Martha and Mary Magdalene by Caravaggio

Although the surface of the artwork has been fairly damaged by smoke from burning candles and incense, there is still a suggestion of the bright circular halos which had once ‘crowned’ both the Virgin and the child. Cooper relates the symbolism of the circle as “one which expresses archetypal wholeness and totality and therefore divinity” (1982:19). The upper body of Mary appears very large, especially in comparison with the Christ-child, whose body ‘fits’ into her bosom, which is generally associated with comfort. Almost as though she tries to console him concerning his future death (Tansey & Kleiner, 1996: 312).

In Artwork 1, Mary is placed in the centre of the image between Christ who is on the left and God who is on the right. The Holy Spirit is between the two which forms the Holy Trinity. The composition can be viewed as forming an inverted triangle or heart shape. Mary is the focal figure with an attitude of modesty, reverence and tranquil emotion with her right hand placed upon her heart in which reinforces this. God is expressed as a picture of wisdom as He is crowning the head of Mary with a garland of roses, along side Jesus. The Holy Spirit is present in the image above Mary and is portrayed in the traditional form of a white dove. Cherubs, angelic beings, are visible at the base of the painting which can be interpreted as guards. The use of blue in their garments symbolising heavenly grace in

It as well is in an ellipses shape where it is in an oval shape filling most of the canvas. This piece has a very dark atmosphere, as the only highlighted images are that of Christ and and the adulteress. There are people surrounding them all dressed in greys and greens. Jesus is dressed in an ivory which is a color in which people of importance often wore. The adultress life-drained body is looking down towards her exposed breasts as she comes to understand her fate. This painting conveys the emotion of a bible story about Jesus forgiving an adulteress. The emotions run very high as the individual 's facial expressions are locked in surprise and anger. Anger towards the woman and utter shock as to Jesus forgiveness and compassionate heart towards her. Showing Christ bending down to write in the sand as the pharisees behind him are appalled at what he has to say. “He who does not sin may throw the first stone” John 8:7. This reflects reaction to Mannerism, but also the social turmoil of the time. According to the Council of Trent and the Catholic church artworks should be a clear, intelligible subject realistically interpreted in order to stimulate piety. This was part of the reason that the artwork turned towards naturalism, becoming emotionally engaging and intense.

Caravaggio undertakes to freeze that specific moment and allow his audience the chance of experiencing the shock and be part of the astonishment that the apostles were going through. The other version of the painting includes an old woman who seems to be an attendant of the inn overlooking the shoulders of the apostles. Also, the Jesus in the other painting is older and has beards, but most of the other aspects such as the use of distance, space and lights remain the same. The painting was painted when the Church felt a strong need to communicate the message about Christ to the faithful.

There is a spotlight on St. Peter’s face and half of his accusers face, indicating that the focus of the painting with light, that Peter is the main figure. Caravaggio uses light to portray a specific moment in the Denial of St Peter, the light shines directly onto Peter, half of the woman accusing him and no light on the soldier. The soldier is in the shadow but the light is slight directed on his back. With the light centered on St. Peter and his accuser’s face, the lines are contoured, to mimic reality in the pictures. The figures facial expressions, (emphasized on St. Peter) look more realistic. The lines and textures on Peter’s face, suggest that he is rejecting the accusation, as the lines in his forehead are creased as he shrugs up his eyebrows and St. Peter’s hands are placed inward. The drapery on the garments on the figures look realistic, but looked as if they were placed like costumes. St. Peter’s face is the one most accented.

When Caravaggio was eleven he moved to Milan and then later apprentice with a painter called Simone Peterzano. Caravaggio used the tenebrism technique the most because a lot of people liked it. He became an artist in 1592.

Some females chose to paint the same scenes as the male artist did just to speak up for feminism. For example Artemisia Gentileschi painting the same biblical scene, entitled Judith Beheading Holofernes, that artist Caravaggio painted. Both paintings show the same scene of Judith slaying Holfernes with the maidservant in the room as well as both pictures are painted with realism. Although they are the same scenes there are many differences portrayed through the paintings. Carvaggio grew up with no family figures after the plague struck his home town of Milan. This took a toll on Carvaggio. He had a very violent background as well as a very hot temper, he even murdered a man over a game which caused him to flea Rome (Whitting and Patrizi). This explains why he would choose to paint such a violet scene from the Bible. On the other hand, Gentileschi had firsthand account of what Judith experienced in the Bible. She was raped by her tutor and tried to stab him with a knife. (Brine, Ciletti, and Lähnemann). Gentileschi was able to paint and portray what she personally felt through that negative time in her life through the Judith painting. The biggest difference in the two paintings are how Judith is portrayed. In Carvaggio’s painting, it displayed the idea of the approval of society at that time. Caravaggio painted with realism in his

