Baroque Art and Architecture

In the late 16th century, Bologna emerged from artistic obscurity to become a cradle of reaction against the exaggerations of late-Renaissance Mannerism (not many local examples have survived, but think of the exquisite, swan-necked creatures of Parmigianino). The fight was led by the Carracci: brothers Annibale and Agostino and cousin Ludovico, who started off together frescoing palaces, and in the 1580s founded a school of painting with the startlingly inaccurate name of the Accademia degli Incamminati (‘the progressives’).

Their success was not necessarily due to any change in Italian tastes. The Council of Trent, which concluded its reform of the Church in 1563, decreed that religious art was to fall under the close supervision of the clergy, and clear rules were set down for it. Painting and sculpture must be simple and intelligible, realistic, and filled with emotional appeal to encourage piety.