Lecture Notes: Caravaggio

In this blog I will talk about Caravaggio, he is well-known painter. In addition to start to talk about him, I did lots of research about his works and his life. 

Caravaggio

Caravaggio Italian painter byname of Michelangelo Merisi, he was born in Milan on September 29, 1571, and the exact date of his death is unknown, it known as 18th of July or 19th of July 1610 in Porto Ercole, Tuscany. Italian painter became famous in late 16th and early 17th centuries. He actually became famous for the intense and unsettling realism of his large-scale religions works.

In 1592 at the age of 21 he moved to Rome, Rome has an artistic centre and has an opportunity for young artists keen to study to classical buildings. In Rome Caravaggio’s first few years were a struggle. He specialised in still life of fruits and flowers. One his best work ‘The Boy bittern by a lizard’ which he sold on the Rome streets.In 1595 luck had turned to him. An eminent Cardinal, Francesco del Monte, recognised the younger painter’s talent and took Caravaggio into his household. After this Caravaggio received his first public commissions which were so compelling and so innovative that he became a celebrity almost overnight. During his painter life, when his fortunes began to rise, also marks his first appearances in the criminal archives of Rome.

The boy bitten by lizard

He has his own unique technique which is darkening shadows and transfixing subjects in bright shafts of light his dominant stylistic element. His subject matter from still life and genre scenes, to religious stories. Nearly all of his works include intense realism. Also showing his figures in mortal for instance, sacrilege, vulgar and disgusting.Caravaggio painted from live models. He first start sketching the outlines of the composition with dark brush strokes. He is adding the bright highlights with white lead paint to start the process of creating depth. Furthermore, the outlines of figures are incised in the wet paint using the back of the brush. Lastly these lines can still be seen if you look closely at Caravaggio painting.

In addition, I would like to give information about his works that I found very impressive. The work that I will talk about is The Taking of Christ, this work is one of his popular.

The Taking of Christ

 Caravaggio painted this extraordinary work for the Roman Marquis Ciriaco Mattei in 1602. This work is proposing a new visual approach to biblical story, Caravaggio placed the people close to the picture plane and he used a string-light and some dark contrast. By adding these details, we can understand the scene is a sense of drama.

The Taking of Christ” by Caravaggio depicts the arrest of Jesus just as Judas kisses Jesus to identify him for the soldiers. There are seven figures in the painting; they are John, Jesus, Judas, three soldiers, and a man holding a lantern to the scene.By the late 18th century , this original painting was thought to have disappeared and its whereabouts remained unknown for about 200 years. However in 1990, this lost master piece was recognized and discovered in the residence of the Society of Jesus in Dublin, Ireland. Also the painting had passed down through many owners.

Lastly, I had fun while researching about famous Italian painter, I believe Caravaggio was working in a very different manner than most artists before him.

REFERENCES:

"The taking of christ" by Caravaggio (2020) Joy of Museums Virtual Tours. Available at: https://joyofmuseums.com/museums/europe/ireland-museums/dublin-museums/national-gallery-of-ireland/the-taking-of-christ-caravaggio/ (Accessed: April 16, 2023). 

Successful artist and Criminal (2020) Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Caravaggio/Successful-artist-and-criminal (Accessed: April 16, 2023). 

(2019) You are being redirected... Available at: https://www.caravaggiogallery.com/characteristics-and-method.aspx (Accessed: April 16, 2023).