Caravaggio

Happy Birthday Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio!! (best known as Caravaggio) Italian painter from 1573, Caravaggio was born near Milan. After a four year apprenticeship in 1584 with little known Simone Peterzano, Caravaggio went to Rome where he painted small, insignificant portraits and still life before receiving his first major commission in 1597, to decorate a chapel in Rome. In this project Caravaggio met many obstacles as his work was repainted several times due to the rejection of the paintings. His work is described as extreme realism with heavy chiaroscuro (contrasting lights and darks). His peasants have dirty feet, his onlookers show great emotion and often his figures are out of proportion. The latter is due, in large, to the practice he developed early on, of painting directly on his large canvases (or walls) with little preparation beforehand. Caravaggio is said to have been a volatile man with a quick temper and is even accused of murder. His life was dramatic, with him fleeing the authorities on more than one occasion. His later works are quite dark. Rubens and Rembrandt are the most well known of his influences. The painting I have decided to include here is Supper at Emmaus; in it you can observe the portraiture as well as still life skills of the artist. (Note the foreshortening of the hands in the figure on the right.)