Caravaggio - Bad Boy of Baroque

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610) was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of his life he moved between Naples, Malta, and Sicily until his death. His paintings combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, which had a formative influence on Baroque painting. 

 "The Calling of St. Matthew."  Notice there is no classical balance, no stable triangular form in the center, no even light, no primary colors.  Jesus is on the far right,only one side of his face partially lighted by a strong beam of light from the window.  The men are real men.

"Conversion on the Way to Damascus."  St. Paul isn't even named.

He lies on the ground; we can't even see his face.  The horse is the most

important figure in the work.  Notice the dramatic light on the horse

and top of St. Paul.  Note variety of sensual textures: horse flesh,

human muscles, metallic weapons, cloak.  The horse's hoof is the

center of the composition, not the head of Paul.

"Crucifixion of St. Peter."  No circles,  squares, or triangles define this composition,but slashing diagonals in every direction, including into the background.  The brightest object in the work is the workman's read end.  By tradition, St. Peter was crucified upside down.

The great Michelangelo died in 1564, and by that time people had tired of heroic, idealized, perfect human beings.  No one had ever seen one or met one.  He was followed by the Mannerists who reacted by distorting everything they painted - elongated figures, bizarre colors, expressionless faces.  No one had ever seen such figures either.  Then came Caravaggio, who used real people he found on the streets of Rome as his models, set in realistic situations.

"David and Head of Goliath."  The boy is a street urchin

Caravaggio has hired.; the head of Goliath is Caravaggio's self-portrait.

A spotlight illuminates David's torso, and the background is in deep shadow.

"The Deposition."  The action takes place on a stage and our eye level is just at the foot.  The entire composition is based on a diagonal line, leading from the lower left corner and the tip of the shroud, up through the arms, the heads, and finally the raised hands.  A spotlight rakes the scene.  The

background is all black and dark.

"St. Matthew and the Angel"

The saint is pushed to the side of the composition, kneeling

precariously on a stool which is teetering over the edge of the stage; 

the angel swoops in a great circle we can see and feel.

Darkness fills the background.

Caravaggio employed close physical observation with a dramatic use of chiaroscuro that came to be known as tenebrism. He made the technique a dominant stylistic element, darkening shadows and transfixing subjects in bright shafts of light. Caravaggio vividly expressed crucial moments and scenes, often featuring violent struggles, torture, and death. He worked rapidly, with live models, preferring to forgo drawings and work directly onto the canvas. 

"Judith Beheading Holofernes."  No other painter depicted the scene

with such realism and violence.   The model for "Judith" is a sex worker 

well known in Rome, as is the young man below.

"Young Bacchus with Grapes."

This is not an ideal cherub as Raphael would have painted,

 but a street urchin willing to pose for a small fee.

His influence on the new Baroque style that emerged from Mannerism was profound. It can be seen directly or indirectly in the work of Peter Paul Rubens, Jusepe de Ribera, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and Rembrandt, and artists in the following generation heavily under his influence were called the "Caravaggisti" or "Caravagesques", as well as tenebrists or tenebrosi ("shadowists"). 

"St. John the Baptist."

St. John was a favorite subject, and Caravaggio did many versions,

perhaps revealing another aspect of his life.

"Young John the Baptist with a Ram."

 A tavern brawl led to a death sentence for murder and forced him to flee to Naples, where he died, probably murdered, at the age of 38.  The 20th-century art historian André Berne-Joffroy stated, "What begins in the work of Caravaggio is, quite simply, modern painting.

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