Essay on Howard Hibbard's "Caravaggio"

Caravaggio was born on September 29, 1571 in Milan, Italy. Before he was thirteen years old, Caravaggio was already studying under a painter named Simone Peterzano learning the techniques of Mannerism; he remained there for four years before moving to Rome. In 1606, Caravaggio was wanted for manslaughter, so he fled Rome and traveled to Naples, Malta, Syracuse, and Messina. On July 18, 1610, while he was on his way back to Rome, Michelangelo died of malaria, living only thirty-nine years.

Caravaggio’s demonstration of the power of art was using art as leverage to become a nonnoble in a chivalric order and to gain freedom for his crimes.

Caravaggio’s, however, was darker and more dramatic. Caravaggio started an intense style called tenebrism. Tenebrism is a more prominent form of chiaroscuro, where there are vehement contrasts between light and dark. Fred Kleiner best describes Caravaggio’s style, “In his art, Caravaggio injected naturalism into both religion and the classics, reducing them to human dramas played out in the harsh and dingy settings of his time and place” (Kleiner, 681). Caravaggio painted during the Italian Baroque in the 1600’s. Italian Baroque artists like Caravaggio embraced theatricality and extravagant ornamentation, while Renaissance artists focused more on precise classical models. Now Caravaggio wasn’t exactly an upstanding member of society, most of what the art world knows about him is through his police reports. Caravaggio’s Entombment was created in 1603 and, like Giotto’s Lamentation, depicts the death of Jesus. While they both depict the same religious scene and use styles that are new for their time, Caravaggio’s painting has some drastic differences from Giotto’s. Caravaggio’s painting is oil painted on canvas, which gives Caravaggio the opportunity to be more detailed in his painting than Giotto can with fresco. Caravaggio creates these intense dramatic scenes of diagonals and intense movement. Unlike Giotto, Caravaggio uses linear perspective to direct his viewer’s attention to the body of Jesus. Caravaggio does this by using a diagonal cascade of mourners descending towards Jesus’ body. Inclusively, Caravaggio started a darker, more dramatic movement that gave naturalism a new realistic element.

During the Baroque Ages a man by the name of Caravaggio was a very prominante artist,

“There is no greater name in Italian art—therefore, no greater in art—than that of Titian,” (Claude Phillips “Earlier Works of Titian”1897 page 5). This artist was more than just a normal painter that played around in his work studio; he was the father of what was bound to become something greater than he even believed. We watched him work with imaginative textures and animated colors to generate the masterpieces of not only the Renaissance; but also of modern day work. All kinds of artists—painters, singers, writers, sculptures—are exploring their muse by studying how he worked with his paint brush; they idolize him and one day want their work to be as exceedingly renowned as Titian’s. His work has been carried on for many years after his

An artist has the ability to connect with one’s audience through their art and the obscure connotations that appear beneath it, not just the image that lies on the surface. Artists Jan Van Eyck and Caravaggio communicate these implications through their work, utilising symbols and motifs. Van Eyck’s The Arnolfini Portrait (1434) explores the social status of the time, along with the issue of marriage between two unequals. Caravaggio’s The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (1608) reflects the world of his time’s attitude on violence and the insensitivity of a positive resolution. Although, these two paintings showcase incredible technique and attention to detail, the context is what is integral to the audience’s understanding of their world

Catholicism by suggesting the certain standard of religious art capture the beauty of divinity and

Michelangelo Merisi; also known as Caravaggio was a historical painter that can be traced back to Northern Italy. He was born on September 28th, 1571 in a town called Milan. At an early age, Michelangelo would flee with his family to Caravaggio to escape a plague that devastated their hometown. This was a major aspect in his life as he would soon be known by that name. Both his father and grandfather would pass away there just a few years later, coincidentally on the same day. It is believed that his family had close connections with the Sforzas which were a ruling class group in Italy at the time. They ended up playing a major part in the following years. Merisi was a man filled with intersecting personalities. During his early ages, he was a well trained painter.

