Biography and paintings of Michelangelo Caravaggio. Caravaggio paintings Caravaggio paintings

03.03.2020

September 29, 2018

The phenomenal creativity of a genius, which upended generally accepted ideas about painting, radically influenced the entire course of development fine arts not only in Italy, but throughout Europe. A notorious rebel and a tireless rebel, exceptional talent and a real genius - all this is about Caravaggio, the great artist and experimenter who became a reformer European painting and, overnight, one of the most controversial artists of all time.

Caravaggio. Self-portrait

Biography of Caravaggio

Michelangelo Merisi, as the artist's real name sounds, was born on September 29, 1571 in the family of a wealthy and quite famous in his time architect Fermo Merisi in Milan. The date of birth is inaccurate as no documents have been found to that effect. Only the baptismal record, dated September 30, has survived, which says: “On the 30th, Michelangelo, son of Fermo Merisi and Lucia de Oratoribus, was baptized.” On September 29, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the Archangel Michael and, apparently, that is why this day is considered the artist’s birthday. Michelangelo had a younger sister named Caterina and two brothers, one of whom later became a clergyman.

In 1577, during another outbreak of plague, the family, fleeing, was forced to leave for hometown ok Fermo and Lucia, in Caravaggio, located near Milan. However, this monstrous disease still managed to overtake the Merisi family, claiming the lives of Michelangelo’s father, grandfather and grandmother.

After the end of the epidemic, in 1584 Caravaggio returned to Milan and began learning the basics of painting in the workshop of Simone Peterzano, a student of the famous Titian. Here he not only learned the intricacies of the Lombard school, but also gained his first experience. Unfortunately, early works The Merisi written in Milan have not survived to this day.

Paintings by Caravaggio in Palazzo Barberini

In 1592, shortly after the death of his mother, Michelangelo, having sold the property of his parents and dividing the proceeds with his brothers, went to Rome. Although the first documentary evidence of Merisi’s presence in Rome dates back to 1596, this does not exclude the possibility that the artist came to Eternal City much earlier. Perhaps the young man, prone to riotous living, was simply enjoying himself comfortable existence with money received after the sale of the inheritance. And when the latter ran out, he had to look for work. So, in 1996 he ended up in the workshop of a Sicilian artist Lorenzo Carly.

A young man with a basket of fruit. Caravaggio. 1593-1594

However, one of the biographers, Giovanni Pietro Bellori, states in his notes that Michelangelo Merisi, before arriving in Rome, traveled with Peterzano to Venice, where he gained the experience of the famous Venetian school. To date, no documentary evidence of Caravaggio’s stay in Venice during this period has been found, as well as references in the works of other biographers. And the influence of the Venetian school of painting on the formation of Caravaggio’s style could have occurred without his trip to the Most Serene Republic.

Caravaggio in Rome

In one of the artist’s biographies it is mentioned that since 1594 Merisi lived with his friend Pandolfo Pucci, thanks to whom he received his nickname - Monsignor Insalata, in honor of the salad (in Italian). insalata), which was the only food item in Michelangelo's diet. This is confirmed by the fact that already in 1994 Merisi was left completely without money and without a roof over his head.

In Rome, Caravaggio worked with such artists as Lorenzo Carli, mentioned above, Antiveduto Gramatica, with whom the creative relationship was very fleeting, and, ultimately, with Giuseppe Cesari, in whose workshop Merisi spent several months. During this period, Caravaggio helped paint one of the chapels in the Basilica of San Prassede. The relationship with Cesari was interrupted after Caravaggio's sudden illness and hospitalization.

In 1597, thanks to Prospero Orsi, a close friend of the artist, Michelangelo Merisi was noticed by Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monti, a famous cultural figure and passionate admirer of the arts. He not only appreciated the talent of the young master and purchased some of his works for his collection, but also took Caravaggio into his service. From that moment on, the fame of the Lombard artist began to grow inexorably in the circles of the Roman nobility. His works, executed in a completely new, unprecedented style, became the subject of lively discussions. This period is a turning point in works of Caravaggio: multi-figure compositions began to appear on his canvases. One of the first works of this period was the painting “Rest on the Flight to Egypt.”

Rest on the way to Egypt. Caravaggio. 1596-1597

In just a few years, the fame of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio reached incredible heights, turning the artist into living legend. Thanks to Cardinal del Monti, Caravaggio received a large public commission to paint canvases dedicated to the life of St. Matthew for the Contarelli Chapel in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi. The artist completed these works in less than a year.

