The Bean Eater

In 1584, Annibale Carracci painted this scene of a peasant at his meal around 1583-84, when the artist was in his early twenties. A man in a straw hat and vest lifts a spoonful of beans toward his mouth while his other hand reaches for bread. The table before him holds wine, spring onions, and baked vegetables.

The painting has been described as capturing a "snapshot" effect unprecedented in Western art. Carracci shows the dirt under the man's fingernails, the casual disarray of the meal, and the momentary gesture of eating. This naturalistic approach predates Caravaggio's similar concerns by over a decade.

Unlike earlier depictions of peasants, which often mocked or moralized, Carracci presents his subject with straightforward dignity. It now hangs at the Galleria Colonna in Rome, where it's recognized as a landmark in the development of genre painting.