learned painting from his cousin Lu-
dovico and engraving from his elder brother Agostino.
Between 1585 and 1595, Annibale produced a series of
impressive altarpieces, including the Madonna Enthroned
with Saints (1588; Dresden, Gemaldegalerie) and the Vir-
gin with Saints John and Catherine (1593; Bologna, Pina-
coteca Nazionale). They reveal his inheritance of the
painterly north Italian traditions of Correggio and the
colorism of the Venetian masters, the apparent result of
trips to Parma in 15 80 and Venice in 1581-1582. Most im-
portantly, Annibale became one of the catalysts of the
new style of painting in seventeenth-century Rome after
he moved there in 1595, revitalizing traditions of the
High Renaissance masters. The fresco cycles in the Pal-
azzo Farnese that depict mythological love scenes (1595 -
1605) mark the high point of his career. These illusion-
istic frescoes stand among the first monuments of the
new Baroque style.GIOVANNI BENEDETTO
CASTIGLIONE
Genoa circa 1610-Mantua 1663/6 5
Castiglione trained in Genoa with Giovanni Battista
Paggi and Sinibaldo Scorza and may have studied there
with Anthony van Dyck between 1621 and 1627. He spe-
cialized in biblical or pastoral themes populated with an-
imals and still-life elements, as in Noah Entering the Ark
(before 1632; Florence, Pitti). A prolific and imaginative
draughtsman, Castiglione developed the techniques of
brush drawing in oil and monotype. He admired the
etchings of Rembrandt, whose influence is evident in
Castiglione's own graphics such as the print Pastoral Jour-
ney (1638; B.28[25] v. 46,21). While living in Rome be-
tween 1630 and 1635 and again from 1647 to 1651, he fre-
quented the circle of Nicolas Poussin. This contact
resulted in the introduction of romantic, mythological
subjects to his repertoire, as, for example, in the brush
drawing Saving ofPyrrhus (Windsor Castle). Castiglione
traveled to Naples, Venice, and, later, to Genoa; from
1651 on he resided in Mantua as court painter to the Gon-
zaga family. Castiglione's paintings were popular among
eighteenth-century artists, who admired them for their
picturesque quality.PAUL CEZANNE
Aix-en-Provence 1839-190 6
Cezanne, the son of a wealthy banker, studied law in Aix
until his friend Emile Zola persuaded him to become an
artist. In 1861 he moved to Paris, met Pissarro and the
other Impressionists, and began painting in earnest. To
avoid conscription during the Franco-Prussian War, Ce-
zanne moved to L'Estaque in 1870 and between 1872 and
1874 worked alongside Pissarro at Pontoise and Auvers.
There he adopted a brighter palette and swifter Impres-
sionist execution, as can be seen in Auvers, Panoramic
View (Art Institute of Chicago) or Flowers in a Delft Vase
(Paris, Louvre). Cezanne exhibited twice with the
Impressionists, in 1874 and 1877, but sharp criticism of
the group caused him to withdraw permanently to Pro-
vence, where landscape, still-life, and imaginary figu-
rative compositions became his themes. During the
fruitful decades of the '8os and '905, he produced mas-
terpieces like Bay of Marseille Seen from L'Estaque (1883-
1885; New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art) and The
GreatBathers (1898-1905; Philadelphia Museum of Art).
Cezanne was one of the major Post-Impressionist artists
whose work had a profound impact on early twentieth-
century art.JEAN-SIMEON CHARDIN
Paris 1699-1779
Chardin, one of the most important painters of the eigh-
teenth century, specialized in still-life and domestic genre
scenes. He was born in the Saint-Germain-des-Pres sec-
tion of Paris, where he lived all his life. Chardin studied
with Pierre-Jacques Cazes and Noel-Nicolas Coypel.
Following the success of his first exhibition in 1728, he
was admitted to the Academic des Beaux-Arts and there-
after exhibited regularly at the Salon until his death. In-
spired by Flemish still lifes and Dutch genre scenes,
Chardin developed a uniquely French approach to these
cabinet pictures which became very popular with collec-
tors. Examples include The Buffet (1728; Paris, Louvre),
the Lady Sealing a Letter (1733; Berlin, Staatliche Museen
Preussischer Kulturbesitz), and Saying Grace (1740; Paris,
Louvre). Weakened by illness during his last years, he
worked exclusively in pastel, producing such fine por-
traits as the Self-Portrait with Eye Shades (1775; Paris,
Louvre).CORNELIS CORNELISZ. VAN
HAARLEM
Haarlem 1562-1638
"Cornelis the Painter," as he was called, was the leading
figure painter in Haarlem at the end of the sixteenth cen-336 ARTISTS' BIOGRAPHIES