Paintings by Caravaggio in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi

After this, the master began painting paintings for: “The Crucifixion of St. Peter” and “The Conversion of the Apostle Paul” commissioned by Monsignor Tiberio Cerasi for his own family chapel.

Crucifixion of St. Petra. Caravaggio. 1601

Conversion of Saul. Caravaggio. 1601

Provocateur and genius Caravaggio

Caravaggio's popularity did not stop growing, just as conversations about him did not stop. His work was admired just as much as it was condemned, and Merisi continued to create his scandalous works and provoke society.

Salome with the head of John the Baptist. Caravaggio. 1607

The artist's hot temper, passion for gambling and noisy parties continued to destroy his life, and even multiple arrests could not tame the rebellious nature of the genius.

Giovanni Pietro Bellori, one of the artist’s first biographers, more than once describes cases of Caravaggio’s participation in mass brawls. During one of these clashes, which occurred back in Milan, a young man died. All suspicions fell on the inveterate rebel Merisi, who had to urgently flee the city in order to avoid arrest. So the genius ended up in Rome, but this incident did not become a lesson for him.

The complex character of the artist has more than once led to sad consequences. Caravaggio was arrested many times due to his outrageous behavior, participation in fights and destruction, illegal carrying of weapons, etc. And one day Michelangelo was brought to trial because, together with his friends, he wrote and distributed offensive poems around the city addressed to another artist Giovanni Baglione. In 1605, Merisi was forced to flee Rome to Genoa for several weeks because he stabbed a famous notary with whom he had quarreled over his beloved. Caravaggio was often saved from arrest and imprisonment by famous statesmen and influential friends. They say that the French ambassador came to his aid more than once. But this did not always continue.

Holy Family with John the Baptist. Caravaggio. Around 1603

On May 28, 1606, during a ball game on the Champs de Mars, Caravaggio clashed with Mariano Pasculone. No one ever found out the exact cause of the fight. Some said that a woman came between them, others said that the cause was political differences. But be that as it may, as a result, Merisi was seriously wounded and his opponent was killed. Despite the fact that Michelangelo managed to escape from the crime scene, the trial in this case still took place, even without the participation of the accused.

Filippo I Colonna. Engraving.

This time the court verdict was very cruel: Caravaggio was sentenced to beheading. Now it was not safe for Merisi to go out into the street - the sentence could be carried out by anyone who identified the culprit. Perhaps Caravaggio was just lucky, because this time they came to his aid. Filippo I Colonna. A representative of a noble Roman family not only helped the artist escape from Rome, but also provided the prosecution with a series of evidence of Michelangelo’s innocence, persuading his numerous relatives to become witnesses. A few months later, Colonna sent Caravaggio to Naples to stay with his relatives, where he stayed for almost a whole year. During this time, the master managed to create many works, including:

"The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist" (1607), on at the moment kept in a private collection;
“Salome with the Head of John the Baptist” (1607), located in the collections of the National Gallery in London;
"Madonna of the Rosary", commissioned by the Carafa-Colonna family, is one of the most significant works of this period.

Madonna of the Rosary. Caravaggio. 1607

After Naples, Caravaggio, remaining under the protection of Colonna, went to Malta. Here Merisi met the great teacher of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (Order of Malta) and a year later, in July 1608, after undergoing special training, he was ordained a knight. Life seemed to be getting better, however bad character The artist makes himself felt here too. After a serious quarrel with a cavalier of the order, who was of a higher rank, it became clear that Merisi was involved in a murder in Rome. As a result, he was arrested. But even here Caravaggio was lucky. He managed to escape from prison and without problems get to Sicily, where for some time he stayed with his old friend.

The last years of Caravaggio's life

Soon after this, Caravaggio returned to Naples, where in the summer of 1609 unknown assailants attacked him, trying to kill him. The attempt, fortunately, was unsuccessful, but rumors of his death had already spread throughout the city. Here in Naples, Merisi lived with the Marchioness Constance Colonna for almost a year, until news came from Rome that Pope Paul V was preparing a document for his pardon.

