In Rome, Annibale's painting was transformed through his first-hand encounter with classical antiquity and the art of Michelangelo and Raphael. Individual scenes of ancient mythology are surrounded by an elaborate illusionistic framework with feigned statues, in front of which sit muscular nude figures seemingly lit from the actual windows (view of the ceiling of the Farnese Gallery). The corners are opened to painted views of the sky. When unveiled in 1600, the ceiling was instantly acclaimed as the equal of any work in the past. In combining northern Italian naturalism with the idealism of Roman painting, Annibale created the basis of Baroque art. His only challenger in Rome was Caravaggio, whose relation with the past was combative rather than assimilative. Moreover, Caravaggio's art was unsuited to large compositions and fresco cycles, and by 1630 Caravaggesque painting was in decline while Annibale's art was being studied by a new generation of artists. Rubens, Poussin, and Bernini were deeply indebted to Annibale.