Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is devoted to Federico Barocci, the greatest Italian artist of his generation and a remarkably inventive religious painter and draftsman. In spite of his innovations, apart from a few fine modern publications, he has not received the critical attention or popular recognition that he deserves, for several reasons. Barocci spent most of his life in Urbino, far from major art centers, and the dates of his career fall between the traditional Renaissance and Baroque periods. Barocci's Entombment of Christ, an altarpiece completed in 1582 for the Chiesa della Croce in the seaside town of Senigallia, encapsulates many of his most important accomplishments as a designer of religious paintings. The alleged repainting of the Entombment in Barocci's studio in 1607-1608 adds to the interesting character of this picture.