The Shift of Caravaggio's Work

             Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian painter active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1592 until the year he passed away, 1610.  His paintings are known to have a formative influence on Baroque painting, which then create a combination of art largely focused on emotion, drama, and realism in the portrayal of humanity. He is known for his technique called chiaroscuro, which came to be known as tenebrism. It is a technique in which he used a contrast light and shade, that what he painted seems to beams down without reflections, as would occur in a very dark room with just one window.

            Caravaggio started his career in his twenties when he decided to move to Rome. His early paintings are known with such cardsharps, musicians, and street vendors that show his familiarity and captivation with the Roman underworld. Not so long after he moved to Rome, he realized that there was a big demand for paintings to fill in the new churches and palazzos built at that time. It was a period when the Church was searching for a stylistic alternative to Mannerism in religious art that was tasked to counter the threat of Protestantism. This is when his work started to shift into more of religious paintings as commissioned. Martrydom of Saint Matthew, a painting that he made in 1600 marked the shift of his work into more of a religious painting, and Denial of Saint Peter marked the end of his career as he painted in 1610 before he passed away.

Caravaggio, Cardsharps, 1594, oil on canvas, Kimbell Art Museum, AP 1987.06

Cardsharps is one of Caravaggio’s early masterpieces, which he painted when he came to Rome in the early 1590s. Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte was so interested with this painting that he not only purchased it, but also offered Caravaggio quarters in his palace. Because of this masterpiece, Caravaggio was introduced to the elite stratum of Roman ecclesiastical society, which gave him his first significant opportunity to work on a large scale for a public forum. The painting itself depicted three players engaged in a game of primero, a forerunner of poker. Caravaggio painted the subject in a novelistic way, in which the interaction of gesture and glance evokes the drama of deception.

Caravaggio, The Musicians, 1595, oil on canvas, Met Museum, AP 52.81

A year after he painted The Cardsharps, he painted The Musicians in 1595 which is one of his realistic paintings of half-length figures. Caravaggio dedicated this painting to his first great patron who had influenced his career, Cardinal Francesco del Monte. In this period of time, the Church was supporting a revival of music and new styles were being tried, which is why scenes showing musicians were a popular theme at that time. However, this scene is considered more secular rather than religious, because of the long established tradition of “concert” pictures, a genre originating in Venice.

Caravaggio, The Lute Player, 1596, oil on canvas, Hermitage Museum

Given lodging by Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte in his household, Caravaggio was inspired to paint del Monte’s personal collection. This is one of three versions of The Lute Player painted by Caravaggio. All three depicted a boy with soft facial features and thick brown hair, accompanying himself while playing lute as he sings a madrigal about love. In this version, Caravaggio placed a table in front of the figure with a violin on one side and a still life of flowers and fruit on the other side. The musical instruments are valued and believed to come from del Monte’s personal collection.

Caravaggio, Martrydom of Saint Matthew, 1600, oil on canvas, San Luigi dei Francesi Church

 Starting in 1600, Caravaggio had earned fame in the city of Rome. With the help of Cardinal del Monte, Caravaggio was commissioned to decorate the Contarelli Chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi. Martrydom of Saint Matthew was one of the paintings that Caravaggio created for that church and since then, most of Caravaggio’s paintings were presented to the churches in Rome. That is why almost all of his paintings in 1600s were related to religion. This painting itself showed the martyrdom of Saint Matthew the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Matthew. This specific commission was a new challenge for Caravaggio, since he had never painted on a large canvas with so many figures on it.

Caravaggio, Conversion on the Way to Damascus, 1601, oil on canvas, Cerasi Chapel

Painted in 1601, Conversion on the Way to Damascus was made for the Cerasi Chapel of the church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. The painting depicted the moment in Chapter 9 of Acts of the Apostles when Saul, soon to be Apostle Paul, fell on the road to Damascus. He heard the Lord say, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.” By creating a dark and mysterious background, Caravaggio expected the viewer to focus on Saint Paul’s internal involvement with this religious ecstasy. Because of the emotions that were intensified by the lighting shown by the apostle, the scene could be easily identified as Saint Paul’s conversion.

Caravaggio, Adoration of the Shepherd, 1609, oil on canvas, Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli

Adoration of the Shepherd was another painting by Caravaggio that was painted for a church. It was commissioned for the Capuchin Franciscans and was painted in Messina for the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. By depicting Mary on the ground, Caravaggio used humility as the central theme. He wanted to show that Virgin Mary was not a heavenly queen, but she was also a modest young mother. Without any angels bursting in nor any great blaze of light, there was a calmness and tranquility that was unmistakably conveying her worth as a common person, even though she was the mother of the Savior.

Caravaggio, Denial of Saint Peter, 1610, oil on canvas, MetMuseum, AP 1997.167

The Denial of Saint Peter was painted in the last months of Caravaggio’s life. It was thought to be one of the last two works by Caravaggio and marked an extreme stage in his revolutionary style. The painting belonged to Guido Reni in 1613 who received it from Luca Ciamberlano as compensation for debts. With his remarkable tenebrism technique, Caravaggio depicted the account in the Gospels when Christ was arrested and Peter was accused three times of being a disciple of Jesus. Peter denied each and thus fulfilled Christ’s prophecy. In this painting, Peter was depicted with a woman and a soldier who point their fingers towards him. The woman pointed two fingers and the soldier pointed one finger, which referred to the three accusations and to Peter’s three denials.