An excellent example of the Madonna/whore complex in Renaissance art is Carlo da Camerino’s altarpiece, The Madonna of Humility with the Temptation of Eve. In the altarpiece, the Mary sits with Christ and is depicted as humble and virtuous, an idealized woman to demonstrate the role of women in the Church. Below Mary lies Eve, largely nude, sexualized, and intertwined with a serpent. Fur is wrapped around her hips, a symbol of lust. She displays the characteristics of dangerous femininity that was disparaged by the church.

Caravaggio got his start with an artist that the current Pope was a particular fan of. He started with small works such as painting fruit or flowers and quickly gained notoriety for the amount of realism that he included in his painting.

Caravaggio's life started on September 29, 1571 in Italy. His full name is Michelangelo Merisi. He died on July 18, 1610. His death was caused by a bad fever on his way back to Rome. His father was Fermo Merisi. His mother was Lucia Aratori. They both came from the same district. He didn’t have an education, considering he was orphaned. He was never married and had no children, that people knew of. There was really no one who inspired him to make art.

Michelangelo Caravaggio made a name for himself by painting his people as how he saw them, instead of making them look celestial and holy he made them look sickly and decrepit. Caravaggio was not born to wealth and as such saw the world differently than others given that he was closer to those in poverty. The people that would usually commission paintings were wealthy upper-class people or people of the church, and they probably never had to see the world as Caravaggio did. So when Caravaggio comes in with these paintings that scream the truth of how the gospel should be portrayed they are thrown away. In his painting “Madonna di Loreto” he paints the two people in poverty as they would actually be, not as perfect looking, beautiful beings,

Stylistic concern is not the only argument that objects the painting’s attribution to Raphael, but also the inferior quality in the rendition of Mary and Christ. Observations of Beck suggest that Mary’s hair looks confusing and unsolved , while the underdrawing revealed by IR investigation shows a clearer representation of the braids that possibly the painter-in-question became more “exclusive on this own during the painting stage that he dropped the refinement of her hair” stemming from mimicking Raphael’s painting when drafting. Furthermore, the current depiction conveys a sense of obfuscation in posing of Mary’s right thigh compared to Small Cowper Madonna (fig. 2) or the Bridgewater Madonna (fig.4), with statically drawn Infant balancing difficultly on the invisible leg of Mary . It is inexplicable that the engravings (fig. 6 and 7) after the painting look more convincing that they have complemented the unnaturalness of the original.

Since I like plays, the enthusiastic force of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio dramatic way to deal with holy account is generally engaging. This is found in his portray of The Conversion of St. Paul (Fig. 23-12). Educated in northern Italian Renaissance conventions on line and structures Caravaggio with accentuation on the treatment of light and shade in drawing and painting called "chiaroscuro," and in addition in Venetian shading and without fringes, past the center plane called "sfumato". Caravaggio's topic impact in wording is foreboding and naturalism. His Conversion of St. Paul is engaging in light of the fact that it is a religious "road theater," painting. The worth type of the depiction has a vast range of darkness, and the figures

It is a scene which is shown after Jesus was crucified, where his body has been removed from the cross and his friends and family mourn over his body. Many artists have focused this scene by just painting four people: the body of Christ, His mother, Saint Mary Magdalene and Joseph of Arimathea.

The piece of art is a statue that portrays Jesus’ body laying on his mother Mary’s laps at the time after the crucifixion having been removed from the cross (Lewis & Lewis, 2008) which is evidenced by the marks of small nails and the indication of the wound located in Jesus’ side. It revolves around the major theme of Northern origin which during that time was present in France but not in Italy. According to (St. Peters Basilica, 2009) Michelangelo offered a unique interpretation of the pieta to the models since it is a significant piece of work that balances the ideals of a new beginning incorporated in typical beauty and a touch of naturalism which is illustrated by the relationship exhibited by the figures. This is made possible by his skill to prove to both the viewers and himself of the supernatural beauty.