Pope Paul V. Caravaggio. Date unknown

In July 1610, Caravaggio traveled to Rome on a small ship that made periodic trips between Naples and Porto Ercole (Tuscany). This flight did not include a call at the port of Ladispoli, where Caravaggio was supposed to disembark, however, according to certain agreements, the artist’s trip was supposed to take place this way. Unforeseen circumstances prevented the ship from mooring at this destination, and Merisi had to leave the ship without luggage. Everything would not be so sad if the maestro’s chests did not contain a rather valuable cargo - written agreements with Cardinal Scipione Borghese to pardon Caravaggio in exchange for some of his paintings. Meanwhile, the ship continued on its way. Here famous artist again came to the rescue and helped us arrive in Porto Ercole as quickly as possible in order to pick up what we needed. But no matter how hard he tried, the ship had already set off in the opposite direction and now it would be possible to pick up the treasured document only by returning to Naples.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (Italian: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio; September 29, 1571 (15710929), Milan - July 18, 1610, Porto Ercole) - Italian artist, European reformer painting XVII century, founder of realism in painting, one of the greatest masters of the Baroque. He was one of the first to use the “chiaroscuro” style of painting - a sharp contrast of light and shadow. Not a single drawing or sketch was found; the artist immediately realized his complex compositions on canvas.

The son of the architect Fermo Merisi and his second wife Lucia Aratori, the daughter of a landowner from the town of Caravaggio, near Milan. His father served as manager for the Marquis Francesco Sforza da Caravaggio. In 1576, during the plague, the father and grandfather died, the mother and children moved to Caravaggio.

The first patrons of the future artist were the Duke and Duchess of Colonna.

In 1584 in Milan, Michelangelo Merisi came to the workshop of Peterzano, who was considered a student of Titian. At that time in art world Italy was dominated by mannerism, but in Milan the position of Lombard realism was strong.

The artist's first works, painted in Milan, genre scenes and portraits have not survived to this day.

Already by the end of the 1580s, the life of the hot-tempered Merisi was overshadowed by scandals, fights and imprisonments that would accompany him throughout his life.

In 1589, the artist comes home to sell his plot of land, apparently in need of money. The last time he visits the house is after the death of his mother in 1590.

In the fall of 1591, he was forced to flee Milan after a quarrel over card game which ended in murder. Having first stopped in Venice, he heads to Rome.

In Rome, Merisi noticed Pandolfo Pucci, invited him to his house, provided him with a living, instructing him to make copies of church paintings.

Borromeo, who met Caravaggio during his Roman life, described him as “an uncouth man, with rude manners, always dressed in rags and living anywhere. Drawing street urchins, tavern regulars and pathetic vagabonds, he looked quite happy man" Borromeo admitted that he did not like everything in the artist’s paintings.

In the capital, according to the custom of Italian artists of that time, he receives a nickname associated with his place of birth, as was the case, for example, with Veronese or Correggio. This is how Michelangelo Merisi became Caravaggio.

In 1593, Caravaggio entered the workshop of Cesari d'Arpino, who instructed Caravaggio to paint flowers and leaves on the frescoes. In d’Arpino’s studio he met patrons and artists, in particular Jan Brueghel the Elder.

Caravaggio's early works were written under the influence of Leonardo da Vinci (he met “Madonna of the Rocks” and “The Last Supper” in Milan), Giorgione, Titian, Giovanni Bellini, Mantegna.

The first painting that has come down to us is “Boy Peeling Fruit” (1593).

In d’Arpino’s workshop, Caravaggio met Mario Minniti, who became his student and model for a number of paintings, the first of which was “Young Man with a Basket of Fruit” (1593-1594).

After the fight, Caravaggio ends up in Tor di Nona prison, where he meets Giordano Bruno.

Soon he breaks up with Cesari d’Arpino; the homeless Caravaggio invited Antiveduto Grammatica to his place.

In 1593 he fell ill with Roman fever (one of the names of malaria), and for six months he was in the hospital on the verge of life and death. Perhaps, under the impression of illness, he creates a picture “ Sick Bacchus"(1593) - his first self-portrait.

The first multi-figure paintings were created in 1594 - these are “Sharpies” and “Fortune Teller” (Capitolian Museums). Georges de La Tour would later write his “Fortune Teller” with an identical composition.

In these works, he appears as a bold innovator who challenged the main artistic trends of that era - mannerism and academicism, contrasting them with the harsh realism and democracy of his art. Caravaggio's hero is a man from the street crowd, a Roman boy or youth, endowed with rough sensual beauty and the naturalness of a thoughtless, cheerful existence; Caravaggio's hero appears either in the role of a street merchant, a musician, a simple-minded dandy, listening to a crafty gypsy, or in the guise and with the attributes of an ancient god. These inherently genre characters, bathed in bright light, are brought close to the viewer, depicted with emphasized monumentality and plastic palpability.

