Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of his life, he moved between Naples, Malta, and Sicily. His paintings have been characterized by art critics as combining a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, which had a formative influence on Baroque painting.
Paintings by Caravaggio
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (Caravaggio) (1608)
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist is an oil painting by the Italian artist Caravaggio. Measuring 3.7 m by 5.2 m, it depicts the execution of John the Baptist. It is located in the Oratory of St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta.
According to Andrea Pomella in Caravaggio: An Artist through Images (2005), the work is widely considered to be Caravaggio's masterpiece as well as "one of the most important works in Western painting." Jonathan Jones has described The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist as one of the ten greatest works of art of all time: "Death and human cruelty are laid bare by this masterpiece, as its scale and shadow daunt and possess the mind."
Supper at Emmaus (Caravaggio, London) (1601)
The Supper at Emmaus is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio, completed in 1601, and now in London. It depicts the Gospel story of the resurrected Jesus's appearance in Emmaus.
Originally, this painting was commissioned and paid for by Ciriaco Mattei, brother of Cardinal Girolamo Mattei.
Judith Beheading Holofernes (Caravaggio) (1599)
Judith Beheading Holofernes is a painting of the biblical episode by the Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio, painted in c. 1598 – 1599 or 1602, in which the widow Judith stayed with the Assyrian general Holofernes in his tent after a banquet then decapitated him after he passed out drunk. The painting was rediscovered in 1950 and is part of the collection of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Rome. The exhibition 'Dentro Caravaggio', Royal Palace of Milan (Sept 2017 – Jan 2018), suggests a date of 1602 on account of the use of light underlying sketches not seen in Caravaggio's early work but characteristic of his later works. The exhibition catalogue (Skira, 2018, p88) also cites biographer artist Giovanni Pietro Baglione's account that the work was commissioned by Genoese banker Ottavio Costa.
A second painting on the same subject (see below) and dated to 1607, attributed by several experts to Caravaggio but still disputed by others, was rediscovered by chance in 2014 and went on sale in June 2019 as Judith and Holofernes.
The Calling of Saint Matthew (1609)
The Calling of Saint Matthew is an oil painting by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio that depicts the moment Jesus Christ calls on the tax collector Matthew to follow him. It was completed in 1599–1600 for the Contarelli Chapel in the church of the French congregation, San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, where it remains. It hangs alongside two other paintings of Matthew by Caravaggio: The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew (painted around the same time as the Calling) and The Inspiration of Saint Matthew (1602).
More than a decade earlier, Cardinal Matthieu Cointerel had left funds and specific instructions in his will for the decoration of a chapel based on themes related to his namesake, Saint Matthew. The dome of the chapel was decorated with frescoes by the late Mannerist artist Giuseppe Cesari, Caravaggio's former employer and one of the most popular painters in Rome at the time. But as Cesari became busy with royal and papal patronage, Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, Caravaggio's patron and also the prefect of the Fabbrica of St Peter's (the Vatican office for Church property), intervened to obtain for Caravaggio his first major church commission and his first painting with more than a handful of figures.
Medusa (Caravaggio) (1597)
Two versions of Medusa were created by the Italian Baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, one in 1596 and the other in ca. 1597. Both depict the moment from Greek mythology in which the Gorgon Medusa is killed by the demigod Perseus, but the Medusas are also self-portraits. Due to its bizarre and intricate design, the painting is said to display Caravaggio's unique fascination with violence and realism. The Medusa was commissioned by the Italian diplomat Francesco Maria del Monte, who planned to gift the commemorative shield to Ferdinando I de' Medici and have it placed in the Medici collection. It is now located in the Uffizi Museum in Florence without signature.
In the 1590s, Caravaggio was working in Rome, and his success and wealth were increasing. However, the time in which he painted the two versions of the Medusa was characterized by several run-ins with the law. In July 1597, Caravaggio and his partner Prospero Orsi became involved as witnesses in a crime that occurred near San Luigi de' Francesi. In one instance, a barber named Luca gave a testimony about Caravaggio where he provided a description regarding his mysterious attire: "This painter is a stocky young man…with a thin black beard, thick eyebrows and black eyes, who goes dressed all in black, in a rather disorderly fashion, wearing black hose that is a little bit threadbare, and who has a thick head of hair, long over his forehead." At the time, there was an unsolved case in which two items were reported as being missing—a dark cloak and a small dagger. As a result of his mysterious behavior and affiliation with cloaks, Caravaggio was arrested several times. He told authorities that he liked dressing in dark attire to avoid drawing unnecessary attention to himself, which was also why he preferred to make late night trips. On May 4, 1598, he was arrested again for possessing a sword in public, and defended himself by saying: “I carry the sword by right because I am Painter to Cardinal del Monte. I am in his service and live in his house. I am entered on his household payroll.”
Amor Vincit Omnia (Caravaggio) (1601)
Amor Vincit Omnia in Latin, known in English by a variety of names including Amor Victorious, Victorious Cupid, Love Triumphant, Love Victorious or Earthly Love, is a painting by the Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio, from 1601-1602.
