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The Vision of Saint Eustace
The Vision of Saint Eustace
Artist	Annibale Carracci
Year	1585-1586
Medium	oil on canvas
Dimensions	86 cm × 113 cm (34 in × 44 in)
Location	National Museum of Capodimonte, Naples

The Vision of Saint Eustace is a painting by Annibale Carracci, showing saint Eustace and his vision of a crucifix between the horns of a stag whilst out hunting. The saint is set in one of the first landscapes by either of the Carracci brothers, showing how he was influenced by Venetian landscape painting until about 1598 after a stay in the city in 1587 and 1588.^[1] Specific influences include Titian's Penitent Saint Jerome (Louvre) and the naturalism of Jacopo Bassano.^[1] Critics argue the composition is based on two prints by Cornelis Cort, a Flemish printer - Penitent St Jerome and The Vision of Saint Eustace. These prints were in turn based on ideas by the Lombard painter Girolamo Muziano, who was also influenced by Venetian models.^[2] The dogs and some other details are drawn from Saint Eustace, an engraving by Albrecht Dürer of the same subject.^[2]

It is generally dated to 1585-1586 due to its stylistic similarities with other more-securely dated works from those years by the artist.^[1] It is theorised that the painting was taken to Rome by the artist to give to cardinal Odoardo Farnese, who became titular cardinal of the Basilica of Sant'Eustachio in 1595, the same year as Carracci moved to Rome permanently to work for Odoardo.^[1] It remained in the Farnese collection, moving initially to Parma and then to Naples, where it finally ended up in its present home in the National Museum of Capodimonte in Naples.

Other images

Titian, Penitent Saint Jerome, c. 1531, Louvre, Paris
Jacopo Bassano, Earthly Paradise, c. 1573, Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome
Cornelis Cort after Girolamo Muziano, Penitent Saint Jerome, 1573, University Library, Tartu, Estonia
Cornelis Cort after Girolamo Muziano, Vision of Saint Eustace, 1573, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Albrecht Dürer, Vision of Saint Eustace, c. 1501, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Donald Posner, Annibale Carracci: A Study in the reform of Italian Painting around 1590, London, 1971, Vol. I, p. 114.
^ ^a ^b (in Italian) Gianfranco Malafarina, L'opera completa di Annibale Carracci, Milano, 1976, n. 26, pp. 93-94.