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The Italian painter, one of the largest representatives of the Baroque Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was born on September 28, 1573 in the Italian village of Caravaggio. His father was the majordomo and architect of the Marquis Caravaggio. Until the early 1590s, Michelangelo da Caravaggio studied with the Milanese artist Simone Peterzano, leaving for Rome around 1593. At first he was poor and worked for hire. After some time, the fashionable painter Cesari d'Arpino took Caravaggio as an assistant in his workshop, where he painted still lifes on the master's monumental paintings.

At this time, such paintings by Caravaggio as “Little Sick Bacchus” and “Boy with a Basket of Fruit” were painted.

By nature he was an artist who plunged him into difficult and dangerous situations. He fought many duels, for which he was repeatedly imprisoned. He often spent his days in the company of gamblers, swindlers, brawlers, and adventurers. His name often appeared in police chronicles.

In 1595, in the person of Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, Caravaggio found an influential patron who introduced him to the artistic environment of Rome. For Cardinal del Monte, the artist painted some of his best paintings - "Fruit Basket", "Bacchus" and "Lute Player". At the end of the 1590s, the artist created such works as “Concert”, “Cupid the Winner”, “Fortune Teller”, “Narcissus”. Caravaggio opened up new possibilities for painting, turning for the first time to “pure” still life and the “adventurous” genre, which he received further development among his followers and was popular in European painting of the 17th century.

Among Caravaggio's early religious works are the paintings "Saint Martha Conversing with Mary Magdalene", "Saint Catherine of Alexandria", "Saint Mary Magdalene", "The Ecstasy of Saint Francis", "Rest on the Flight into Egypt", "Judith", "The Sacrifice of Abraham" .

At the turn of the 16th-17th centuries, Caravaggio created two cycles of paintings based on scenes from the life of the apostles. In the years 1597-1600, three paintings dedicated to the Apostle Matthew were painted for the Contarelli Chapel in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. Of these, only two have survived - “The Calling of the Apostle Matthew” and “The Martyrdom of the Apostle Matthew” (1599-1600). For the Cerasi Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome, Caravaggio completed two compositions - “The Conversion of Saul” and “The Crucifixion of the Apostle Peter”.

In 1602-1604, the artist painted "Entombment" ("Descent from the Cross") for the church of Santa Maria in Valicella in Rome. In 1603-1606 he created the composition "Madonna di Loreto" for the Church of Sant'Agostino. In 1606, the painting “The Assumption of Mary” was painted.

In 1606, after a quarrel during a ball game and the murder of his rival Rannuccio Tommasoni, Caravaggio fled from Rome to Naples, from where he moved to the island of Malta in 1607, where he was admitted to the Order of Malta. However, after a quarrel with a high-ranking member of the order, he was imprisoned, from where he fled to Sicily and then to southern Italy.

In 1609, Caravaggio returned to Naples, where he awaited pardon and permission to return to Rome.

During his wanderings, the artist created a number of outstanding works religious painting. In Naples he painted large altarpieces "The Seven Works of Mercy" (Church of Pio Monte della Misaricordia), "Madonna of the Rosary" and "The Flagellation of Christ". In Malta, for the Church of San Domenico Maggiore, he created the paintings “The Beheading of John the Baptist” and “Saint Jerome”, in Sicily - “The Burial of Saint Lucia” for the Church of Saint Lucia, “The Raising of Lazarus” for the Genoese merchant Lazzari and “The Adoration of the Shepherds” for the church Santa Maria degli Angeli. TO latest works Caravaggio also includes the painting "David with the Head of Goliath", in which the head of Goliath supposedly represents a self-portrait of the artist.

In 1610, having received a pardon from Cardinal Gonzaga, the artist loaded his belongings onto a ship, intending to return to Rome, but never reached his destination. On the shore he was mistakenly arrested by the Spanish guards and detained for three days.

On July 18, 1610, Caravaggio died of an attack of malaria in the Italian town of Porto Ercole at the age of 37.

Caravaggio's work had a significant influence not only on many Italian artists XVII century, but also on the leading Western European masters- Peter Paul Rubens, Diego Velazquez, Jose de Ribera, and also gave birth to a new direction in art - Caravaggism.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

The great artist Michelangelo Merisi, known to us as Caravaggio, suffered many troubles and misadventures. Fate was not kind to him. Either because of his temperament, hot temper, lifestyle, or because of his talent, the inclinations of which were already noticeable by the age of eleven.

He was born, according to some sources, on September 28, 1571 in Lombardy, in northern Italy in the small town of Caravaggio, in the family of a wealthy architect of the local marquises, Signor Fermo Merisi. In 1577 he dies of the plague. In 1584, the boy was sent to Milan to study art with the then quite famous artist Simone Peterzano from Bergamo, who promised to teach him by the age of fifteen.

