Aeneas and his family fleeing Troy

Agostino Carracci
Italy
1557 – 1602

after Federico Barocci
1535 – 1612

Aeneas and his family fleeing Troy
1595
engraving on paper
Place made
Rome
Medium
engraving on paper
State
B.XVIII.99.110; TIB 3901.192; Bohlin (1979) 203, only state
Dimensions
40.4 x 52.2 cm (plate & sheet)
Credit line
Bequest of David Murray 1908
Accession number
084G1646
Signature and date
Signed and dated in plate l.r., "Ago. Car./ Fe/ 1595"; l.l., "Augustinus Carracci".
Catalogue raisonne
B.XVIII.99.110; TIB 3901.192; Bohlin 203, only state
Media category
Print
Collection area
European prints

  • WALL LABEL: A Beautiful Line: Italian prints from Mantegna to Piranesi, 2012

     

    Agostino Carracci is best known for his reproductive engravings which display a high level of virtuosity. This print is one of his masterpieces and is based on a painting by Federico Barocci. Barocci commissioned Agostino to make a print after his design. Agostino’s seventeenth century biographer recounts, however, that Barocci was displeased with the engraving, because it was superior to his painting. Regardless of whether this is true, the story highlights the esteem in which Agostino’s engravings were held by his contemporaries.   

     

    The story of Aeneas fleeing Troy is told by Virgil in the Aeneid. Barocci brings the dramatic narrative to life. Aeneas is shown rescuing his father Anchises while the city of Troy burns.

     

    Maria Zagala, Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings & Photographs

  • A beautiful line. Italian prints from Mantegna to Piranesi

    Art Gallery of South Australia, 20 August 2010 – 31 October 2010
  • [Book] Bohlin, Diane D. Prints and Related Drawings by the Carracci Family, A Catalogue Raisonne.
  • [Book] Bury, Michael. The print in Italy 1550-1620.
  • [Book] Zagala, Maria. A Beautiful Line : Italian prints from Mantegna to Piranesi.