Carracci, Palazzo Farnese Ceiling, 1597-1606

Annibale Carracci, Ceiling of the Palazzo Farnese, fresco, Rome, 1597-1608

(bouncy piano music)

Female voiceover: I know that there are
a lot of these illusionistic ceilings

that were made during the
Baroque period in the 1600s.

This looks like a really beautiful
one, and an early example, right?

Male voiceover: It is an early example.

This was begun in the late 1590s,
and finished in the very early 1600s.

It's the Farnese Gallery ceiling by
Annibale Carracci, a Bolognese painter.

Female voiceover: I said "illusionistic,"
because that's really what it is.

It's entirely an illusion.

Male voiceover: Everything that you see
above the moldings on the walls is fresco.

It's all paint.

There's nothing three-dimensional.

Female voiceover: Everything
that looks like sculpture,

everything that looks like a frame,

all of that is just paint.

Male voicover: It's all fresco.

We'll see some good details
that show you that in a minute.

Before we start talking about details,

we should situate this within
Annibale Carracci's career

and in the development
of Baroque painting.

The Carracci, by the end of the 1500s,

had established themselves in Bologna

as the leaders of this
new style of painting

that was a rejection of mannerism
and for various reasons,

was pointing towards a style
that was more naturalistic,

as well as being more straightforward,

and dramatic, and clear,
and very, very legible.

This was the Baroque style that's
going to dominate European art ...

Female voicover: In the 1600s.

Male voiceover: For centuries to come.

They had established
themselves in Bologna,

but when Annibale Carracci
gets called to Rome

in the 1590s to work
for the Farnese family,

this was really his moment
to step on to a major stage,

and to bring his revolution of painting

to the center of the
art world at the time.

Female voiceover: He's sort of
gone from doing off-Broadway play

to now being a big star
on Broadway, in Rome.

Male voiceover: Exactly.
Right, in Rome for the Farnese
family in their main palace.

This is a family of dukes and
cardinals, incredibly important patrons.

All of these things make this commission
particularly important for him.

Female voiceover: Can you get
in to see this today in Rome?

Male voiceover: You can
sometimes, but not all the time,

because today the Fernese
Palace is the French Embassy.

Female voiceover: Those
lucky French ambassadors.

Male voiceover: Although it may be
inconvenient, we might also be thankful

because, undoubtedly, it being
secluded has kept it in good condition.

Female voiceover: That's true.

What is the subject of the ceiling?

Male voiceover: The subject of the
ceiling is several different scenes

of the loves of the gods
from classical mythology.

Those are the scenes that
we see in the paintings,

and it's as if these paintings are framed

in either wood gilded frames or
in stone architectural details,

and then inserted among real
people and real sculptures.

But of course, like we
said, it's all paint.

Female voiceover: This is the subject

because it celebrated a
marriage and a family.

Male voiceover: Right.

Female voiceover: This is all about love.

Male voiceover: Right,
and even though we're

following the Counter-Reformation here,

we should keep in mind that this
is a very private viewing context,

and it's also to celebrate a wedding.

So, the stories of love
and eroticism that we see,

we shouldn't think of as being
out of place at this time.

Female voiceover: Let's
have a look at one of them.

Male voiceover: Here we again
see the ceiling in a full view,

and as we said, it's as
if there are paintings

of these love scenes inserted
among people and sculptures

who are not necessarily related
exactly to the subject of the painting.

Female voiceover: It's hard to
believe that those are not paintings

leaning up against the molding.

Male voiceover: Right, especially
the one at the far end.

It looks like it's leaning up against
the wall, but it's all fresco.

The ceiling is curved, but
it's flat to the touch.

Female voiceover: Amazing.

So, artists are really building

on what perspective had given them,

what Brunelleschi had
given them, and being able

to do all sorts of kind of
tricks with perspective.

That becomes a big thing
during this period.

Male voiceover: Very much so, but
it starts out initially as an effort

on reclaiming naturalistic skills,
and studying carefully from life,

and then making your art look
as life-like as possible.

The illusionism that we see here,

the fooling you into
thinking that you're looking

at real three-dimensional
things perspectively,

sometimes has very serious weight as well,

in terms of the revolution that
the Carracci are trying to bring.

Female voaiceover: Don't you
think it's also a little bit

of a desire to involve you
emotionally, to bring you into it?

Male voiceover: It is very engaging
in that sense, as well, absolutely.

In the center of the ceiling
is the main subject matter.

This is the triumphal chariot
with Bacchus and Ariadne,

two of the most famous lovers
in classical mythology.

Female voiceover: Wait a second.

This whole thing along the
bottom, that's all paint, right?

Male voiceover: Everything is paint,
and you can see that it's curved.

Again, it's a barrel vaulted
ceiling, but there's nothing

three dimensional on the
surface of the ceiling.

Female voiceover: Wow. Amazing.

Male voiceover: You can see here,
it's a very celebratory tone.

It's very fitting towards the
celebration of a marriage.

