Caravaggio & Artemisia Gentileschi by: Andrea Tobin 7th Hour Art History

Michelangelo da Caravaggio His contemporaries called him the “Evil Genius” and the “anti-Christ of painting.” His life was an unorthodox as his art. Known as the bohemian rebel with a lengthy police record, the surly artist was constantly brawling in taverns and streets. After stabbing a man in the groin over a tennis wager, he fled Rome to escape prosecution for murder. With trouble in the law, Caravaggio fled from city to city. Insisted that back alleys, mean streets, and the unsavory folk he found there were the on true source of art.

Caravaggio St. Matthew and the Angel He was born Michelangelo Merisi on Sept. 28, 1573, in Caravaggio, Italy. As an adult he would become known by the name of his birthplace. Probably the most revolutionary artist of his time, the Italian painter abandoned the rules that had guided a century of artists before him. They had idealized the human and religious experience. St. Matthew and the Angel

His Blasphemous Work Caravaggio's so-called religious paintings are dark, grotesque with a homo-erotic charge, biblically and historically incorrect, and are the reflections of a tormented soul. Violence, death and murder are the main themes. He painted three beheadings, that of Goliath, St. John the Baptist and Holofernes; he painted the crucifixion of Peter, Matthew, and Jesus Christ, the martyrdom of St. Matthew and St. Ursula, the flagellation and the crowning of Jesus Christ with the crown of thorns, etc. Supper at Emmaus

Followers of Caravaggio Caravaggio had many follower, called “the Caravaggisti.” They copied his dark tonality and dramatic lighting in “night pictures.” One of the most successful was the Italian Artemisia Gentileschi. She was the first woman painter to be widely known and appreciated. She was a very gifted artist who traveled widely and lived an eventful, independent life rare for a woman in that time. Artemisia Gentileschi Self-Portrait

Artemisia Gentileschi Born in Rome in 1593, she received her early training from her father, Orazio Gentileschi a well-known Roman artist but after art academies rejected her, she continued study under a friend of her father, Agostino Tassi. Was one of the first women artists to achieve recognition in the male-dominated world of post-Renaissance art. In an era when female artists were limited to portrait painting and imitative poses, she was the first woman to paint major historical and religious scenarios. Madonna and Child

Caravaggio’s Influence in Art Caravaggio used dramatic light and shadow to spotlight the significant features of his paintings, and this effect is especially evident in works such as his powerful Calling of Matthew and the earthy image of Doubting Thomas. Select one of the links above to begin your exploration of the paintings of Caravaggio. Calling of St. Matthew Doubting Thomas

Caravaggio – Sick Bacchus *Some scholars believe that many of the early works are self portraits. Sick Bacchus One of Caravaggio's earliest pieces, it depicts a pale, sickly boy set apart from the viewer by the stone slab but emphasized by the artist's decision to paint a dark background.  The peaches and grapes on the slab and in Bacchus' hand along with the grape leaves attest to Caravaggio's technical skill at painting fruit.

Caravaggio – Boy Bitten by Lizard *Notice the reflection of a window in the vase. Again, Caravaggio includes a still-life, alluding to his training and skill as a painter from the Lombard region.

Caravaggio - The Conversion on the Way to Damascus Painted in 1601 for the Cerasi Chapel. This is Caravaggio's dark version of St. Paul's miraculous conversion on the way to Damascus when Jesus Christ spoke to him: Paul is on his back, partly beneath a peasant horse, which takes up most of the canvas and shows us her rear.