Caravaggio (1571-1610)
GOING FOR BAROQUE
At a time when art depicted religious subjects with reverence and veneration, a young, bold Italian artist called Caravaggio broke from tradition and painted Biblical themes and figures with a realism few had attempted previously. Caravaggio depicted subjects more genuinely, which meant showing the less favorable reality of the often unsightly, sometimes dirty human form. He even selected ordinary people from off the streets to model for him.
Caravaggio’s paintings reveal an intensity and power unmatched by any other artist of his day thanks to his revolutionary implementation of chiaroscuro: a technique that illuminates the primary subject in the foreground while the remaining details are obscured by dramatic shadows. His innovative approach not only helped usher in the Baroque period, but it has influenced countless artists ever since.
Had it not been for his artistic talent, however, Caravaggio would have been little more than a common criminal, for he possessed a demonic Achilles’ heel: a volatile temper and foul disposition. With a number of vices, including drinking, gambling, and a proclivity for brawling, Caravaggio’s notorious reputation is well documented in court records, which show numerous arrests, imprisonments, and flights from the law.
Although we can’t know if Caravaggio’s explosive nature helped or hindered his art, we do know that he might have reached even greater potential had his reckless life not caught up with him at such an early age. Fleeing yet again after committing murder in a fit of rage, Caravaggio contracted a fever and died at the age of 39. —RJR
Notable works: The Young Bacchus, 1597 (page 152); The Conversion of Mary Magdalen, 1599; The Calling of St. Matthew, 1600.
FUN FACT
In 1986, British filmmaker Derek Jarman wrote and directed a fictionalized account of Caravaggio’s life in the film aptly titled Caravaggio.