Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was a painter of Italian origin who was one of the leading artists of his period. Caravaggio was born September 29, 1571, and died mid-July 1610. He was most famous for the intensity and unsettling nature of the realism of his paintings, which were often large-scale Christian works.
Caravaggio presented biblical stories as visual and often bloody dramas, whereas most Italian artists of his time Neatly followed the magnificent ballet late Mannerist painting. Instead, he re-enacted the sacred events of the distant past as they are happening now.,the use of the right models in amazingly modern clothing.
He also created a unique style of chiaroscuro, in which he used strong contrasts of light and dark to accentuate subtleties of action or facial expressions, such as an outstretched arm or a sad or longing face. His impact on Western art has been enormous, and it is not restricted to painting.
His Paintings Were Condemned
Caravaggio’s paintings were condemned to be destroyed. Then, in 1606, the papal commissioner in Rome ordered that all of Caravaggio’s works be removed from public display except for two, which a private collector had already sold.
This condemnation was that his paintings portrayed subjects in ways deemed immoral and sinful. He was also charged with committing murder, but it was never proven who killed Ranuccio Tommasini.
Painter Caravaggio would create many more works after his arrest and before he died in 1610: some of Caravaggio’s famous paintings were produced during this period, such as The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula (1607) and Death of St Peter Martyr (1610).
Caravaggio’s Betrayal
Caravaggio was a master of painting, but he also had a few problems. He betrayed his friend and fellow painter, Mario Minniti, to the Spanish Inquisition in 1599.
Minniti was accused of being a heretic by an enemy who knew him when he lived in Genoa. Minniti refused to return to Genoa because he did not want to be tortured and executed for being Jewish (he hadn’t practiced Judaism for many years). So instead, he moved to Rome, where he became friends with Caravaggio.
When the accusation came down on Minniti’s head from Genoa, Caravaggio testified against his friend, saying that Minniti had become a spy while living in Rome rather than returning home as requested by his family and church elders.
Criticisms Of Caravaggio
As you might imagine, in some of Caravaggio’s famous paintings, his use of nudity was not without controversy. Critics claimed that such imagery was vulgar and inappropriate for a painting to be displayed in a church.
Yet, this was hardly the first time such images had been painted; Caravaggio was applying classical models to new subjects. For example, in his artwork The Denial of St Peter (c1610), he depicted characters wearing everyday clothes rather than garments associated with ancient Greece or Rome. This break from tradition shocked viewers accustomed to seeing classical subject matter portrayed on canvas.
Caravaggio’s art was considered technically flawed. In Renaissance art, “technically flawed” meant that the painting was not done with the proper techniques and materials. For example, a painting should be done using oil on canvas or a panel. In addition, it should have perspective (i.e., lines drawn from an object on one side of the picture to another).
Caravaggio was criticized for a lot of things. He was thought to have been a murderer, a gang member, and he acted like one. For example, he killed his model Ranuccio Tomassoni in 1606 after the man had insulted him by calling him ugly, according to art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon’s book Caravaggio: A Life Sacred And Profane. The artist also had a reputation for being violent and aggressive towards others, including his friends, patrons, and models.
His paintings were also controversial because they showed dark characters from history or mythology that weren’t always considered appropriate subjects for art at the time.
His Mistakes Were Avoidable
There are a few reasons why Caravaggio’s career did not flourish as it should have. First, he was no stranger to the law—he was arrested in Rome for stabbing a man in the face during a tavern brawl, and later, he killed another man outside of Naples who had insulted him.
His temper also got him into trouble with his patrons; when Cardinal Borghese asked Caravaggio to paint an altarpiece for his chapel, the artist refused because he disliked the cardinal’s mistress.
When Cardinal Borghese canceled the commission after this incident, Caravaggio left Rome without permission and fled to Malta. While there, he got into another scuffle that resulted in another death: this time, it was not just any old bar fight but an attack on another painter hired by their mutual patron Vincenzo Giorgio Squarcialupi (Prince Spada).
Caravaggio’s Death
His death was not recorded. As a result, the exact cause of Caravaggio’s death is unknown, though many historians believe he died from complications due to malaria.
There are no records of his burial at his family’s chapel in Porto Ercole, where he was interred in an unmarked grave.
He passed away at the age of 39 and had been ostracized by the art community during his lifetime. After fleeing Rome following a murder charge, Caravaggio lived as an outcast for several years before returning to die in disgrace.
Conclusion
In the eyes of Caravaggio’s critics, his work was too dark. His art was criticized for being “too severe and gloomy a style for such religious themes.” But many others loved it—he had many imitators and people who looked up to him as an influence on their work. He was known as one of the most talented artists in Italy and still is today.