Midway in their career the Caracci
themselves modified their eclecticism and placed more reliance upon
nature. But their pupils paid little heed to the modification.
There were five of the Caracci, but three of them--Ludovico
(1555-1619), Agostino (1557-1602), and Annibale (1560-1609)--led the
school, and of these Annibale was the most distinguished. They had
many pupils, and their influence was widely spread over Italy. In Sir
Joshua Reynolds's day they were ranked with Raphael, but at the
present time criticism places them where they belong--painters of the
Decadence with little originality or spontaneity in their art, though
much technical skill. Domenichino (1581-1641) was the strongest of the
pupils. His St. Jerome was rated by Poussin as one of the three great
paintings of the world, but it never deserved such rank. It is
powerfully composed, but poor in coloring and handling. The painter
had great repute in his time, and was one of the best of the
seventeenth century men. Guido Reni (1575-1642) was a painter of many
gifts and accomplishments, combined with many weaknesses.
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