The Art of Caravaggio

The artist known as Caravaggio (1571-1610) was named Michelangelo Merisi at birth and got his well-known name from his pace of birth near the Italian city of Milan. He created many famous paintings of beautiful art. According to his biography he led a violent, controversial life and is said to have murdered a man.

The popular style of painting at the time was the idealization of the subject instead of the realistic style that he used, which he is now revered.

Controversy
The art world was changing and many other artists followed his realistic style painting. In his time he was well known and influential. They used a dramatic light and shadow as he did. This style became adopted in the Netherlands where he evidently influenced Rembrandt too. Even so, the French and Italian academies had critics that considered his work “the downfall of painting.” Apparently he was not well liked by biographers either in the 1600s because they criticized the portraits of his subjects as “dark and idealized.”

Bruised Fruit
One thing about his subject matter that interested me was his use of a fresh fruit basket. A still life painting of just that fruit would be an excellent artwork on its own. His twist on the subject matter is the use and depiction of slightly bruised fruit. He was a realist’s realist and he did an excellent job of replicating the fruit and even all its imperfections in amazing detail. I figure it took him a long time to paint the fruit and while it may have started fresh when he made the setting, it began to rot before he could finish. He made the best of it by painting what he saw as he went along.

Violent Subject Matter
I’ve seen the Caravaggio painting The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist on display in Malta and it was large as is many of his other works. It is gigantic, because it measures over 11x17 feet. Apparently he was not a shy guy based on the size and colors of his art. For example his painting Death of a Virgin now in the Louvre measures 396 x 245 cm (over 8x10 feet) and this too was not unusual for him. The size of his paintings was not the only thing that called attention. His use of subject matter was often as violent and controversial as his personal life.

How did Caravaggio die?
The exact circumstances of his death are not certain but there are undisputed facts leading toward his demise. Most of his adult life was on the run from authorities or enemies because of his violent life style. In 1610 he was living in Naples, Italy and completed his last paintings and other artwork while trying to obtain a pardon to clear his name through influential friends in Rome. That summer he traveled north from Naples by boat on his way to Rome. From that point the details are not clear. He is believed to have died of a fever in a port city, probably in Tuscany. The Tuscan ports are all north of Rome so it is unclear if he attempted to take a longer route to throw off his enemies. No body was ever found and official records are inconclusive as to the place and exact date. He was never seen or heard from after August 1610.

Other Famous Art of Interest to Caravaggio Fans

Famous French Artists

Cezanne
Paul Cezanne helped forge the Impressionist movement to greatness with help from Renior and Monet but it wasn’t always easy.

Henri Matisse Art Gallery
The Henri Matisse Art Gallery of a creative genius and Favist artist extraordinaire.

Impressionist Art Gallery
Browse the Impressionist art gallery of selected prints by the artists that changed the art world forever.

Picasso Art

Pablo Picasso Famous Paintings
Some Pablo Picasso Famous Paintings include Guernica, Guitar, doves, flowers from the Rose Period, Cubism, and Surrealism.

Picasso Blue Period
The Picasso Blue Period lasted from 1901 to 1904. It's so called because in his paintings the color blue was predominant and some of them are the most famous and sought after art that he ever produced.

Claude Monet Famous Paintings
The best of Claude Monet Famous Paintings are in Venice, his garden lilies, haystacks, the seascapes, and the Argenteuil series. The Impressionists in Paris started the Impressionism movement.

MC Escher Paintings

MC Escher Biography
The MC Escher biography reveals a life devoted to his artwork with tessellations, mathematically inspired and always intriguing.

MC Escher Paintings
MC Escher Paintings was an artist; created tessellations with extraordinary math skills. The graphics of MC Escher artwork continued to develop with his popularity.

MC Escher Artwork of Tessellations
The images in MC Escher artwork and tessellations are fascinating scenes with optical illusions, waterfalls, reptiles, castles, stairs, and spheres.

Click here to leave Caravaggio for more links to artistic styles, artists and their online art galleries, art prints and art posters. Browse the links found at the bottom of World Famous Paintings.

Do you like this page about Caravaggio artwork?
Please share this page so others will find it too by using the buttons below.