Caravaggio And Homosexuality

On the other hand the status of Caravaggio on whether or no he was a homosexual or heterosexual did not matter as much to Mia Cinotti. She stated, “ that we do not know anything about the homosexuality of Caravaggio and Del Monte “(Cinotti 216). She mentions how homosexuality was not personal or social like it was later seen as. The norm system she talks about how it is one that evades the concept of homosexuality because no one knows for sure if they were or not. So the focus then shifts to an expert who studies the sexual cultures within Florence and Venice during this time frame. Michael Rocke takes a look at sexuality as a whole in his book Forbidden Friendships, Homosexuality and Male Culture in Renaissance Florence (1996). Rocke states

that other cultures and people in other historical periods have conceived and organized sexuality in quite different ways than ours. He mentions in his book how homosexuality was wide spread in Italy, but was looked down upon and many homosexuals were arrested. Rocke goes on to explain how homosexuality was part of normal day to day life and that sex and friendship had close relations to having a good life if done with right person. It was later discovered that if someone had sex with good person their life would most likely lead to success and bad would lead to misery. So in return Rocke found out in his research that many families encourages sons to have good relations with older men to build success (Ruggiero 104). This leads to the question of did Caravaggio do this in order to build his reputation up and have more success than he would have? This question may never be known though, but a valid case can be made for it.
In the same context even though homosexuality was so widespread it did face much opposition and in the eyes of the church it was a sin, and for government it was illegal. Since this was the case many still were homosexuals, but stayed quiet about it because of the outside world. This shows how society had functioned in those times. For example the author Ruggiero mentions, “ the illicit world of Florence shared the same spaces and in some ways reinforced and interacted with the city’s licit world and culture” (Ruggiero 13). This statement shows how the culture adjusted to certain individual’s sexuality, but made it more welcoming in the end because of the way people responded to it.
My last focus is on the cultural discourses and consensus realities. This has a huge role in Caravaggio. The link between homosexuality and heterosexuality social relations were so close together that in the mints of it all only one male sexual culture that had its own character. According to Gallucci “ Sexual relations between males not only were a typical product of this culture, but also contributed much to its construction. The pederastic structure of homosexual relations, the values the values ascribed to them, and the ways in which they were enacted played important roles in defining life stages, in articulating status distinctions among males, and in shaping an reinforcing masculine gender identity” (Gallucci 38).
This all goes back to Caravaggio in the end by since Caravaggio was associated with the upper class like Cardinal Del Monte who was from Florence, you can assume their was an influence upon him dealing with his sexuality.

The author Pio Pecchiai in Roma nel Cinqucento (1948) talks about “ vizio dei Greci” as being an embarrassment. From this book you find that a boy named Cecco del Caravaggio, lived with Caravaggio (Pecchiai 317). Although young boys, were presumed to be educated by older men on sexuality, and as we find out in the Pecchiai book that Caravaggio did have a young male prostitute he payed visits to. At this time all this is seemingly normal in Caravaggio’s

day.
The norm systems between cultures, places, social classes all vary and change over time as seen from the information above.

To assume that norms from one place to another are the same is very dangerous to do because everything and everyone is different on how they handle and see things. This is shown on how sexuality is seen in today’s world vs. Caravaggio’s time. It could be said that Caravaggio when arriving in Rome that he noticed the norms and how society functioned within the high class was involved around the pleasure of sexuality when associated with the norms. Rocke, Ruggiero, and Gallucci pointed out that sexual relations between men and boys in Florence adhered to strict, ridged codes of behavior around the twin axes of power and gender (Gallucci 38). This is noticed with Caravaggio when he was working for Cardinal Del Monte, in which exposed Caravaggio to appreciate and love boys and young men. This was due to his high social ranking in

society.
In conclusion Caravaggio was integrated into the mindset of the norm system that had ruled within Rome. Although mentalities can change slowly over time, I used the norm system that concerned sexuality as an alternative perspective of the assumption that Caravaggio was a homosexual. The paintings Bacco, Luteplayer, Muscians, St. John the Baptist helped portray his sexuality. With this perspective it allowed the focus to be on values, norms, conventions that all linked to sexuality, but allowed the patrons, artists, and commissioners to be seen in a different light. The norms, values, and conventions all differ from place to place and time period it is in, so we cannot expect that all norm systems are same based on our views today or back them. The word homosexuality did not exist back then, but with the help of Caravaggio we are able to see a past in a different way than we are use to.