You can see, also, the
incredible claccisism

that Annibale Carracci has
brought to his painting,

much more in these works than
in his earlier work in Bologna.

Of course, that makes
sense, not only because

of the classical subject matter,

but also because now he's in Rome,

the heart of classical [antiquity].

Here's a really good example to look at,

where we can see our
different levels of reality.

This particular scene in the middle,

the painting that's [unintelligible]
inserted in the ceiling,

is the story of Diana and Endymion.

There are several versions of the story,

but basically, the story is
that Endymion is a hunter

who is incredibly
beautiful, and he is asleep.

The goddess Diana, the
goddess of the moom,

is to taken with his beauty that
she seduces him while he's sleeping.

This is one of the love stories
that we see in the Farnese ceiling.

Female voiceover: It's very sweet.

Male voiceover: It's very
sweet, and the sweetness of it,

and the seductiveness of it is,

as in all Baroque paintings no
matter what their subject matter,

communicated through gestures
and facial expressions.

The way she tenderly caresses his face,

the way that the figure
of the Cupid in the back

is saying, "Shh," because he's sleeping.

All of these things, when
we say that Baroque art

uses gestures and dramatic expressions,

and so on, to tell a story,

we're not always talking
about religious art.

Sometimes, it can be something like this.

Female voiceover: I notice, still,
too, that use of the diagonal line.

Male voiceover: That strong
use of the diagonal line.

Actually, we have two
intersecting diagonal lines,

almost like an X-shape to the composition;

everything, again, very close to us.

Male voiceover: Close to the
viewer; also very, very simplified.

The whole composition is
boiled down to its essentials,

nothing confusing, nothing enigmatic,

which had been the hallmarks
of the mannerist style,

which had been rejected.

Female voiceover: And that's Diana, the
goddess of the moon [unintelligible].

Male voiceover: Right,
and you know it's her

because she has her little
moon on her headband,

and you know that she's a goddess,

not just some seductive
woman lurking in the bushes,

because you can see she's
floating in on a cloud.

Female voiceover: She's
floating on a cloud, right.

I'm amazed by the illusion.

It looks as though these
are stucco or sculptures

that are lit from below.

Male voiceover: Because, of course,
that's where the windows are.

Annabile Carracci has carefully
studied the light sources,

the real light sources in
the room, to then paint

these fictive sculptures and people

as if they're being lit by the real light

entering the space, and
that enhances the illusion.

This is especially good detail to look at.

Female voiceover: The shadows
- the shadows are so dark

around the shoulders of
these sort of figures

that frame them, so that it really looks

like they're kind of in high-relief there.

Male voiceover: That's exactly
what they're supposed to look like.

I'll draw your attention to
the sculpture on the right.

The arm on the left,
which is his right arm,

is broken off ...

Female voiceover: It looks exactly
like an ancient Greek sculpture.

Male voiceover: It looks like a
real, three-dimensional sculpture

that would be broken, but the joke is,

there's nothing there to break,
because it's flat and fresco.

Female voiceover: It's paint.

It's tricky.

Male voiceover: It is tricky.

Female voiceover: And fun.

There's something really
playful about it, I think.

Male voiceover: Which is
appropriate for the subject matter,

again because it's love stories and

because it's about
celebrating [unintelligible].

Female voiceover: How long
did it take him to paint?

Male voiceover: Several years.

Female voiceover: I bet.

Male voiceover: Beginning in the
1590s, and finished [unintelligible].

Female voiceover: And he
worked with a workshop,

as most artists did then, right?

Male voiceover: Most artists
had workshops working for them,

mixing paints, and getting things ready.

Female voiceover: Obviously, the
example that he must be looking at

is Michaelangelo's ceiling.

Male voiceover: Of course.

The Carracci had been interested
in all the major artists

from the High Renaissance
as inspiration and resources

which which to reject what they saw

as the convolutions, and the
strangeness of mannerism.

Michaelangelo becomes
particularly important

when Annibale Carracci goes to Rome,

because Michaelangelo's Sistine ceiling,

that we're looking at
a section of here ...

Female voiceover: That's exactly this.

Male voiceover: Does
exactly the same, and if you

think about it, the format
is very much the same,

even though the subject
matter is very different.

Female voiceover: Inserted paintings,
painted sculpture and architecture

around those painted scenes in the center,

mixing of that sort of
painted images in color

with figures that look like sculpture.

Male voiceover: Yes, so this
is a very good illustration

of the idea that, in some
ways Baroque art is a

return to the principles
of the High Renaissance,

but also going even further
than what had been done

in the High Renaissance,
increasing the drama,

increasing the playfulness,

increasing even the illusion that we see,

Female voiceover: Increasing the
emotion, and the accessibility.

Male voiceover: Absolutely,
and don't forget,

like we said before, Annibale
Carracci really needs

to pull out all the stops
here, because he needs

to bring this new style and his skill

to Rome [unintelligible].

Female voiceover: So,
he's really showing off.

Male voiceover: Right, exactly.

Female voiceover: That's obvious.

(lively piano music)