Agostino Carracci is associated with his theoretical ideas of art. Carracci was a well educated man, with a wealth of knowledge in philosophy, astronomy, natural sciences, history, and poetry. Carracci, who had a deep understanding of human anatomy, mastered this in his drawings.

               In his drawing of the Madonna and Child great attention is made to detail, drapery, and voluptuousness of the characters. It is not like most "Madonna and Child" artwork, the child is not sitting on the mother's lap. The child is laying on the mother's lap and is being pulled away by another character. No apparent warmth is shown by the mother, instead separation between Madonna and Child is clearly visible.

               Carracci's drawing is very similar to other Renaissance period work. The compositional format includes a triangular diagonal, high lighting contrast, strong shading which are all typical of this period. Due to Carracci's fascination of anatomy, the details of the anatomical structure are very precise, and true to human form. Many elements of this drawing are characteristic of the Renaissance period.

Drawing