Bolognese school

Works produced and theories expounded by the Academy of the Progressives, founded in Bologna c. 1582 by Lodovico, Agostino, and Annibale Carracci. In reaction against Mannerism, they advocated drawing directly from life. Among their leading students were Domenichino and Guido Reni. Their clear, simple pictures accorded well with the artistic demands of the Counter-Reformation, which wanted works of art to be immediately comprehensible. What began as a regional movement became one of the most influential forces in 17th-century art.

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