Howard Hibbard's "Caravaggio"

Howard Hibbard's Caravaggio is an insightful look into the troubled mind and life of one of the most discussed artists of all time, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. Hibbard immediately expands on his belief that Caravaggio is the most important "Italian painter of the entire seventeenth century." Furthermore, his paintings "speak to us more personally and more poignantly than any others of the time." Caravaggio is an artist whose life was far different from all other contemporary artists of his time, or any time. Unlike Annibale Carracci, Caravaggio's works were able to express many of his own feelings and emotions. As Hibbard says, Caravaggio was an artist who "somehow cut through the artistic conventions of his time right down to the universal blood and bone of life." Simply put, Caravaggio was the only Italian painter who was able to utilize his own emotion as his guide instead of the historical artistic tradition. This observation by Hibbard feels somewhat misleading. Clearly, the emotion of Caravaggio's works came out in full explosiveness throughout his years of painting. However, his lifestyle was so troubling that it seems to me that it would have been virtually impossible for him to prevent his life from entering his works. While it should be recognized that Caravaggio's emotion and difficult life is reflected in many of his paintings, it should also be noted that this may have been unintentional and only a side effect of his life. Here is a many who frequently got into trouble with law and killed at least one man in his lifetime. He was arrested almost countless times. Therefore, it seems unfair to me for Hibbard to describe Caravaggio as an ...

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...he production of religious works. He never ceased to produced works which pleased with each project more splendid than the previous one. Hibbard even says that Bernini was one of the "rare prodigies who continued to grow in artistic stature after he reached maturity." His ability to convey the story of the sculpture as well as the religious meaning helped him become the most talented artist of his time. From the time he was a teenager, he charged forward on a path of unrivaled skill and talent. Furthermore, his dedication to the Church and the rules set forth by the Council of Trent gave him the status of the most popular artist, especially within the church. Sadly, the fact that Bernini was not a rebellious as previous great artists such as Leonardo and Michelangelo have prevented him from becoming as famous as those artists today.