In 1590 his mother dies. Having shared with his brother the inheritance left after the death of his parents, which allowed Michelangelo to live comfortably for several years, in 1592 he left his hometown. An addiction to gambling and noisy drunken parties soon undermined his well-being, and he ends up in Rome without money, hungry and ragged. Day after day, he survives by working on unassuming crafts in the workshop of a certain Lorenzo

Siciliano. Certainly, young artist Having already shown the ability to do something better, this state of affairs could not suit him. Disappointments and poverty lead Caravaggio to illness; he ends up in a hospital for the poor. After recovery, Giuseppe Cesari d'Arpino takes him to his workshop. He is well versed in the preferences of customers, knows the market conditions, is quite resourceful and always has clients. Need briefly retreats from Caravaggio.

But then disaster strikes again. The artist is hit by a horse and ends up in the hospital again. After recovery, Caravaggio decides to work independently. At this time, the most famous paintings his first period of creativity. “Fortune Teller”, “Rest on the Flight to Egypt”, “Penitent Magdalene”, “Young Man Bitten by a Lizard”.

But, despite the fact that with these works he declared himself as a talented artist, the public remains indifferent to him. And only by the will of fate, several works end up with the painting connoisseur Cardinal Francesco del Monte, who takes him into his service with quite a decent salary.

According to contemporaries, the artist’s patron was not distinguished by piety and chastity. “Women were never invited to his feasts, but young boys dressed in women’s clothing danced there.” Well, since Caravaggio directly depended on the wishes of the customer, eroticism with a homosexual inclination also appeared in his paintings.

Unfortunately, very little reliable information has survived about Caravaggio. He was not married, but he was not indifferent to the female sex. “The minx living in the Banca area”, “Laura and her daughter and her daughter Isabella, because of whom the trial arose”, “Maddalena, the wife of Michelangelo, who lives near Piazza Navona”, broken windows of a jealous husband - all this is just a small notes of biographers, informants observing progressive trends by order of the Inquisition artistic life those years.

Thanks to Cardinal del Monte, Caravaggio receives his first major commission for the Contarelli Chapel of the Roman Church of San Luigi dei Francesca, “The Calling of the Apostle Matthew” and “The Martyrdom of the Apostle Matthew.” This certainly affected his authority; the artist began to receive prestigious orders.

In his works, Caravaggio always had a passion for painting from life. He carefully recorded every detail, trying to bring it closer to the original. It was Caravaggio who introduced a new genre for Rome - still life as such. If from it genre works remove be it human figures, fruits, cutlery, dinner leftovers, musical instruments, all these details still continue to live their own lives, representing an almost independent center of attraction. In Caravaggio’s penchant for naturalism, there was only one desire - to reflect the object, setting, and characters as accurately as possible, up to the use of a mirror as a screen for transmitting images and a powerful light flux in the modeling of objects, independent of the retina. Using harsh chiaroscuro, which was previously not welcomed by Renaissance masters, Caravaggio achieves extraordinary tension in the freeze frame of his works. At the same time, it is very difficult to determine what is more important: the mirror or the light, which hits like a spotlight on the most significant areas of the body, precisely pointing the viewer to the essence of the idea for which the canvas was conceived. Caravaggio's naturalism is not a soulless clone, but a visual transmission of internal emotions happening here and now. The images of his heroes do not fit into the idealized standards of the then dominant movements of mannerism and academicism. He writes them from real ordinary people from the crowd, regardless of the plot of the picture.

But in Rome what was required was not resemblance to nature, but sublimity and piety of plots and actions, and certainly not the earthiness of holy characters. Therefore, the church very often did not accept Caravaggio's works. He made new works based on the customer’s canons. And the rejected paintings were acquired by collectors who knew a lot about painting. Church functionaries quite often rejected his paintings. Caravaggio became scandalous artist. Michelangelo's popularity grew. And in 1604, rumors about him spread throughout Northern Europe.

Along with the artist’s fame, the cases of his participation in scandalous incidents also increased. The traits of his character as a hot-tempered, self-centered person living one day at a time became more and more apparent. One of the informants observing the trends in artistic life of those years wrote about Caravaggio: “His disadvantage is that he does not pay constant attention to work in the workshop - after working for two weeks, he indulges in a month of idleness. With a sword at his side and a page behind his back, he moves from one gambling house to another, always ready to get into a quarrel and fight hand-to-hand, so it is very unsafe to walk with him.”

