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The Bean Eater
Annibale Carracci · Baroque & Dutch Golden Age
- Artist
- Annibale Carracci (1560–1609)
- Date
- c. 1580–1590
- Dimensions
- 57 x 68 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Galleria Colonna, Rome, Italy
The Bean Eater shows a peasant in a straw hat and white shirt seated at a simple table, eagerly spooning beans into his mouth. In front of him lie a bowl of beans, a plate of greens, bread, a spring onion and a jug of wine. He looks up at us, startled, mouth open, as if we had interrupted his meal.
A closer look
At a time when Italian painting was dominated by saints, heroes and noble patrons, Carracci chose an ordinary working man as his subject and painted him life-size and with directness. The brushwork is quick and loose, capturing the moment as in a sketch from life: the drip of bean soup from the spoon, the crumbs of bread, the man's suspicious glance. The scene has a touch of humour but no mockery. Together with a few other genre scenes by Carracci, it marks a turn towards the observation of real life that would lead to Caravaggio and the Baroque.