(b Bologna, bapt 28 March 1575; d ?Rome, 1624–42). Italian painter. He was related to Ludovico Carracci, and undoubtedly received his training in the Carracci Academy in Bologna. The earliest surviving works attributed to him date from c. 1598, by which time he had moved to Rome as Annibale Carracci’s principal assistant. The execution of parts of the vault of the gallery in the Palazzo Farnese, Rome, has been ascribed to him; he also assisted Annibale with the altarpiece of the Virgin and Child with Saints (c. 1599, Spoleto Cathedral) and the vault frescoes in the Cerasi chapel in S Maria del Popolo (1600–01). In 1602 Annibale recruited other assistants from Bologna, and Tacconi was gradually ousted from the studio, allegedly on account of his jealousy and intrigues. The Assumption of the Virgin, which he painted independently for the church of S Alessandro in Lucca (1603; Liverpool, Walker A.G.), shows him as a faithful and talented imitator of Annibale’s contemporary manner; unfortunately his own style never developed much further. Around 1611 he painted the frescoes on the vault of the chapel of the Compagnia dei Pescivendoli in S Angelo in Pescheria, Rome, showing scenes from the Life of St Andrew. Shortly afterwards, Tacconi collaborated with other former pupils of Caracci at S Sebastiano fuori le Mura, where he painted the Crucifixion in fresco over the high altar. A Martyrdom of St Lawrence (Tivoli Cathedral) of some years later shows a marked regression towards a less naturalistic and more pedestrian style. Nothing is known about his career after 1624.

• Tacconi, Innocenzo
  • Carracci, §II: (3) Annibale Carracci, §III: Working methods and technique