Agostino (1568–1602) was the brains of the family, courtier, scholar, man of the world. Annibale (1560–1609) was the nerves,—moody, shy, solitary, with titan ambitions in a small and unprepossessing frame. His cousin, Lodovico (1555–1619), was possibly the best artist of the three if only because he attempted less and followed sentimentalism frankly without too much bothering about grandeur. Lodovico, Figure 315, and Annibale, Figure 316, enriched the churches of Bologna with great animated altar-pieces which enthralled their contemporaries, and today seem more than a little affected. But that is merely because we no longer share what was an entirely sincere way of religious feeling. They started an Academy in which the antique, the nude, and competitive composition were the staple of instruction quite as in French and British State art schools today. In the Bolognese palaces the Carracci did in fresco great mythological series, consulting Homer, Virgil and Ovid and Apollonius of Rhodes. In the main they had friezes to do, and they drew heavily from Correggio, tempering his alacrity with something of the heavier energy of the Roman style. In 1585 the Carracci set up their Academy. It was soon thronged. Agostino, a courtly, learned and accomplished person, was the leading influence, being lecturer as well as drawing master. Even, Annibale, habitually an offish and difficult man, is said to have been affable and helpful to his disciples. In studying his pictures, one feels that he was thwarted of his true development. Not only was he much of a realist, painting tavern scenes, Figure 317, after Caravaggio’s lead, but also a studious and charming landscape painter, Figure 318. His soberly colored and gracefully composed landscapes were an important influence on Poussin. Annibale’s adventures in the grand style, though audacious and loudly applauded, really did some violence to his modest and sensitive spirit. His was the least academic temperament imaginable, and the final disastrous quarrel with his eminently academic brother, Agostino, was inevitable. [Illustration: FIG. 317. Annibale Carracci. The Bean Eater.—_Prince Colonna, Rome._ ] [Illustration: FIG. 318. Annibale Carracci. Flight to Egypt.—_Doria, Rome._ ] [Illustration: FIG. 319. Annibale Carracci. Ceiling Detail.—_Farnese Palace, Rome._ ]