This painting (hanging in Uffizi Gallery, Florence; read the Wikipedia article of Caravaggio’s Sacrifice of Isaac) disturbs and stirs the viewer with the gestures of the actors — as if they themselves literally hold on to us, shaking us from apathy or calm. This psychological effect is not accidental: the depicted theme is one of the most intense, nerve wrecking scenes of the old testament; it was Abraham’s ultimate test of faith, when he almost sacrificed his only son. At the first glance it may be problematic to discern which hand is which, who holds who and what is going on. This is an inherently complex composition that makes no excuses for itself; it’s emotionally and visually demanding, as are most Caravaggio’s middle and late style pieces.
Read the rest of this entry »
This painting (hanging in Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, USA) follows The Fortune Teller in depicting a scene of sharp practice which very well might have been based in reality. This Wikipedia article on The Cardsharps mentions realism (the unglamorous theme, the ragged gloves, the dramatic tension) as the quality that made Caravaggio famous. The artist’s late works were also highly realistic — appallingly so to some contemporaries — but the realism evolved and overflowed into the artist’s methods. He would paint from live models directly on canvas (sometimes marking parts of it by incisions), neglecting the ever important part of preliminary drawing (Check also this article on The Cardsharps published by The Independent).
Read the rest of this entry »
Perhaps too much stress has been put into sexual interpretations of this early painting (exists in two versions, one hangs in National Gallery in London (Boy Bitten by a Lizard), the other in La Collezione di Roberto Longhi in Florence) by Caravaggio (Wikipedia Article on Boy Bitten by a Lizard, and Caravaggio Wikipedia Article). There is a broader context: the symbolical loss of innocence by way of experiencing sudden, unexpected pain. We witness a scene where the actor encounters the “painful” side of life, or world — and shrinks back, apparently taken by surprise. It is the pronounced element of surprise that allows to interpret the boy’s reaction as a first-time experience and the entire image as a dynamic juxtaposition of ignorance and knowledge.
Read the rest of this entry »
