Carracci, Annibale (1560-1609)
Paesaggio con la Fuga in Egitto (Landscape with the Flight into Egypt)
c.1604
Oil on canvas, 122 x 230 cm
Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Roma
It is the leading element of the so-called “Aldobrandini Lunettes”, thanks to which the landscape genre in painting became established. In fact, it was a novelty for sacred themes to be placed on natural backgrounds to decorate a chapel and for this reason the work was an example and inspiration for generations of painters. Painted in Rome between 1604 and 1613 for Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, the series describes man and the environment with great harmony and classical tones with a heroic and courtly conception of nature. Each lunette is classically balanced in composition and recalls ancient buildings, contributing to the creation of the so-called “ideal landscape”.
The execution of this piece is almost unanimously assigned to Annibale Carracci, while the companion elements are generally believed to be by Francesco Albani and/or his other established collaborators (Domenichino, Lanfranco and Sisto Badalocchio). It is among the masterpieces that came to the Pamphilj through the dowry of Olimpia Aldobrandini in 1647. (GDP)