Caravaggio was born in Italy 1571 and died July 1610. Not a lot is known about Caravaggio. Most of his family was wiped out by the bubonic plague along with his father.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio better known as simply Caravaggio was an Italian Baroque master painter born in Italy around 1571. After he apprenticed with a painter in Milan, he moved to Rome, where he lived for most of his life. His work influenced painters around Europe. He’s most known for his gruesome subjects and use of Tenebrism, which was a technique that used heavy shadow to

The first thing I’d like to look at in Caravaggio’s paintings is his choices of color and lighting. In his works he always used a lot of red for example in Salome with the Head of John the Baptist and in The Raising of Lazarus. Also, when taking into notice the placement and meaning of the color, we can see that there is a presence of an affect from the church. Red usually –in this time period- was seen as the devil’s color so in Caravaggio’s work I noticed that either the actors or accessories to the devil’s work are draped in red or if there is an act occurring there is red in the background like in Judith Beheading

Both men lived lives full of art, intrigue, and philosophy, devoting themselves to the betterment of mankind. Doctors, engineers, poets, architects, and artists alike have all drawn inspiration from these Renaissance men. While many today will simply call them artists, I believe they were much more than that. Men of conviction, honor, and dignity that always challenged the best from themselves. As men, though, they suffered from weaknesses that many others have fallen to. Leonardo had a poor attention span, and often would put off a project to work on other things. Michelangelo was known to have a short temper, and would become extremely aggressive any time he was tested. Sometimes we like to look past the weakness of those we look up to, as a way of making them out to be a god. To do this only taints the legacy of men like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. As strong minded people, they both understood their own humanity and weaknesses, and used these weaknesses to propel themselves forward. Leonardo though unable to stick to a project, always wrote down any ideas he had, knowing that they could be used for more than just blank space. Michelangelo concentrated his aggression to always finish his projects, and do so to the best of his ability without flaw. They never let their weaknesses stand in their way to greatness. Nowadays, we can take more inspiration from them than just their art and inventions. We can continue to live like they did, never letting a weakness stop us from reaching our goals, but using that weakness. Using something meant to cause us to stumble, and creating something else out of it. Creating something absolutely beautiful, and new to this

Saint Mathew, the figure of interest, is pointed out by the implied lines created with the lines of light and the pointed hands. One symbolic feature recognized in the piece is the hand of god replicating that of Adam’s hand from Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam. This made reference to god being seen as the new Adam, due to how Adam’s action created sin, which resulted in the fall of humanity, Christ undoes Adam’s actions by dying on the cross (McDermott, Mar. 5, 2017, Chaffey College). According to Painting Techniques used by Caravaggio: Chiaroscuro, Tenebrism, “[Caravaggio]’s treatment of light and shadow helped to reinvigorate Italian painting by improving the three-dimensionality of figures. In addition, it allowed artists to control the focus of the painting, thus increasing its dramatic content. Lastly… it enabled greater emotional depth and characterization.” Due to this, Caravaggio was an asset to the Counter Reformation and allowed people to relate to his paintings and thus gain appeal to the Catholic Church.

Francesco used a style that I really enjoy, it is called pittura di tocco and it is a style known for its small dotting in the art work and it's small but clean brush strokes. It's a style that not many artist can lock down it is very very advanced. He started in venice italy when he was passed down a shop from his father who was deceased and he worked alongside his brother to make and sell hand made paintings. His paintings are beautiful painting like the venetian capriccio which is a landscape painting of the molo towards santa Maria. He was born october 1712 and when his father passed away in the year 1716 and that's when he had the shop passed down to him, he was only 4 when the shop was handed down to him and his brother. He worked with

“He flaunted his originality, and mocked authority; he was fearless and belligerent, and in 1606 he killed a man, and spent his last years in exile. His greatest gift was for empathy, for making religious narrative new and vivid.” Caravaggio created many pieces of artwork that involved the subject of death, murder and sacrifice. One of the paintings that he created a strong connection with, is the painting ‘Salome’.