Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
“All works, no matter what or by whom painted, are nothing but bagatelles and childish trifles… unless they are made and painted from life, and there can be nothing better than to follow nature.” Renaissance artist Caravaggio flawlessly illustrates both the reasons for his popularity and his controversy in this quote recognizing the nature of his work. In the late Renaissance, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio lived a short and dramatic life riddled with murder, religious turmoil, and radical interpretation. Caravaggio created emotional artwork using radical naturalism and theatrical chiaroscuro that set the tone for the Baroque Period and contributed to the reformation of the Catholic Church.
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His realistic approach that originally attracted the commission of cathedrals soon lead to political and theological contention. He drew with “unflinching realism,” or a refusal to not depict what is there. At this time, saints were portrayed as glowing beings more similar to gods than mere mortals. Caravaggio, in contrast, modelled his after ordinary people found in the streets; saints had dirt under their fingernails and bare feet caked with a solid layer of grime. The realism undermined the authority of the Catholic Church, already weakened by the Protestant Reformation and scientific revolutions. His incredible detail was carried into the works of Rembrandt and other Baroque artists. Caravaggio’s art was characterized by three other distinct and irregular traits that carried into the Baroque Period: emotion, extreme chiaroscuro, and religious context. The emotion was well received by the Catholic Church. It inspired fear and devotion in its attendants. The chiaroscuro, or contrast, was theatrical and dramatic in nature. Furthermore, essentially every piece was inspired by a biblical event. Caravaggio’s paintings had dark, if not black, backgrounds underneath moving figures practically glowing with light. This chiaroscuro technique became known as tenebrism. His detail, tenebrism, emotion, motion, theatricality, and theology inspired
Howard Hibbard's Caravaggio is an insightful look into the troubled mind and life of one of the most discussed artists of all time, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Hibbard immediately expands on his belief that Caravaggio is the most important "Italian painter of the entire seventeenth century." Furthermore, his paintings "speak to us more personally and more poignantly than any others of the time." Caravaggio is an artist whose life was far different from all other contemporary artists of his time, or any time. Unlike Annibale Carracci, Caravaggio's works were able to express many of his own feelings and emotions. As Hibbard says, Caravaggio was an artist who "somehow cut through the artistic conventions of his time right down to the universal blood and bone of life." Simply put, Caravaggio was the only Italian painter who was able to utilize his own emotion as his guide instead of the historical artistic tradition. This observation by Hibbard feels somewhat misleading. Clearly, the emotion of Caravaggio's works came out in full explosiveness throughout his years of painting. However, his lifestyle was so troubling that it seems to me that it would have been virtually impossible for him to prevent his life from entering his works. While it should be recognized that Caravaggio's emotion and difficult life is reflected in many of his paintings, it should also be noted that this may have been unintentional and only a side effect of his life. Here is a many who frequently got into trouble with law and killed at least one man in his lifetime. He was arrested almost countless times. Therefore, it seems unfair to me for Hibbard to describe Caravaggio as an ...
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was broadly delicate when it came to issues of aesthetic creativity: he debilitated both the painter Guido Reni and craftsman and biographer Giovanni Baglione for replicating his style. Regardless of his earnest attempts to secure his particular style, be that as it may, Caravaggio wound up noticeably a standout amongst the most generally imitated craftsmen ever.
.... For these reasons, Caravaggio painted over his previous work, and we are left with the current masterpiece of today. His use of realism, dark shades, and mysterious light sources were perfect for what the Church wanted at this time.
In Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling Ross King gives a penetrating look into the life of Michelangelo Buonarroti during the four years he spends painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. At a scale of nearly five thousand and eight hundred square feet and almost seventy feet above the ground, this would be an incredible task for the artist. He faces many challenges, mentally and physically, during the process, but still finishes the ceiling in an incredibly short amount of time considering the size of his work. Michelangelo is renowned for his moody temper and reclusive lifestyle. Most people find him to be an extremely difficult person, due partially to his lack of concern for anyone but himself, and to his undaunted stubborn nature. The one man with whom he will despise and contend with all his life was Pope Julius II; he is also the man who commissions him to paint the ceiling. Ross King's purpose in writing this book is to detail Michelangelo's magnificent struggle with personal, political, and artistic difficulties during the painting of the Sistine ceiling. He also gives an engaging portrait of society and politics during the early sixteenth century.
I chose “The Martyrdom of St. Matthew” as the painting that best illustrates the baroque period. The reasons surrounding my decision are clear in Caravaggio’s painting. Here Caravaggio uses the entire canvas to illustrate complexity, flow, and chiaroscuro. The painting depicts the source of lighting to be coming from the left side of the plane. The brightest light focuses directly on Matthew’s executioner who intends to strike Matthew with an old balcanic hand weapon. Caravaggio masterfully illustrates the use of lighting by casting believable shadows. As an example, the shadow of the handle on balcanic hand weapon reflects on the executioner’s left thigh and knee. Another shadow appears on the executioner’s right inner thigh. The lighting source to the left of the executioner, the executioner, St. Matthews, the boy, the 2 observer’s bottom, right, and the fainter lighting upper left of the canvas illustrates the technique of visual movement. The lighting is placed strategically, causing visual movement within the piece. For example, the illumination of the executioner’s forearm directs my attention to the angel who appears to be handing St. Matthew a palm leaf. As a result, my eyes then focuses on the body of St. Matthew, lying on the bottom of the altar, then my eyes shifts up toward the Angle’s arm. The lighting on the angel's arm contrasted with the darkness of the palm leaf forces the viewer to look at the hand to see what St. Matthew is reaching for. The boy fleeing the scene further draws in the viewer. The two adult observers at the bottom right of the painting are illuminated but not as bright as the two main characters. Next, my attention is drawn to the man lying on the bottom steps, left side of the canv...
