Caravaggio Research Paper

Caravaggio’s work was “largely based on relative naturalism and [the] extensive use of dark shadows, [which] would be seen today as a rather rude characterisation of […] sixteenth-century Venetian painting[s]” (Kieth 1998: 37). “The lit and shadowed areas are very light and very dark and […] in an unnatural fashion neither done or even considered before by such artists as Raphael, Titian, […] or others” (Christiansen 2003). Caravaggio’s unusual techniques have made him a revolutionary painter of the seventeenth-century. “Caravaggio’s influence is credited with luring other artists to follow him in his use of darkened ground and the substitution of the commonplace for more nobly conceived figures in idealized settings” (Mann 1997: 161). Annibale

Carracci and Caravaggio were “producing works that were more natural and emotionally appealing than those of their immediate predecessors,” (Jones 1997: 35) such as Raphael and Titian. Caravaggism — or Caravaggesque painting — is a term widely used to describe a certain art form. In Studies in Iconography, Judith W. Mann states:
The term caravaggesque, […] encompasses a range of qualities, including the recreation of tactile surfaces, the use of focused light sources that penetrate darkened interiors to bring isolated figures and objects into raised relief, the practice of designing and then painting compositions directly onto the canvas without preparatory drawings, and the representation of humble people in the roles of saints and devout believers.
(Mann 1997: 161)
Caravaggio’s painting Judith Beheading Holofernes has been replicated by many artists during the his time and after his death. This painting is one of Caravaggio’s most striking works of art. Alfred Moir states:
[…] The light in Judith strikes the figures abruptly rather than exploring them gently; it throws much of the painted area into deep shadow, creating strong value contacts with the patches of brilliant hues; and it is correlated with violent action.
(Moir 1967: 3)
Holofernes’ vast movements are depicted as being frozen in time. He is brutally awakened, tries to turn over, struggles, and falls back down. The use of the striking light adds to the impact of this violent scene, and the sweeping fabrics along with the splattering blood create a sense of motion and chaos. What makes this painting so interesting is Caravaggio’s play on the psychological meanings, not only the materialistic meanings —much like those we saw in the painting Bacchus. Hands are seen as almost as expressive as facial expressions. “The old woman tensely clutching the drapery; Judith seizing her victim’s hair and resolutely slashing through his neck; Holofernes grasping at nothing with one hand, bracing himself with the other” (Moir 1967: 4). Caravaggio uses hands to reveal the figures’ states of mind during that moment.
Many interpreters have recreated this biblical scene. Among the most famous of Caravaggio’s followers are Orazio Gentileschi and his daughter Artemisia, who both replicated their own versions of this scene. The Tuscan painter, Orazio — from 1562-1639 — painted Judith and her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes, which explores a different aspect of the Old Testament. In Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome, Sebastian Schütze states:
This particular version […] seems to emphasize a moment of calm reflection. With a mix of relief that having accomplished the terrifying mission and fear of being discovered, the two women look back at the bloody scene, which the viewer has to imagine outside the picture to the right.
(Schütze 2011: 264)
Similar to Caravaggio, Orazio “plays on the contrast between sensual female beauty and the horrifying head of Holofernes with his blood still dripping on the white cloth” (Schütze 2011: 268). Compared to Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes, Orazio “leaves it to the beholder to imagine the actual decapitation and prefers a more subtle and lyrical tone” (Schütze 2001: 268).
Artemisia Gentileschi —born 1593 and died in 1653 — who was raised by Orazio, who himself favoured Caravaggio’s work, was in turn also influenced by Caravaggio’s style of painting. Unlike her father’s more idealized work, Artemisia’s artwork was highly naturalistic, much like Caravaggio. One of her first works Susanna and the Elders, shows how she captured the realism of Caravaggio. Artemisia’s version of Caravaggio’s Judith “follows her father’s example closely, but renders the subject in slightly more dramatic terms by using a more restrained pictorial space and b accentuating her protagonists’ anxious expression” (Schütze 2001: 268). Her representation of the scene is based directly on Caravaggio’s painting. “As in Caravaggio’s painting, Judith if os extraordinary sensual beauty and performs the decapitation with outstretched arms to maintain a distance from her frightful, screaming victim” (Schütze 2011: 268). Noticeably, Caravaggio’s old servant has been replaced by a young maid who is helping Judith with the decapitation. Both Caravaggio and Artemisia’s approach are theatrical, turbulent, and more realistic than other versions, such as Orazio’s.
The Caravaggisti was the term to define the stylistic followers of Caravaggio. Spanning from Spain to the Netherlands and all over the rest of Europe, some of his famous followers include the Gentileschi’s, Jusepe de Ribera, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Rembrandt van Rijn, Diego Velásquez, Baglione (who’s Caravaggio phase was short-lived) and Peter Paul Rubens.