Frequent trips to a tavern with friends, throwing a tray in the waiter's face, noisy antics at night, clashes with rivals, broken windows from a jealous owner of the house, carrying weapons without permission, insulting the police, days spent in jail - all this created his reputation in the eyes of authorities as an unreliable person.

In May 1606, during a quarrel, Caravaggio killed Ranuccio Tommasoni. The artist himself was wounded and taken out of Rome by friends. The court sentenced him to death penalty, and a reward was offered for his capture.

In 1607 he moved to live in Malta. There, in 1608, the artist became a knight of the Order of Malta. And again a quarrel arises with the noble knight whom he wounded. Then prison, escape, expulsion from the knightly order, Sicily. Caravaggio learns that the knight he wounded sent assassins to him. The artist returns to Naples, he is haunted by fear, he even sleeps with a dagger. But in the fall of 1609, the mercenaries, having overtaken Caravaggio on the threshold of the tavern, stabbed him in the face with daggers.

Tired of all the misadventures, the artist dreams of returning to Rome. But the death sentence has not yet been abolished. He hears rumors that thanks to influential patrons, including Cardinal Gonzago, the abolition of the death sentence will soon be signed. From Naples he goes to Port Ercole to wait for more definite news. But even here, already in last time, misfortunes befall him. He is mistakenly mistaken for a bandit and arrested, but then released. In order to return his belongings left in the weather vane, he returns to the shore, infected with malaria, falls ill, and on July 18, 1610, at the age of 37, dies, never having learned that on July 31, the papal rescript of Caravaggio announced an amnesty.

Caravaggio - biography

The great Italian artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was born on September 29, 1571 in Milan. In 1576, his father died of the plague, and his mother and children moved to Caravaggio, a town not far from Milan. Michelangelo lived here until 1591. The first genre scenes and portraits written in Milan have not survived.

Michelangelo had a hot temper. Fights and imprisonment became his life's companions. In 1591, the artist was forced to flee from Milan to Venice and then to Rome.

Here Caravaggio (as he began to be called, as was customary among artists, after his place of birth) met prominent artists and patrons of the arts, for example, Jan Brueghel the Velvet, and also studied the works of Leonardo, Giorgione and Titian. The first painting that has come down to us by Caravaggio himself is “A Boy Peeling Fruit” (1593).

Having almost died of a fever (1593), Caravaggio creates a possibly autobiographical painting, “Sick Bacchus.” In the same year he painted his first multi-figure paintings, contrasting living realism with degenerating mannerism and emerging academicism. Caravaggio's heroes are people from the street crowd, beautiful and cheerful. In 1594-96, Caravaggio experienced a fruitful period, working for his patron, the enlightened Cardinal Francesco del Monti, at his villa (many paintings from that time have survived to this day).

Despite his outstanding successes in 1596, Caravaggio was refused admission to the Academy of St. Luke. In the same year, he created the first pure still life in the history of Italian painting, “Fruit Basket.”

In subsequent years, the artist receives many orders to decorate churches, but not all customers are satisfied with the work performed.

In 1601, Caravaggio finally rented his own workshop and began to have students. His Entombment (1603) was copied by many artists (including the great Rubens).

Caravaggio alternated the creation of masterpieces with wild life, fights, and imprisonment. On May 26, 1606, Caravaggio was accused of killing a man in a fight. Declared an outlaw, the artist fled to Naples, then to Malta and continued to paint. His life here is full of adventures (in 1608 he even becomes a Knight of the Order of Malta), but his health was already undermined. In the town of Porto d'Ercole, Caravaggio dies of fever on July 18, 1610. The papal decree of pardon was published after his death.

Caravaggio is a great reformer of European painting, the founder of realism of the 17th century. His method is characterized by a sharp opposition of light and shadow.

The importance of Caravaggio turned out to be unheard of, because none other than him was the first in history European art proclaimed the essence artistic images vitally specific phenomena, people in their characteristic activities, things that surround them in reality. The innovation of Caravaggio's concept lay in the brutal directness with which painting became a literal reproduction of life. Moreover, the creative attitudes of the master, as well as his many followers in different European countries, the so-called “Caravaggists,” did not change even when they turned to religious subjects.

Caravaggio's influence on all subsequent art is so enormous that there is simply nothing to compare it with: even the influence of Jan van Eyck, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian and Michelangelo was not so comprehensive. If we name at least a few names of those who experienced it significantly or even decisive influence, comments will already be unnecessary: Ribera, Zurbaran, Velazquez and Murillo in Spain, Rubens and Jordaens in Flanders, Rembrandt and Vermeer in Holland, Georges de La Tour, the Lenain brothers, and partly even Poussin in France. In Italy itself in the 17th century, there was, it seems, not a single painter who did not become a “Caravaggist” to one degree or another.

