_Agostino Carracci_ (Eclectic-Bologna: 1557-1602).
Agostino was the elder brother of Annibale Carracci (see
under 9) and cousin of Lodovico (see under 28). It was he
who composed the well-known sonnet in which the aims of the
Eclectic School are set forth. He was the most learned of the
Carracci, being painter, engraver, poet, and musician, and
well versed in the arts and sciences generally. His pictures
are rare. The best is the "Communion of St. Jerome" in the
Academy at Bologna. His prints are numerous; his engraving
of Tintoretto's "Crucifixion," executed at Venice in 1589,
was highly praised by that artist. In the same year Agostino
returned to Bologna, and became the principal teacher in the
school of the Carracci. He afterwards went to Rome to assist
Annibale in the frescoes for the Farnese Palace. He executed
the "Cephalus and Aurora" and "Galatea" in that series; his
success excited the jealousy of Annibale, and caused a feud
between the two brothers. Agostino thereupon left Rome for
Parma, where he died shortly afterwards.
These are the cartoons made by Agostino for the frescoes referred
to above. They formed part of Sir Thomas Lawrence's collection of
drawings. In 147, Cephalus, while on a hunting expedition on Mount
Hymettus, is forcibly carried off by Aurora. The aged Tithonus, her
husband, is sleeping in the foreground. In 148, the sea-nymph Galatea
is borne on the ocean by Glaucus, preceded by Triton blowing his horn,
and surrounded by Nereids and Cupids on Dolphins.