Much of the art created during the Renaissance was geared toward religion, and with Michelangelo this was no exception. By th...
The tendencies of Baroque translated differently in parts of Europe. In Italy, it reflected the return of intense piety through dense church ornamentations, complex architecture, and dynamic painting. Calabrese’s work exhibits the combined artistic stimuli of the 17th century and culminates in the acquired Caravagesque style that alters how paintings were composed from then on. Executed at the height of Calabrese’s most creative phase, St. John the Baptist Preaching is indicates the monumentality of change in urbanization as well as the return of Catholic permanence in the 1600’s. Aside from the Baroque power of the artwork, Calabrese’s St. John is a piece worth gravitating to and stands as reminder of the grandiose excesses of Baroque art.
As the seventeenth century began the Catholic Church was having a hard time bringing back the people who were swept away by the protestant reformation. The conflict between the protestant had a big influence on art. (Baroque Art) The church decided to appeal to the human emotion and feeling. They did so by introducing a style called Baroque. Baroque was first developed in Rome and it was dedicated to furthering the aims of Counter Reformation. Baroque was first used in Italy than later spread to the north. In this paper I will argue that the Italian Baroque pieces were more detailed and captured the personality of the figure, in contrast and comparison to Northern Baroque pieces that aimed to produce a sense of excitement and to move viewers in an emotional sense leaving them in awe. I will prove this by talking about the different artwork and pieces of Italian Baroque art versus Northern Baroque Art.
The artists of the Baroque had a remarkably different style than artists of the Renaissance due to their different approach to form, space, and composition. This extreme differentiation in style resulted in a very different treatment of narrative. Perhaps this drastic stylistic difference between the Renaissance and Baroque in their treatment of form, space, and composition and how these characteristics effect the narrative of a painting cannot be seen more than in comparing Perugino’s Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter from the Early Renaissance to Caravaggio’s Conversion of St. Paul from the Baroque.Perugino was one of the greatest masters of the Early Renaissance whose style ischaracterized by the Renaissance ideals of purity, simplicity, and exceptional symmetry of composition. His approach to form in Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St.Peter was very linear. He outlined all the figures with a black line giving them a sense of stability, permanence, and power in their environment, but restricting the figures’ sense of movement. In fact, the figures seem to not move at all, but rather are merely locked at a specific moment in time by their rigid outline. Perugino’s approach to the figures’themselves is extremely humanistic and classical. He shines light on the figures in a clear, even way, keeping with the rational and uncluttered meaning of the work. His figures are all locked in a contrapposto pose engaging in intellectual conversation with their neighbor, giving a strong sense of classical rationality. The figures are repeated over and over such as this to convey a rational response and to show the viewer clarity. Perugino’s approach to space was also very rational and simple. He organizes space along three simple planes: foreground, middle ground, and background. Christ and Saint Peter occupy the center foreground and solemn choruses of saints and citizens occupy the rest of the foreground. The middle distance is filled with miscellaneous figures, which complement the front group, emphasizing its density and order, by their scattered arrangement. Buildings from the Renaissance and triumphal arches from Roman antiquity occupy the background, reinforcing the overall classical message to the
Michelangelo was very talented in many fields of art. One is able to see a relationship between his art and his poetry due to its realistic aspects. People who are acquainted with his art and poetry are able to understand his emotions and ideas.
Between the eleven figures known, lighting in the painting has been taken to an extreme. Much like a theatre stage, beneath the angels is a severe darkness, while the scene of the angels and Our Lady with Child is lit up. The contrast, as previously explained, is to add drama, but is far more apparent on The Seven Acts of Mercy than other works of the time. Caravaggio’s work is a true display of the seventeenth and eighteenth
The Portuguese Jesuit João da Rocha (1565-1623) was born in Lamego and ordained at the age of 18 years in Coimbra Novitiate on 22 February 1583. While he was still a novice, Rocha requested several times to join the missions in the East. His request was finally granted and he initiated his missionary journey in 1586. After arriving at Goa, he studied philosophy and later, in Macao, proceeded his studies in theology. Around 1598, Rocha finally departed to join the China mission, where he spent the rest of his life contributing significantly to the growth of the missions in Shaoguan, Nanchang, Nanjing, and in Hangzhou, where he died in 1623 after serving in the China mission for 25 years.
Some of the themes of Baroque art were the dramatic use of light and shadow better known as chiaroscuro, which can simply be defined as an artwork that gives the impression of having a spotlight that draws attention to a specific part of the painting. Baroque style also had a strong sense of realism not only among the figures of the painting,
Caravaggio’s painting is unique due to its wonderful use of chiaroscuro, which is the contrast between light and dark. For example, the painting “Supper at Emmaus (1602)” illustrates Jesus and his disciples in bright colors and uses a dark tint for the background (Miller, Vandome, & McBrewster, 2010).
Michelangelo and Caravaggio at some point in history were the most famous artists in Rome, Italy. Michelangelo a prominent architect, poet, sculptor, and painter found his success in Italy during the High Renaissance period (1490-1527). While Caravaggio was the most popular painter in Rome and spearheaded the Baroque period (1650-1750). Artists like Caravaggio in the Baroque period turned to a powerful and dramatic realism, intensified by bold contrasts of light and dark. Michelangelo’s reputation as a painter fluctuated during the High Renaissance, but his devotion to his art and his genius undoubtedly influenced artists such as Caravaggio during the Baroque Period. However, each artist had incredibly different styles, and utilized different mediums in their most popular works of art. Despite that there are also many similarities which indicate Michaelangelo’s heavy influences on Caravaggio and Baroque Period art. The comparison will be between Michelangelo, Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Rome, Fresco. c. 1508-1512 and Caravaggio, Calling of St. Matthew, Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, Oil