Amor Vincit Omnia shows Amor, the Roman Cupid, wearing dark eagle wings, half-sitting on or climbing down from what appears to be a table. Scattered around are the emblems of all human endeavors—violin and lute, armor, coronet, square and compasses, pen and manuscript, bay leaves, and flower, tangled and trampled under Cupid's foot. The painting illustrates the line from Virgil's Eclogues, Omnia Vincit Amor et nos cedamus amori. A musical manuscript on the floor shows a large "V". It has therefore been suggested also that the picture is a reference to the achievements of Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani. Giustiniani is said to have prized it above all other works in his collection.
Young Sick Bacchus (1595)
The Young Sick Bacchus (Italian: Bacchino Malato), also known as the Sick Bacchus or the Self-Portrait as Bacchus, is an early self-portrait by the Italian Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, dated between 1593 and 1594. It now hangs in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. According to Caravaggio's first biographer, Giovanni Baglione, it was a cabinet piece painted by the artist using a mirror.
The painting dates from Caravaggio's first years in Rome following his arrival from his native Milan in mid-1592. Sources for this period are inconclusive and probably inaccurate, but they agree that at one point the artist fell extremely ill and spent six months in the hospital of Santa Maria della Consolazione. According to a 2009 article in the American medical publication Clinical Infectious Diseases, the painting indicates that Caravaggio's physical ailment likely involved malaria, as the jaundiced appearance of the skin and the icterus in the eyes are indications of some active hepatic disease causing high levels of bilirubin.
Death of the Virgin (Caravaggio) (1604)
Death of the Virgin is an oil on canvas painting by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio, from c. 1604-1606. It is a depiction of the death of the Virgin Mary. It is part of the collection of the Musée du Louvre, in Paris.
When he painted The Death of the Virgin (c. 1601–06), Caravaggio had been working in Rome for fifteen years. The painting was commissioned by Laerzio Cherubini, a papal lawyer, for his chapel in the Carmelite church of Santa Maria della Scala in Trastevere, Rome; the painting could not have been finished before 1605–06. The depiction of the Death of the Virgin caused a contemporary stir, and was rejected as unfit by the parish.
The Fortune Teller (Caravaggio) (1594)
The Fortune Teller is a painting by Italian Baroque artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. It exists in two versions, both by Caravaggio, the first from c. 1594 (now in the Musei Capitolini in Rome), the second from c. 1595 (which is in the Louvre museum, Paris). The dates in both cases are disputed.
The painting shows a foppishly-dressed boy (in the second version the model is believed to be Caravaggio's companion, the Sicilian painter Mario Minniti), having his palm read by a Romani girl. The boy looks pleased as he gazes into her face, and she returns his gaze. Close inspection of the painting reveals what the young man has failed to notice: the girl is removing his ring as she gently strokes his hand.
David with the Head of Goliath (Caravaggio, Rome) (1605)
David with the Head of Goliath is a painting by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio. It is housed in the Galleria Borghese, Rome. The painting, which was in the collection of Cardinal Scipione Borghese in 1650, has been dated as early as 1605 and as late as 1609–1610, with more recent scholars tending towards the former.
Caravaggio also treated this subject in an oil on poplar wood panel dated to c. 1607, now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, and in an earlier oil on canvas dated to c. 1600 in the Museo del Prado, Madrid.
Bacchus (Caravaggio) (1598)
Bacchus (c. 1596) is an oil painting by Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) commissioned by Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte. The painting shows a youthful Bacchus reclining in classical fashion with grapes and vine leaves in his hair, fingering the drawstring of his loosely draped robe. On a stone table in front of him is a bowl of fruit and a large carafe of red wine. He holds out a shallow goblet of the same wine, inviting the viewer to join him. The painting is currently held in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
Bacchus, also known as Dionysus was the Greek god of wine, inebriation, fertility and theater. He is known to be joyous and kind to those who admire him, yet cruel and mischievous to those who cross him. Scenes from Greek mythology were often found in the private spaces of aristocrats. Classical images were used to depict the patron’s interests or triumphs. The patron may have valued the finer things in life and saw Bacchus as the perfect allegory for wealth and excess.
The Cardsharps (1590)
The Cardsharps (Italian: I bari) is a c. 1596–1597 painting by the Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio. The original is generally agreed to be the work acquired by the Kimbell Art Museum in 1987, although Caravaggio may have painted more than one version.
The work represents an important milestone for Caravaggio. He painted it when he was attempting an independent career after leaving the workshop of the Cavaliere Giuseppe Cesari d'Arpino, for whom he had been painting "flowers and fruit", finishing the details for the Cavaliere's mass-produced (and massive) output. Caravaggio left Arpino's workshop in January 1594 and began selling works through the dealer Costantino, with the assistance of Prospero Orsi, an established painter of Mannerist grotesques. Orsi introduced Caravaggio to his extensive network of contacts in the world of collectors and patrons.