Together with his brother Annibale and his cousin Lodovico, Agostino Carracci founded the Accademia degli Incamminati (Academy of the Progressives) in Bologna. It was one of the first art academies in Italy and a meeting place for progressive artists. Guido Reni and Domenichino were among the students trained at the Academy. Aim of its artists was to reform Mannerist art, by focusing on the intensive study of nature and the ideals of the Renaissance. Agostino's great talent as an engraver became apparent early on. His earliest prints are dated 1576. In the early 1580s, he travelled through Italy to study artworks of the Renaissance. In 1583/84, shortly after the founding of the Academy, Agostino, Annibale and Lodovico received the commission to paint the Palazzo Fava in Bologna. Numerous other commissions to decorate churches and public buildings followed, including the task for Agostino and Annibale to fresco the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. Thereafter, Agostino worked for the Dukes of Parma and Ferrara. In addition to numerous panel paintings and frescoes, nowadays more than 200 copper engravings by Agostino Carracci still exist. The naturalism of these influenced subsequent generations of artists. Agostino died in Parma in 1602 where he is buried in the cathedral.