Fantasy and Passion Drawing from Carracci to Bernini

Stefano della Bella, Deer Hunting, ca. 1654, Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main.

For the great masters of Italian Baroque draughtsmanship, such as the brothers Agostino and Annibale Carracci, Guercino, Stefano della Bella and Gian Lorenzo Bernini, drawing was a central component of their artistic work. Parallel to the Frankfurt Book Fair with Italy as this year’s Guest of Honour, this exhibition features 90 remarkable Italian Baroque drawings from the Städel’s own collection, inviting visitors to an intimate encounter with the artistic drawings of a bygone era.

In their drawings, the artists not only laid the foundations for their paintings, sculptures or prints, but also demonstrated the independence of the medium. Executed with pen and brush or black or red chalk, the sheets are sketches, studies or precisely rendered individual works. They impress with their sweeping lines, their dramatic chiaroscuro and their extraordinary expressiveness.