The Carracci drawingsThe making of the Galleria Farnese

Completed at the very beginning of the 17^th century, a decorative interior in the heart of the Palazzo Farnese — the current seat of the French Embassy in Italy — would come to be regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces of Western painting. The work in question is the gallery decorated by Annibale Carracci, his brother Agostino, and their students. The Galleria Farnese drew admiration far and wide and inspired the work of many artists due to the beauty of its frescoes as well as that of its preparatory drawings. Never before had so many drawings for a painted interior been preserved, from the rapid sketch outlining the artist's initial ideas to the large cartoon measuring several metres per side, which contains a full-scale drawing of the fresco.

The Musée du Louvre is moving the Galleria Farnese to Paris, where the most extraordinary collection of preparatory drawings ever assembled will recreate the gallery in the manner of a jigsaw puzzle. The immersive exhibition design reproducing the Galleria’s vault will also include a second ceiling: that of the Camerino, a small room Annibale Carracci was given to test his designs.

The exhibition aims to give visitors a closer look at the engaging character of the work’s key architect, Annibale Carracci. The Camerino drawings and other sheets Annibale completed before leaving for Rome will highlight the 34-year-old artist’s determination to bring about a stylistic and intellectual revival. As he sojourned in the Eternal City for the very first time, his efforts would bring him to the point of exhaustion. The Galleria Farnese is both an extraordinary feat and the embodiment of a tragic fate: still young, the exhausted artist would never paint again, passing away after its completion.

Exhibition curator 

Victor Hundsbuckler, Curator, Department of Prints and Drawings, Musée du Louvre. 

Acknowledgements

This exhibition is organised with special support from the Royal Collection.

With the support of GRoW @ Annenberg, the Cercle des Mécènes du Louvre and the Tavolozza Foundation.