Art was no longer focused primarily on the ideal, but saw in nature, as in life itself, the simultaneous presence of opposite principles. In this sense, the aforementioned “Fruit Basket” by Caravaggio became very indicative, where, along with ripe and juicy fruits and leaves, there are also rotten and withered ones, as a result of which the picture becomes not a proud statement of nature and life, but a sad reflection on the essence of our existence...

CARAVAGGIO (Caravaggio; real name Michelangelo da Merisi, Michelangelo da Merisi), Italian painter. Largest representative art of the Baroque era. Until the early 1590s he studied with the Milanese artist S. Peterzano; in 1592 he left for Rome, possibly visiting Venice along the way. Formed under the influence of northern Italian masters (G. Savoldo, A. Moretto, G. Romanino, L. Lotto). For some time he worked as an assistant to the Roman mannerist artist G. Cesari (Cavalier d'Arpino), in whose workshop he completed his first works ("Boy with a Basket of Fruit", 1593-94; "Sick Bacchus", circa 1593, both in the Borghese Gallery , Rome). Thanks to the painting dealer Maestro Valentino, Caravaggio met Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, who became the master's patron and introduced him to the artistic environment of Rome. Written for Cardinal del Monte best paintings early Roman period: “Bacchus” (1595-97, Uffizi Gallery, Florence), “Lute Player” (1595-97, Hermitage, St. Petersburg), “Fruit Basket” (1598-1601, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan). In the works of the late 1590s, the mastery of the illusionistic transfer of materiality (which is especially noticeable in the still lifes that the artist includes in his paintings) is combined with its poeticization. Full of poetic charm and classical reminiscences, mythological allegory images (“Concert”, 1595-97, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; “Cupid the Victorious”, circa 1603, Picture Gallery, Berlin) carry, in addition to the literal, hidden meaning, understandable to the educated Roman public of the time and often inaccessible to modern viewers.

At this time, Caravaggio opened up new possibilities for painting, turning for the first time to still life and the “adventurous” genre (“Fortune Teller,” circa 1596-97, Louvre, Paris), which was further developed among his followers and became very popular in European painting of the 17th century, as well as to the depiction of a mythological image as a common folk type (“Narcissus”, 1598-99, National Gallery of Ancient Art, Rome). In his early religious works, the poetic interpretation of the plot as moral example(“St. Martha Conversing with Mary Magdalene,” circa 1598, Institute of Arts, Detroit; “St. Catherine of Alexandria,” circa 1598, Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Madrid), as a deep emotional experience (“St. Mary Magdalene,” circa 1596-97, Doria-Pamphilj gallery, Rome; “The Ecstasy of St. Francis”, 1597-98, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, USA), as a revealed divine presence in the world (“Rest on the Flight into Egypt”, 1596-97, gallery Doria Pamphilj, Rome) is combined with dramatic scenes of violence and death (“Judith,” circa 1598, National Gallery of Ancient Art, Rome; “Sacrifice of Abraham,” 1601-02, Uffizi Gallery, Florence).

Caravaggio's first major church commission was a cycle of paintings for the chapel of the French cardinal Matteo Contarelli in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi (1599-1600) in Rome. In the scenes of the calling and martyrdom of the Apostle Matthew, Caravaggio fundamentally updates the concept of religious painting, in which special role the light begins to play, transforming and dramatizing the gospel event. In “The Calling of the Apostle Matthew” (see illustrations for the article Jesus Christ), the light cutting through the darkness of the room has both a real physical nature and a metaphorical meaning (the light of Divine truth illuminating the path to salvation). The mesmerizing expressiveness of Caravaggio’s paintings is based on the ability to accurately convey the real motive, without reducing it to everyday life. The first version of the altar painting for the chapel “St. Matthew and the Angel" (1602, died in Berlin during the 2nd World War) was rejected by customers due to the overly common appearance of the apostle. IN final version(1602-03) Caravaggio achieved greater coherence and solemnity of the composition, maintaining a living spontaneity in the appearance and movement of the two figures.

