The first time I heard of him, I was intrigued.
The first time I saw a picture of his art, I was impressed.
The first time I saw his art in person, I was inspired.
Perhaps lesser well-known than Michelangelo Buonarroti (painter of the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling and wall, sculptor of the Pietà, the David, and all-around prolific Renaissance icon), Michelangelo Caravaggio inspires me.
A troubled and dichotomous man, Caravaggio was lauded and exiled from almost every major region of Italy. Notorious for being a streetbrawler, he often got himself into trouble because of his proclivities for talking with his fists. He moved from his home in Milan to Rome after being involved in several fights, culminating in the wounding of a police officer. At only 20 or 21, he fled to Rome – homeless and penniless – with only his considerable talent to support him. After a couple of years there, his work caught the attention of a Cardinal, and Caravaggio was elevated in stature. After several years of continued atristic success, he was known as the most famous painter in Rome. His standing changed irrevocably, however, when in 1606 he killed a man in a fight over a woman. He fled to Naples, then to Malta where he accosted a knight and had to flee to Sicily, then back to Naples. It was here that an assassination attempt was made on him. He survived, but his face was likely somewhat disfigured as a result of the attack. Perhaps tired of the constant fleeing and hiding, he wrote to Rome to ask for a pardon for the murder from 4 years previous. He took a boat to Rome to receive that pardon, but never made it. He died of fever on the trip. He was only 39.
Of course, it isn’t Caravaggio’s lifestyle or violent tendencies that inspire me. What I find fascinating, what I find inspirational, is that a man who lived so fast, with so much tumult, and with such anger, could also create such beauty, redefine the direction of art, and perfect a technique that is so characteristically his own. Caravaggio’s style, especially in his later works, are focused on a more realistic depiction as opposed to the histrionic implements of many other Renaissance artists. But it isn’t just the realism that is striking, it is the use of light and dark. His paintings seem to give off light, and yet be incredibly dark. In his paintings like
St. Jerome, David With the Head of Goliath, The Entombment of Christ, and The Incredulity of St. Thomas, the stark contrast between the dark background and lit foreground are dramatic. The wrinkles on St. Jerome’s brow, the grotesque expression on Goliath’s face, and the hands, faces, and wound in the painting of St. Thomas take on not only a tangible quality, but feel slightly less like paintings and slightly more like we are witnessing these moments in-person.
My favorite Caravaggio work is The Crucifixion of St. Peter. It is huge, and it is imposing, and spectacular. Famously crucified upside-down, the painting shows St. Peter being lifted, feet first, in the moments before his death. With an almost completely black background, and the other men’s faces obscured, the only face to be seen in St. Peter’s, and he almost glows in the center of the piece in white light. His body still strong, his face showing fatigue and realization more than fear or saddness, the painting seems to be moving, and a picture happened to be taken at just this moment.
As a man who vascillated between his darker tendencies and his illuminating talent, it’s no surprise that he would one day be famous for the same qualities in his paintings. Caravaggio painted his life. For better or for worse, he was clearly aware of the struggle within and found ways to show that in his work. Aside from the staggering beauty of the work, and revolutionary style, what is most inspiring to me is that no matter what the subject matter, no matter what the theme, the harder Caravaggio’s life got, the more distinct and contrasting his paintings became. In the struggle between his own tendencies, his work reflected the knowledge that when a light comes on in a dark room, the darkness is filled with light, the light doesn’t succumb to the dark. And maybe through his work, he was hoping that neither would he.
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