Оглавление
Félix Witting. Caravaggio
Introduction
His Fate
The Early Years and Departure for Rome
Milan
Venice
Departure for Rome
The First Roman Works and the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi
The First Roman Works
The Paintings of the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi
Condemned to Exile
Naples
Malta
The Face as a Reflection of the Soul
The Birth of a Style
The Painter of Pleasures and Taboos
Caravaggio or the Aesthetic Revolution
Caravaggio in a Different Light
The Life of Caravaggio by Giovanni Pietro Bellori
“Notizia” by Mancini
The Curriculum Vitae of a Criminal Painter
Letter of 29th July 1610 from the Bishop of Caserte to Cardinal Scipione Borghese
Conclusion
Biography
Отрывок из книги
Ottavio Leoni, Portrait of Caravaggio. Pastel on paper, 23.5 × 16 cm. Biblioteca Marucelliana, Florence.
Although Caravaggio and his art may have been forgotten for almost three hundred years, it can safely be said that since the beginning of the twentieth century this oversight has largely been compensated for. Despite his dismissal by critics (was it not Poussin who stated that he came in order to destroy painting?) and his fall into oblivion, his name seems to have reappeared in the collective memory during certain periods of history. Even in his own time a contemporary of Caravaggio, Giovanni Baglione, recognised the artist’s importance as a discoverer of a distinctly modern style.[1] Despite stating that Caravaggio had a great desire for the “approval of the public, who do not judge with their eyes, but look with their ears”, and that he had urged many younger artists to pay attention to the colouring alone instead of the composition of figures, Baglione described Caravaggio’s works as “made with the greatest diligence, in the most exquisite way”. Caravaggio’s patron, Marchese Vincenzio Giustiniani di Bassano (1564–1637), never doubted Caravaggio’s genius during the artist’s lifetime. In a letter to the advocate Teodoro Amideni he quotes the painter giving a point of view that he found decisive:[2] “as Caravaggio himself said, a painting of flowers requires as much care as one of people” – “of the highest class of painters – we have Caravaggio”. Caravaggio painted his “Cupido a sedere” (Amor Victorious) for him, and when the altar-piece of Saint Matthew for the Capella Contarelli in S. Luigi dei Francesi was rejected by the congregation, it was the Marchese who acquired it.[3] The art historian Giulio Cesare Gigli indulged in extravagant praise for Caravaggio in the pittura trionfante about his art: “This is the great Michelangelo Caravaggio, an awe-inspiring painter, the marvel of art, the miracle of nature.”[4] In the eighteenth century, the director of the Spanish Academy in Rome, Francisco Preziado, described the artist in a letter to Giambattista Ponfredi dated 20 October 1765 as the founder of a school to which Ribera and Zurbarán also belonged.[5] During the age of Classicism sporadic attention was paid to the artist and his tumultuous life, but it was during the Romantic era that particular interest in this pioneer of the Baroque was aroused. The great philosopher Schopenhauer (1788–1860) acknowledged the importance of his work,[6] but from an expert point of view it was Waagen (1794–1868), professor of Art History, who sought to describe Caravaggio’s characteristics.[7] As an art historian, Manasse Unger (1802–1868) then carried out studies in a more academic vein on the artistic effects of the painter in his Kritische Forschungen (Critical Research),[8] and wrote Caravaggio’s biography,[9] which was as complete as it could be at that time, according to J. Meyer’s historical judgement. It was the art historian Eisenmann who later tried to make sense of the fluctuating criticism concerning the importance of this artist.[10] A literary portrait of Caravaggio was published by the historians Woltmann (1841–1880) and Woermann (1844–1933), putting the artist within the historical development of painting.[11] Strangely reserved, but thus causing all the more excitement, were the few but grave words of art historian J. Burckhardt (1818–1897), which appeared in a dedication to the artist in the first edition of Cicerone, and which was barely altered in later adaptations of this work.[12] Meanwhile modern painters such as Théodule Ribot (1823–1891) had already sided with the master of the Baroque with their theories on art, deliberately searching for a way to preserve the intentions of their French Caravaggio, the master Valentin de Boulogne.[13] Only an objective historical look at the artist and his works and the recognition of a psychological dimension to his œuvre were missing in order to penetrate beyond literary enthusiasm to Caravaggio’s immortal merits.
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Nevertheless, Nature was not, for Caravaggio, the great protector and dominator of mankind that so many other artists took it to be. Nature provided him with no feelings of exaltation nor of lyrical depression, it did not flood his soul with joy or fear, it inspired neither adoration nor meditation within him. It offered him simply a framework, a theatrical scene within which to place his characters or a series of objects, which he could reproduce faithfully on the canvas, conforming to the fundamental principles of naturalists. He was aiming, according to his own words, “to imitate the things of nature,” while at the same time conforming to the standards set by his Lombard masters. As previously noted, Caravaggio himself said on this subject: “A painting of flowers requires as much care as one of people.” Although Merisi pronounced this himself, he did later admit, conforming to the general opinion of the time, that the human form could never be compared to simple fruit and vegetables. Beyond the prevalence of vegetables, Caravaggio’s contemporaries must have been impressed by the realism of his paintings. The sensuality which emanates from Caravaggio’s early works deeply moves the spectator from the first viewing. However, his first masterpiece, the soft and luminous landscape of the Rest on the Flight to Egypt – which clearly reminds us of the style of Giorgione – evokes more than the simple sensory impressions of the outside world. The serene sky reflected in the calm water, the caress of light on the oak tree, the cherry laurel and the white poplars; the tender flair of the marshland reeds with their frayed leaves surrounding the three-leaved brambles have been brought together in order to create a harmony, a source of beauty to which the young artist was sensitive. In addition, Caravaggio paid particular attention to the expression of the face, as one can see in the apparent pain of the child in Boy Bitten by a Lizard. The instantaneousness of the boy’s reaction and the mask of pain on his face are so unmistakeably realistic and accurate that they cannot help but evoke feeling in the viewer. The working of the facial expression is remarkable and the intensity of feeling within the work is extraordinary. Throughout his career, Caravaggio worked ceaselessly at the expressions of feeling of his subjects.
The Musicians, c. 1595. Oil on canvas, 92.1 × 118.4 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
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