Romancing the Renaissance:
the Feminization of Early Modern Culture in
Twentieth Century Mass Media
English 339
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Caravaggio
Suzanne Sennett
Caravaggio is important to our class because he was a painter in the Baroque period in the 16th century who greatly influenced the art of Artemisia Gentileschi. Born in 1573 as Michelangelo Merisi, he was called Caravaggio after the town he was from. He is famous for what is known as chiaroscuro which means light and dark in Italian. In his paintings he would greatly contrast the light and dark shadows as to create depth and intensity. Many artists copied this technique including Artemisia and her father Orazio. A good example of chiaroscuro is Caravaggio's Conversion of St. Paul from 1601. Caravaggio's influence on Artemisia's art can be seen in Judith Slaying Holofernes, Susanna and the Elders, and her self portrait from the 1630s.
What Caravaggio received the most criticism for was the extreme naturalism in his art. When painting the Virgin Mary, the model was said to be a dead prostitute and Mary was given dirty feet! The harsh realities of life were intensified in Caravaggio's art. Caravaggio was not exempt from life's trials, in fact if you read the police logs it seems that he was a very troubled and violent man. It was reported that he fled Rome in 1606 after killing a man, and lived in exile in Naples, Malta, and Sicily. His enemies found him and permanently disfigured him. Caravaggio later died in 1610 of malaria.
Some of his best known works are Bacchus from the 1590s, The Lute Player from 1596, The Death of the Virgin from 1605, and David with the Head of Goliath. If you would like to learn more about Caravaggio I would suggest Caravaggio by Alfred Moir, Caravaggio and his Followers by Richard Spear, an exhibition catalog from the Metropolitan Museum called The Age of Caravaggio from 1985, or a film script by Derek Jarman called Caravaggio.
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last updated - 1/12/99