In 1601, Caravaggio painted two paintings - “The Conversion of Saul” and “The Crucifixion of the Apostle Peter” for the T. Cerasi Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. In them, as in the cycle for the Contarelli chapel, a new religious attitude, characteristic of the time of the Counter-Reformation, found expression: the ordinary everyday life of human existence is transformed by the Divine presence; the sincere faith of the poor and suffering is manifested in piety, in the purity of popular charity. Each work of Caravaggio is a living fragment of reality, depicted with maximum authenticity and deeply experienced by the artist, who is trying to comprehend the events of Christian history, understand their motivating reasons and transform his thoughts into plastic forms that obey the laws of figurative dramaturgy. The realism of Caravaggio’s religious works, far from the ideals of beauty developed by the masters of the Renaissance, is close to the religious ethics of St. Charles Borromean and the popular piety of F. Neri, which is especially noticeable in such works of the Roman period as “Christ at Emmaus” (1601, National Gallery, London) , “The Assurance of Thomas” (1602-03, Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam), “Madonna with Pilgrims” (1604-05, Church of Sant’Agostino, Rome) and “Madonna with the Snake” (1605-08, Galleria Borghese), "Saint Jerome" (1605-06, Borghese Gallery). They differ in dramatic power best works Caravaggio of this time: “Entombment” (1602-04, Vatican Pinacoteca) and “Assumption of Mary” (circa 1600-03, Louvre, Paris), in which he reaches the fullness of creative maturity. Powerful contrasts of light and shadow, the common people's unpretentiousness of images, the expressive laconicism of gestures with the energetic sculpting of plastic volumes and the richness of sonorous color allow the artist to achieve unprecedented depth and sincerity in conveying religious feelings, encouraging the viewer to empathize with the events of the gospel drama.

Caravaggio's independent character often brought him into conflict with the law. In 1606, during a ball game, Caravaggio committed murder in a quarrel, after which he fled from Rome to Naples, from where in 1607 he moved to the island of Malta, where he was accepted into the Order of Malta. However, after a quarrel with a high-ranking member of the order, the artist was thrown into prison, from where he fled to the island of Sicily. Due to persecution by the Order of Malta, which expelled him from its ranks, he decided to return to Rome in 1610, hoping for help from influential patrons, but died of a fever on the way. During his wanderings, Caravaggio created a number of outstanding works of religious painting. In Naples in 1606-07 he painted for the church of San Domenico Maggiore large altar paintings “The Seven Works of Mercy” (Church of Pio Monte della Misericordia, Naples), “Madonna of the Rosary” (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) and “ The Flagellation of Christ" (Capodimonte Museum, Naples); in Malta in 1607-08 - “The Beheading of John the Baptist” and “St. Jerome” (both in the Church of John the Baptist, Valletta); in Sicily in 1609 - “Burial of St. Lucia" for the church of Santa Lucia (Regional Museum of Palazzo Bellomo, Syracuse), "The Raising of Lazarus" for the Genoese merchant Lazzari and "Adoration of the Shepherds" for the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli (both in National Museum, Messina). The intense drama inherent in the artist’s art acquires in his later works the nature of an epic tragedy. Monumental canvases, built on the relationship between a dull, dark background and large figures in the foreground, illuminated by flashes of pulsating light, have an extraordinary power of emotional impact, involving the viewer in the events depicted. TO recent years Caravaggio’s life also includes the painting “David with the Head of Goliath” (circa 1610, Galleria Borghese, Rome), where in the appearance of Goliath, whose head David holds on his outstretched hand, one can discern the facial features of the artist himself.

Caravaggio's work had a great influence on the contemporary art of not only Italy, but also Europe as a whole, affecting the majority of artists working at that time (see Caravaggism).

Lit.: Marangoni M. Il Caravaggio. Firenze, 1922; Znamerovskaya T. P. Michelangelo da Caravaggio. M., 1955; Vsevolozhskaya S. Michelangelo da Caravaggio. M., 1960; Röttgen N. Il Caravaggio: ricerche e interpretazioni. Rome, 1974; Michelangelo da Caravaggio. Documents, memories of contemporaries. M., 1975; Hibbard N. Caravaggio. L., 1983; Longhi R. Caravaggio // Longhi R. From Cimabue to Morandi. M., 1984; Caravaggio e il suo tempo. Cat. Napoli, 1985; Marini M. Caravaggio. Rome, 1987; Calvesi M. La realtà del Caravaggio. Torino, 1990; Cinotti M. Caravaggio: la vita e l’opera. Bergamo, 1991; Longhi R. Caravaggio. 3. Aufl. Dresden; Basel, 1993; Gash J. Caravaggio. N.Y., 1994; Bonsanti G. Caravaggio. M., 1995; Sviderskaya M. I. Caravaggio. First contemporary artist. St. Petersburg, 2001; Lambert J. Caravaggio. M., 2004; Caravaggio: Originale und Kopien im Spiegel der Forschung / Hrsg. von J. Harten. Stuttg., 2006.