Studies of Nudes and Human Heads (recto and on the verso)

Printmaking in woodcut and engraving came to Northern Italy within a few decades of their invention north of the Alps. Engraving probably came first to Florence in the 1440s, the goldsmith Maso Finiguerra (1426–64) used the technique. Italian engraving caught the very early Renaissance, 1460–1490. Print copying was a widely accepted practice, as well as copying of paintings viewed as images in their own right.

Agostino Carracci was an Italian painter and printmaker born in Bologna in 1557. He was the eldest of three brothers, all of whom were artists, including Annibale Carracci and Ludovico Carracci. Agostino began his artistic training with his father, Antonio Carracci, and later studied with Bartolomeo Passarotti. Agostino was known for his skill as a printmaker and his ability to create realistic and detailed engravings. He also painted a number of religious and mythological scenes, as well as portraits. His style was influenced by the works of Michelangelo and Raphael, as well as the classical art of ancient Greece and Rome. Agostino worked closely with his brothers Annibale and Ludovico, and together they founded the Accademia degli Incamminati in Bologna, dedicated to the study of classical art and the development of a new style that combined elements of the Renaissance with the Baroque. Agostino died in Parma in 1602 at the age of 45. His legacy lives on through his contributions to the development of Baroque art and his influence on the work of other artists such as Peter Paul Rubens.

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