"The Artist's Corner..."

"Untitled Nude"

Oil on canvas

Annibale Carracci

What I Like About This: Here we have a 16th century work by an early Italian master of the Baroque style. Carracci was noted for the dynamism he captured in his works and this is illustrated here by the contortion of his subject and the water that spills forth from the earthen crock in his grasp. I also particularly like the coloring of this painting, it is almost a study in monochromatism... the artist fairly depicts the swarthy and sallow skin tones common of those in the southern regions of Italy. And finally, another attractive aspect of this painting is that while being depicted fully in the nude, the subject is shown to be modest and demure... yet he is well proportioned including his genitals, a feature which runs counter to the tendency of artists even in academic nudes to portray such details diminutively and lacking life-like realism.