(born Oct. 1581, Bologna, Papal States—died April 6, 1641, Naples) Italian painter. He was trained in the academy of Lodovico Carracci in Bologna. In 1602 he joined the Bolognese artists in Rome working under Annibale Carracci in the decoration of the Farnese Palace. His work, done in the Baroque Classical style, is marked by lucid and balanced compositions, even and serene lighting and subdued colours, and the sober expressions and restrained gestures of its figures. He became Rome's leading painter and had a succession of major decorative commissions. He was an outstanding draftsman and portraitist; his paintings were regarded as second only to those of
Raphael throughout the 17th–18th centuries and had great influence on
Nicolas Poussin and
Claude Lorrain.
Source: Encyclopedia Britannica
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