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Compare this Bean Eater, also by Annibale Carracci, with the earlier version of the Bean Eater in the Renaissance Connection. Annibale Carracci The Bean Eater 1580/90 Oil on canvas Galleria Colonna, Rome Enlarge

Annibale Carracci believed in drawing from real life. He practiced looking carefully and drawing truthfully what he saw. Annibale Carracci was one of the first artists in Italy to paint pictures like the Bean Eater which depicts elements of everyday life. During the early Renaissance, the only types of people appearing in paintings were religious figures, characters from mythology, or very wealthy people who could afford to have their portraits painted. As the Renaissance progressed, interest in people as individuals rather than as saints and kings began to take hold and artists like Annibale Carracci became more interested in ordinary people.

The Bean Eater is not posing for a portrait. He is in the middle of a simple meal of beans, bread, and pig's feet. He fills up almost all of the space in the painting, a clue perhaps that Annibale Carracci felt he was an important subject for a work of art. Artists often make more than one version of a painting, working out problems and trying out new ideas. Compare this Bean Eater to another version of the Bean Eater by Annibale Carracci in the Galleria Colonna in Rome.

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