Study for the Choice of Hercules
Study for the Choice of Hercules
Study for the Choice of Hercules
Study for the Choice of Hercules

Currently not on view

Study for the Choice of Hercules,

ca. 1595–97

Annibale Carracci, 1560–1609; born Bologna, Italy; died Rome, Italy
2008-43

Annibale Carracci’s first decorative project for the Farnese Palace in Rome was the vault of Cardinal Odoardo’s study, which he painted with scenes from the life of Hercules. This is a rough draft for The Choice of Hercules, in which the adolescent hero must decide between the paths of Pleasure and Virtue (opting for the latter). Prior to determining the final solution, in which the two allegorical figures flank Hercules, Annibale considered and then abandoned an asymmetrical composition, here rendered with a flurry of staccato pen strokes. In the eighteenth century the drawing belonged to the famed French collector Pierre-Jean Mariette, whose elegant blue mat and gold-bordered frame temper the distracting effects of iron gall ink corrosion throughout the sheet.

Information

Title
Study for the Choice of Hercules
Dates

ca. 1595–97

Maker
Annibale Carracci
Medium
Pen and brown ink over traces of red chalk on beige laid paper
Dimensions
22.3 x 19.3 cm (8 3/4 x 7 5/8 in.) frame: 54 x 41.4 x 2.9 cm (21 1/4 x 16 5/16 x 1 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund
Object Number
2008-43
Inscription
Inscribed recto in black ink, lower right corner: 31; On mount in graphite, lower left: Part de / [. . .]ijean; On mount in brown ink, top left: annibal carrache / né à Bologne en 1560 / mort à rome en 1609 / Dessin appartien maintenant / cabinet de Pierre hédouin / 11 sept.re 1844; On mount in black ink, lower center, in cartouche: ANNIBAL CARACCI / Olim P. Mignard, & P. Crozat, nunc P. Mariette;
Marks/Labels/Seals
Lower left, in black: stamp of Pierre-Jean Mariette (L. 1852); Recto, lower right, in brown ink: Stamp of Pierre Crozat (1665–1740), Paris, postmortem inventory numbering (L. 3612);
Culture
Italian
Type
drawings, studies (visual works)
Materials
chalk, ink, laid paper
Subject
nudes, allegory, men, mythology, women

Probably Francesco Angeloni (d. 1652), Rome; Pierre Mignard (1612–1695), Paris; Pierre Crozat (1665–1740): 31; his sale, Paris, April 10– May 13, 1741 (See reference Bib. 5436); Pierre-Jean Mariette, lower left, in black; his sale, Paris, November 15, 1775–January 30, 1776, part of lot 298 or 299; Pierre Hédouin, Paris; his sale, Paris, December 27, 1866 (See reference Bib. 5437); Mme Rieunier, Paris; sale, Paris, Drouot, December 12, 1990, lot 29 (See reference Bib. 5438); Jean-Pierre Selz, Paris; Jeffrey E. Horvitz; his sale, Sotheby’s, New York, January 23, 2008, lot 52 (bought in) (See reference Bib. 5439); purchased by the Art Museum.;

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