Ceiling frescoes in the Palazzo Farnese, Rome

In 1597 Cardinal Odoardo Farnese commissioned Annibale Carracci's great masterpiece, the ceiling of the Galleria Farnese in the Palazzo Farnese, the most splendid and influential ceiling decoration in Rome since that of the Sistine Chapel. Annibale's brother Agostino assisted him on at least two of the scenes until they quarrelled and Agostino left Rome. In contrast to the earlier interpretation which saw them as a Neoplatonic allegory of the victory of Celestial Love over physical passion, in recent years Annibale's frescoes have generally been regarded as a witty and joyous celebration of the classical gods in love.

Just as Michelangelo's Sistine Ceiling marks the beginning of sixteenth century monumental Roman ceiling painting, the Galleria Farnese closes the century with a similarly magnificent ceiling decoration. These frescoes were tremendously influential, for two centuries ranking with Michelangelo's work in the Sistine Chapel and Raphael's frescos in the Vatican as the supreme examples of Western painting. Generations of young painters were set to copy it.