The Work of a Rebel
Caravaggio and his Legacy
[
Alison Geist]
Although it is doubted that the artist Caravaggio spent any time living in Florence, his influence and artwork definitely made an impression on the Florentines. In the exhibition Caravaggio and Caravaggesque in Florence, over one hundred paintings of Caravaggio and his imitators are displayed. As the second largest collection of Caravaggio and Caravaggesque paintings in the world - only outranked by Rome - pieces of work like the Bacchus and the Medusa and the Sacrifice of Issac can be viewed in this exhibition, housed in the Palatine Gallery in the Pitti Palace as well as the Uffizi Gallery. Through his connection with the ambassador of Florence, Cardinal del Monte, his work was referred on to the Grand Duke Ferdinand I de’Medici. Because of Caravaggio’s visits to the Palazzo Firenze in Rome, his works began to be brought to Florence, where they were appreciated and respected. Throughout the years, the Medici family, in particular Cosimo II, collected a number of his and his imitators paintings. Hosted in honor of the fourth centennial of Caravaggio’s death in 1610, this display incorporates Caravaggio paintings as well as artists like Artemisia Gentileschi, Battistello Caracciolo, and Bartolomeo Manfredi, all of whom were a part of what is deemed the Caravaggio season in Florence. These imitators of his work utilized his techniques of light and dark shadowing and other oppositions in their paintings. There will also be a notable piece by Gerrit Honthorst, a piece of work he was unable to complete (the decoration of the Guicciardini Chapel in the church of Santa Felicita) displayed in a way that allows visitors to view a virtual reconstruction of the artwork for the first time. Caravaggio did not only make an impact on the ambassador, but he clearly also left an impression on the artists of Florence. For those new to his paintings, his incorporations of contrasts is apparent throughout each piece of artwork, opposing light and dark shadowing. Even the religious pieces he was commissioned to create include people within the paintings who were of the lower part of society instead of only the high and holy. He creates his paintings and artwork with a radical naturalism, a combination of physical observation, and bit of a dramatical approach with the use of light and dark shadowing, known as chiaroscuro. Come observe the great works of this artist and his imitators from May 22nd in the Palatine Gallery within the Pitti Palace as well as the Uffizi Gallery.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Born September 28, 1571 just outside Milan as Michelangelo Merisi, Caravaggio (supposedly naming himself after the town he came from) created his own style of art, as a result of studying under a variety of painters. After leaving Milan, where he studied with Simone Peterzano and through him learned Lombardy realism and Veneto Renaissance, he made his way to Rome where he studied under three different painters. Through these painters he acquired a technique of not just painting still lifes, but incorporating everyday people into these still lifes of fruit.
Though his artwork was and is greatly appreciated and respected by many, his nature was that of a rebellious one, leading him into trouble wherever he went. After a spat while in Rome, Caravaggio killed a man who worked for the Pope, thus forcing him to flee the city in fear of his life. Upon moving from Rome, he ventured to Malta, Syracuse, and Naples, causing disruption wherever he went. He died at age 39 in 1610 of malaria, while awaiting his pardon and permission to return to Rome.
Caravaggio & the caravaggesques in Florence
Palatine Gallery
Pitti Palace
& Uffizi Gallery Piazzale degli Uffizi
055.2388651
From May 22nd
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The Work of a Rebel