'Maniera sfumata, dolce, e vaga': the recent canonization of Federico Barocci

The painter Federico Barocci has received renewed attention in the last decade: monographs and exhibitions manifest an increased interest in his life, work and impact on later artists. The (sub)titles of recent exhibitions such as Brilliance and Grace (London, The National Gallery, 2013), Renaissance Master of Color and Line (Saint Louis Art Museum, 2012) or L’incanto del colore (Siena, Santa Maria della Scala, 2009-2010) highlighted the visual attraction of his work for the general beholder. Academically, his canonical status has also grown since the early twentieth century, from a mere subsidiary phenomenon for the study of a transitional phase in art history to that of an artist in his own right, who is finally being recognized in a broader context. Recent discoveries grant him a still more central position in the field, especially with respect to research on workshop practice between the Renaissance and the baroque period.