Man with Monkey

Italian artist Annibale Carracci painted this unusual portrait between 1590 and 1591, showing a man accompanied by a monkey. The composition combines portraiture with the genre scenes of daily life that Carracci often depicted with warmth and realism.

Carracci was one of the founders of Baroque painting, working to move art beyond both the artificiality of late Mannerism and the strictures of Counter-Reformation piety. With his brother Agostino and cousin Ludovico, he opened the Accademia degli Incamminati in Bologna, training artists in direct observation from life. This painting reflects that commitment to naturalism.

The oil on canvas measures 58.3 x 68 cm and hangs at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The Uffizi holds several Carracci works including Venus and Satire and a self-portrait. Annibale's greatest achievement would be the ceiling frescoes of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome, completed around 1600, but paintings like this one show his ability to capture individual character with dignity and directness.