He was a
painter who did not have students and who had no workshop. He was a painter who
never made drawings before a painting. He was a painter with almost no official
education, who had to learn the trade himself. He was a painter who went
against fashion and stayed true to himself.
Michaelangelo
Merisi was born in 1571 in the little town of Caravaggio. His parents were not
poor and not rich, but had connections to the powerful Colonna family; his
mothers sisters was wet-nurse to their children. The countess herself always
paid much attention to the family and little Michaelangelo.
Growing up
in Milano and after being an apprentice to a third-rate painter, Michaelangelo went
to Rome in the hope he could make it there.
The first
years were hard, but he finally got the patronage of cardinal Del Monte and
later of cardinal Mattei. They managed to get several commissions for him, but
not all of his work was received well.
He painted
the saints, Mary and Jesus like ordinary people, surrounded by ordinary people
and the poor of Rome loved his work. They recognized themselves in the paintings of Michaelangelo da Caravaggio.
The
officials of the art-academy and of the Church were not so happy with this way
of painting.
They
accused him of only being able to paint what he saw, and that he was not
capable of doing what an artist should do in those days; elevate a subject to
an ideal. Portraying the Madonna with dirty feet or as an ordinary woman was
unheard of.
Despite the
fact that his works were often denied, Caravaggio kept to his own style, he did
not follow the fashion by painting elevated and busy baroque-paintings full of
angels.
Death of the Virgin by Caravaggio. This painting was denied, because the Madonna looked too much like a real and really dead woman |
This was the painting that replaced it. Many, many angels. Carlo Saraceni. |
Caravaggio
fled to Naples, a city full of poor people, where his innovative way of
painting made a deep impression. He hoped his reputation would be mended in
Rome and went to Malta to become a Knight in the order of St. John. He thought that when he would
be a Knight, he would be able to look all his enemies straight into their eyes.
He managed
to become a Knight of Malta, but soon messed things up for himself with his
short temper. He was kicked out of the Order and fled to Sicily, where he spend
a couple of years.
Finally, in
1610, he died far too soon, on his way back to Rome. He was only thirty-eight
years old.
In Rome I
bought a very good and interesting biography about this very special artist. I knew the paintings of Caravaggio and like them very much, so I was very happy to find this book so I could learn more about him.
Andrew Graham-Dixon gives us all the different aspects of
Caravaggio, not only of his life, but also of his works. He explains what the
meaning behind the paintings is, explains where Caravaggio got his inspirations
and how we can interpret several things. I liked how many moments in his life,
found their way back into his paintings.
Michaelangelo
da Caravaggio was nota n easy man and although there were many who saw his
genius, there were also many who disliked his way of painting.
But in the
end it is Caravaggio who has had the most success of all the Baroque painters.
His way of
bringing a scene back to the essence, back to the most dramatic moment and his way
of using light and dark to give emphasis and how he let ordinary people
recognize themselves in his works, has had its influence on painters in the
centuries after him and even film-directors nowadays.
Caravaggio’s
paintings are still admired today. They manage to speak to us and touch us in a
way the paintings of most other painter never can.
Full title:
Caravaggio, a life sacred and profane
Published in 2011
Sounds fascinating. I've always liked Caravaggio's paintings, but know nothing about the man or his life.
ReplyDeleteNeither did I, but I loved this biography, it is well written and very, very interesting!
DeleteKind regards,