Federico Barocci Inspiration and Innovation in Early Modern Italy Visual Culture in Early Modernity Series

Reviewers of a recent exhibition termed Federico Barocci (ca. 1533?1612), 'the greatest artist you?ve never heard of'. One of the first original iconographers of the Counter Reformation, Barocci was a remarkably inventive religious painter and draftsman, and the first Italian artist to incorporate extensive color into his drawings. The purpose of this volume is to offer new insights into Barocci?s work and to accord this artist, the dates of whose career fall between the traditional Renaissance and Baroque periods, the critical attention he deserves. Employing a range of methodologies, the essays include new ideas on Barocci?s masterpiece, the Entombment of Christ; fresh thinking about his use of color in his drawings and innovative design methods; insights into his approach to the nude; revelations on a key early patron; a consideration of the reasons behind some of his most original iconography; an analysis of his unusual approach to the marketing of his pictures; an exploration of some little-known aspects of his early production, such as his reliance on Italian majolica and contemporary sculpture in developing his compositions; and an examination of a key Barocci document, the post mortem inventory of his studio. A translated transcription of the inventory is included as an appendix.

Table of contents:

1. Introduction: New Insights into Barocci’s Senigallia Entombment and Suggestions on his Late Workshop Practice

Babette Bohn and Judith Mann

2. From Altar to Hearth: Barocci and the Brancaleoni of Piobbico

Carol Plazzotta

3. Just what is it that makes Barocci’s painting so different, so appealing?

Claudio Pizzorusso

4. Federico Barocci and the Artistic Legacy of his Homeland

Alessandra Giannotti

5. Federico Barocci and the Corpus of High Renaissance Art

Stuart Lingo

6. "Though this be madness, yet there is method in it:" Barocci’s Design Process

Babette Bohn

7. Drawing the Virgin: Federico Barocci’s Doctrine of the Virgin Mary

Judith W. Mann

8. "God Knows When He’ll Finish": Barocci and the Art Market

Richard E. Spear

9. The Tip of the Iceberg: Barocci’s Post Mortem Inventory and the Survival of Renaissance Drawings

David Eckserdjian