There was affectation and sentimentality about his
work, a prettiness of face, rosy flesh tints, and a general lightness
of color, but he was a superior brushman, a good colorist, and, at
times, a man of earnestness and power.
[Illustration: FIG. 53.--BAROCCIO. ANNUNCIATION.]
THE ECLECTICS: After the Mannerists came the Eclectics of Bologna, led
by the Caracci, who, about 1585, sought to "revive" art. They started
out to correct the faults of the Mannerists, and yet their own art was
based more on the art of their great predecessors than on nature. They
thought to make a union of Renaissance excellences by combining
Michael Angelo's line, Titian's color, Correggio's light-and-shade and
Raphael's symmetry and grace. The attempt was praiseworthy for the
time, but hardly successful. They caught the lines and lights and
colors of the great men, but they overlooked the fact that the
excellence of the imitated lay largely in their inimitable
individualities, which could not be combined. The Eclectic work was
done with intelligence, but their system was against them and their
baroque age was against them.
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