Michelangelo Mersi da Caravaggio has gone down in history not only for his artistic and technical capacity, but also for leading a life worthy of any outlandish bohemian. Talented, proud and bold, Caravaggio led a tumultuous life that went against the traditional school of the time. He was quick to make friends, but even quicker to gain enemies. His life was devoted to artistic creation and carnal pleasures and these two, would inseparable in his short life.
Caravaggio’s work is strongly tied to the context of the period. A precursor of the Baroque, and in the words of André Berne-Joffroy, “What begins in the work of Caravaggio is, quite simply, modern painting.” He was a trailblazer and one of the first painters of the Baroque, a movement that would last over a century and whose definition is hazy and difficult to pinpoint. Art historian, Erwin Panofsky explains, “the first thought that comes to mind when you hear the word Baroque is the idea of magnificent chaos: incessant movement, rich and imposing colors, theatrical effects produced by a play of light and shadow, and indiscriminate mixture of materials and techniques.”
The Incredulity of Saint Thomas
Theatrical effects might be the element that gave Caravaggio’s paintings the praise they enjoy today. This theatricality is reflected in the magnificent use of chiaroscuro, a technique he quickly mastered, making him one of the most influential artists of his time. Rembrandt’s paintings were highly sought after his death, Caravaggio exerted a strong influence in his contemporaries and finally in the twentieth century, he was brought back into the limelight and his importance grew.
His work toes the line between naturalism and realism by using ordinary people in his ecclesiastical paintings that were so necessary in times of the Counter-Reformation. Caravaggio’s compositions were seen as great works of art but they also scandalized the public.
The Catholic Church sought to keep its followers after the Ecclesiastical Reform led by Martin Luther, who had irrevocably shaken the pillars of the institution. This is why no expense was spared, and churches were built and adorned with beautiful paintings that spoke of the word of God. Caravaggio’s paintings were revolutionary and this is something the Church shied away from.
The use of ordinary people to represent the life of Jesus and his apostles was seen in poor taste. Prostitutes, teenagers, vagabonds and among others, were the muses this artist used to paint. Saints and virgins were painted with their feet on the ground, as if they were common mortals.
In 1602, he painted the apostle Saint Mathew receiving the divine word and it was immediately vetoed. The apostle was shown with harsh features, which was a departure from the benevolent and serene faces the Catholic State wished to portray to its flock. Not only that, the close, intimate proximity of the angel to Saint Mathew made the audience uncomfortable. The grazing of hands, the dreamy eyes of the angel, and excitement of Mathew implied a brush with the divine, but the sexual allegory was unmistakable. Caravaggio was forced to repeat it.
The life of this artist hung on the balance, between artistic production, and skirmishes with the authorities and his enemies. It is said that in 1606 he killed a man in a fight and he fled from Rome to Naples, where he enjoyed enormous success but was soon expelled for moral iniquity.
Afterwards, he departed to Sicily and his paranoia continued to grow, sleeping even with weapons. His fame granted him a papal pardon; unfortunately, after several assassination attempts and convoluted chain of events that have confused historians for centuries, Caravaggio died in 1610 at the age of 36.
The action takes place in the foreground to have a stronger emotional and visual impact on the viewer. We are dragged into a virtual space of the paintings along with the other characters. The boundaries between reality and paintings are blurred, and many of his works reach out to our physical space. There are two dimensions in his work, the first is the symbolism of ancient myths and religious figures and the second his tumultuous and passionate life.
Caravaggio is the master of light. A powerful ray coming from a particular source, which is located out of the paintings, lights his work. The scenes he depicts are usually dark with a beam of light violently on it, creating bright reflections and shadows.
Caravaggio only enlightened what he wanted to point out and the shadows become a protagonist itself, a crucial part of the composition because it is from the darkness that strong emotions emerge. He was an artist that lived in the light world of art and luxuriated in the darkness of his violent emotions and passions.