Though it is unmistakably a merienda at the beach, the title given for this painting in the Pitti Palace is Landscape with Bathers.
The seashore is a tumultuous blend of barren, jutting rocks. But Carracci, the focus of which is a serene woman dressed in red sitting on a white picnic cloth beside a basket of food and flasks of wine. Facing the viewer, the woman in red raises her left hand to wave, suggesting a welcome, perhaps to share the picnic.
Behind the woman, very muscular nude male bathers scamper like so many crabs on the rocks. The woman’s identity is unknown, and her presence among the men (none of whom pays her the slightest attention) is an enigma. Perhaps Carracci is signifying some cryptic sexual connotation.
Featured Image: Agostino Carracci. Landscape with Bathers (1616), oil on canvas. Palazzo Pitti, Florence. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Antonio_Carracci_-_Landscape_with_Bathers_-_WGA04462.jpg