Annibale Carracci is a hugely famous Italian baroque artist who produced the majority of his best work in the 16th century. As with many Baroque artists of the time Carracci painted frescos commonly with religious themes which has not really been continued into the modern day, and certainly not to the standard that the greatest Baroque artists achieved. Carracci is known to have transported on the achievements and success of the likes of Raphael and Michelangelo.
In the modern day Carracci and Caravaggio are two artists commonly compared and discussed. Both created some exceptional depictions of religious icons, as seen in Carracci's Assumption of the Virgin Mary which is now to be seen at the Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome.
Annibale was part of a family of famous artists in the Carracci family, and became the best known, though brother Agostino and cousin Ludovico played an important role in his career as together they set up a painters' studio in 1582. It was here this that was to lay the foundation for the style of the later Bolognese School, with influences of the Florentines like Raphael and Andrea del Sarto and Venetians such as Titian. Some early works by the Carracci family are hard to distinguish due to their duplicated signature, but over time Annibale established himself as the figurehead of the family's artists and his own paintings have become fully recognized.
Alongside this important work in Carracci's career, other paintings worthy of note included Venus with a Satyr and Cupids, Lamentation of Christ, Mocking of Christ, Pietà, The Martyrdom of St Stephen, Crucifixion, The Flight into Egypt, Domine quo vadis ?, Venus and Adonis and The Baptism of Christ. Some household names such as Bernini, Poussin, and Rubens are known to have respected the career of Carracci who continues to clash with Caravaggio even today.