The term Utrecht Caravaggism refers to Dutch Baroque artists that were influenced by Caravaggio’s art. Dutch artists such as Peter Paul Rubens, Lowys Finson (or Louis Finsonius), Terbrugghen, Honthorst, Rembrandt, and Baburen were all influenced by the realism is Caravaggio in Rome between 1610 and 1620. Dirk van Baburen was a principal member of the Utrecht School, who was also the first to introduce Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro technique to Holland after he worked for a short time in Rome. Gerri van Honthorst left Utrecht to go to Italy around 1612, and became “the most famous and prolific of the Dutch Caravaggists — having a reputation for candle-lit scenes” (Edwards 2013: para. 30). An example of Honthorst’s dark chiaroscuro candle-lit scenes is his painting The Matchmaker in 1625. Rembrandt, “whose great interest was the revealing and concealing characteristics of light, probably studied the luminist realism of Caravaggio” (Edwards 2013: para. 32). Rubens is also considered to have been influenced by Caravaggio. In The International Caravaggesque Movement, Benedict Nicolson states:
In spite of his great admiration for Caravaggio, Rubens is too individual of an artist to ever be described as Caravaggesque, even at the moment when he is resident in Rome while Caravaggio’s name is on everyone’s lips. He is responsible for one copy or (characteristically) adaptation of Caravaggio’s Entombment.
(Nicolson 1979: 85)
Rubens’ version of the Entombment is almost identical to Caravaggio’s original, which was painted 10 years earlier and in the exact same church. The National Gallery of Canada states:
Caravaggio’s monumental altarpiece, “The Entombment” was among his most celebrated works. Rubens knew it well, having painted another altarpiece in the same Roman church. He painted homage to it years later, after this return to Antwerp. Rubens subtly transformed his model, assimilating Caravaggio’s work to his own artistic vision. He tamed the figures’ grief and reconsidered their relationship, yet he preserved the heart of Caravaggio’s invention — the almost physical presence of Christ’s inert and vulnerable body. We sense its weight and feel the struggle to lower it gently into the tomb. Although a finished work, the artist executed it with a freedom closer to a sketch, and his fluid handling of paint is extraordinarily accomplished.
(The National Gallery of Canada 2015)
Rubens and Caravaggio did have a few similarities in terms of chiaroscuro and the different aspects of colour and light. However, Rubens did develop his own art style that can be differentiated from Caravaggio’s. “The Dutch Caravaggists eventually replaced Caravaggio’s dark manner with a style of lighter tonality” (Edwards 2013: para. 32).
In France, the main follower of Caravaggio was Georges de la Tour (1593-1652), who also studied at the Utrecht School in Holland, but “Compared to Rembrandt and Velasquez[,] La Tour was the closest to Caravaggio but even his style was different in spirit” (Edwards 2013: para. 33). Influenced by Honthorst and Caravaggio, La Tour had a preference or dramatically lit scenes using a single light source. A good example of this would be his painting Magdalen with the Smoking Flame from 1640.
In Spain, Caravaggio’s followers included Jose de Ribera (or Juespe de Ribera) (1590-1652) and Diego Velasquez (1599-1660). Ribera “painted in a style that would have been unthinkable without the influence of Caravaggio” (Edwards 2013: para. 34). His art was full of dramatic incidents that reflected in his violent subject matter. His style was notable for having intense chiaroscuro, an incredible naturalism, and well-defined/linear contours, which would also be found in a typical Caravaggio painting. An example of this would be his paintings Girl with a Tambourine or The Drinker both from 1637. Velasquez derived his knowledge of Caravaggio second-hand. Many believe that Velasquez was great, if not greater than Caravaggio himself. “The Caravaggist School in Spain thus led eventually to the art of Velasquez” (Edwards 2013: para. 37). He was, however, influenced by the naturalism of Caravaggio. He portaged many of his subject with dramatic facial expressions, and positioned them against in a sharp light against a plain background. Similar to Caravaggio, Velasquez too went against Manneristic painting of the Renaissance. He, alongside Caravaggio, never idealized his subjects, instead, he represents them in a way that is faithful to everyday life. He captures the imperfections in the world, an example of this would be the water droplets on the pot in his painting The Waterseller of Seville from approximately 1620.
In conclusion, the main influence Caravaggio has contributed to the art world in Europe would be his use of chiaroscuro to create a dramatic effect.

However, the techniques that does make his a revolutionary artist would be his ability to strip religious or mythological beings of their powerful affiliations and represent them as ordinary people in the modern world. Decades after his death, Caravaggio has remained a prominent artist with his drastic idea to change the way art is made and what art represents. From the idealized bodies and manneristic paintings of the Renaissance to the toned down, natural, and realistic creations of the Baroque era, Caravaggio is seen as being one of the contributing artists —among others such as Annibale Carracci— to introduce a new art form to the world. For only living a short life, Caravaggio has earned the title as being one of the most controversial artist of the seventeenth century with his rebellious views on traditional Renaissance art. His influence spread all across Europe, having different artists being influenced by different aspects. The Gentileschi’s were mainly influenced by his ability to involve psychological aspects to the painting, and Rembrandt was mainly influenced to intensify the contrast between light and dark. Caravaggio was a part of a movement that stopped centuries of art that focused on the past —classicism— and instead, started focusing art on the

present.