Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
(Sept. 29, 1571 - July 18, 1610)
Caravaggio was born in Milan, and his father worked as an architect for the Marchese of Caravaggio; his mother Lucia, was from a family in the same district. In 1576, to escape a plague in Milan, the family moved to Caravaggio; here his father died in 1577 and his mother in 1584.
In 1592, Caravaggio fled Milan, and moved to Rome; he arrived with very little, and did not have money upon his arrival to the city. A few months after the move, he began working for Giuseppe Cesari, where he did work painting flowers and fruit in his factory. He painted several pieces during this period, and his work ended with Cesari, because of a piece he painted, while suffering from a serious illness.
Following the end of his working career with Cesari, in 1954 Caravaggio was determined to make his own way and make a name for himself. With very little money, it was during this period that he made several friendships with Prospero Orsi, Onorhio Longhi, and Mario Minniti, all who worked in the art world. These men not only introduced Caravaggio to others in the art world, but also helped him put his work out in front of others, to gain more notoriety in this field.
The Fortune Teller was his first major piece; it showed Mario being cheated on by a gypsy girl. This was a new style to Roman artists, and for this reason, the style helped pave the way for changes that came in Roman art for several years to come. However, this was sold for a very low price; his first major piece, was The Cardsharps, which is considered his first masterpiece. It became an extremely popular piece, and today, there are over 50 of these pieces in circulation. These, and several other pieces he created during this period, helped pave the way for his career, and helped create a name for him in the art world, as he began to forge friendships and meet more local artists, who were highly regarded in Roman art forms.
With the first painting he did, which depicted religious themes, Caravaggio returned to a realism style of painting; During this period, he created a number of paintings with religious undertones; the first being that of Penitent Mary Magdalene. In these, and in the future work he created, the realism or naturalism, which he became most well known and famous for, were extremely prominent in the pieces that were created during this period of time. Not only were his realist pieces a shift from the natural in this region,
Medusa 1597
Caravaggio plays with this concept by modeling himself for Medusa's face - making him the only one who is safe from Medusa's deadly gaze - and having to look at his reflection to paint the shield in the same way that Medusa caught her own image moments before being killed. Although Caravaggio depicts Medusa's severed head, she remains conscious. He heightens this combination of life and death through Medusa's intense expression. Her wide-open mouth exudes a silent but dramatic scream and her shocked eyes and furrowed brow all suggest a sense of disbelief, as if she thought herself to be invincible until the moment. But Caravaggio's Medusa does not have the full effect of scaring the viewer, since she does not look at us, thereby transferring the power of the gaze to the viewer and emphasizing her demise.
The Sacrifice of Isaac 1602
In Caravaggio's visualization of the subject, the angel physically materializes beside Abraham. This treatment of the subject was customary, and Caravaggio took full advantage of its potential for drama. Abraham has laid Isaac down on the altar, drawn the knife, and is at the point of slitting his throat; the restraining angel rushes urgently to the rescue just in time. The focus of the action is on the patriarch's right hand holding the knife. The three heads are radial to it, and it joins the authoritarian figures on the left
Salome with the Head of John the Baptist 1607
Salome with the Head of John the Baptist is a disturbingly matter-of-fact image. Salome is baffling; she turns away from the head as if to avoid seeing what has been done, her expression blank. Is she ashamed, or willful, or simply irresponsible? Certainly she seems unmoved. The executioner appears detached. Is he like those who do what the rich and powerful require of him, without question, but not without his own opinion? He is certainly not the sadist of The Flagellation; his expression hints, if anything, of David's compassion.
Judith Beheading Holofernes 1599
Caravaggio was certainly aware of Judith's traditional identity as a symbol of triumph over tyranny; but he presented the subject primarily as a melodrama, choosing the relatively rarely represented climactic moment of the actual beheading of Holofernes. Judith, young, beautiful, and physically weak, draws back distastefully as she seizes Holofernes's hair and cleaves through his neck with his own sword. Holofernes, on his bed, powerful but drunk, nude, and bellowing helplessly, has frozen in the futile struggle of his last instant of consciousness. The bloodthirsty old servant, popeyed as she strains forward, clutches the bag in readiness for the disembodied head. It is a ghastly image, with primary interest in the protagonists' states of mind: the old woman's grim satisfaction, Holofernes's shock, and Judith's sense of determination.
David with the Head of Goliath 1610
Caravaggio pays tribute to the rapid brushstrokes Titian adopts in his later works and surrounds the youth's face with a kind of luminous halo that shines out from the dark, earthy tints surrounding the figure. In Caravaggio's work, David assumes the pose traditional for allegories of Justice, with a sword in the right hand but with scales instead of the head in the left. The relation to Christ, who is the ultimate judge as well as savior, is evident. David may sorrow, but even in his compassion he bears the burden of the dispensation of justice firmly. Caravaggio's sardonic representation of himself as Goliath is despairing. It is a harrowing portrait, streaming blood, the forehead bruised and the eyes uncoordinated, the lingering spark of life in the left eye extinguished in the dull, unfocused, sightless, and lifeless right.