Artists who ruined their career with bad decisions (I): Caravaggio
They say boys will be boys. But do they really get away with everything?
I have heard classical art is boring. It is often violent, juicy and full of power struggles. I hope this article helps you discover joy in appreciating classical art. After reading this article, you may not see Caravaggio’s paintings in the same way ever again.
Part 1: Caravaggio
They say boys will be boys. But do they really get away with everything?
The entire Western history of art is the history of bromance, as one may say. Qualifying this statement with “Western” not because that non-Western art history would be non-broy, but because that is not the subject of this article. Lots of bad behaviors, but who didn’t escape unscathed?
Today we’re talking about Caravaggio and the bad stuff he did.
Who is Caravaggio? Or Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. You know he has a place in art history when you refer to him solely by one word. Like Monet, not Claude Monet. Like Picasso, not Pablo Picasso.
Part 2: The Good Stuff
Let’s start with the good stuff.
One may say Caravaggio is a fucking master. He is a genius of chiaroscuro (kee-ahr-uh-SKYOOR-oh). This is Italian and hence may sound fancy, but it simply describes the dramatic use of light and shadow. This was not a new technique as so many people before Caravaggio used it to create a sense of volume and three-dimensionality. However, Caravaggio uses it in a way specific to his storytelling. The contrasts of light and dark are extreme and emphasize details of a gesture, a facial expression or an emotion. It can be an outflung arm (see The Entombment of Christ) or a dark look of despair (see David with the Head of Goliath). This may seem ordinary today, but back in the 17th century, it was shocking because it was nothing people had ever experienced before. It was the Game of Thrones in its time - dramatic realism, psychologically complex characters and controversy.
(The Entombment of Christ)
(David with the Head of Goliath. FYI, this painting is also a self-portrait — Goliath’s severed head is Caravaggio.)
And rumor has it that Caravaggio glazed his paintings 100 times. What is glazing you might ask?
Glazing is a technical term that will probably not mean anything meaningful unless you paint, but if you’re going on a date with a guy or gal who’s into classical art, this term is the term to know. In short, glazing refers to applying transparent layers of paint over dried layers of opaque paint. By this point, you’ve already realized this is a sentence you will not remember after you finish reading this article. So forget about this. All you need to remember to say is that glazing is a technique used by classical painters to create depth and luminosity in their paintings. If you want to add more details, you can say it is because glazing allows light to pass through the transparent glazes and reflect off the opaque layer beneath, to optically mix colors to create depth and luminosity. You are ready for a classy, artsy date or soiree.
Back to Caravaggio, a fucking master. He didn’t just do this himself because he understood that life was all about building systems and pulling levers and people were levers in the art production business back then. He employed assistants in his studio to process the high volume of commissions and projects (while he was out there being rowdy, injuring people with a sword and fleeing from justice, more to that later).
Take a look at a Caravaggio (yes, we’re also using his last name to refer to paintings made by him and his team) when you have a chance to see it. Stand in front of it and spend 10 minutes with it. Don’t be like those people who snap a picture of a Monet and then move on to a Van Gogh within 3 seconds - you will never be able to appreciate a painting unless you spend time with it truly.
This is not because art is anything special (or a Caravaggio is highbrow), but you cannot be good at forming a judgment of a thing that you spend 3 seconds with. You will not be a good parent if you don’t spend time with your kids, not because you don’t love them, but because you haven’t done any diligence to be good at knowing them. You won’t understand their personalities, desires and all the little things that make them unique and who they are. And you would start forcing things on them out of your insecurities, your unfulfilled desires and unverified life theories (such as that they should become a doctor, a lawyer or an investment banker). You will not be a good salesperson if you don’t spend time with your customers, and you will not have any understanding of yourself if you don’t spend time with yourself.
Anyways, you get the point. Spend time with the paintings when you see them. Once you pay attention to them, the paintings will love you back. Just like any relationship in life. Be patient and caring.
Part 3: The Bad Stuff
What did he do that was so bad? (I know it took so many paragraphs on what he was great at to get to the bad stuff).
Caravaggio’s life was marked by violence. You might be thinking that artsy types are pacifist hipsters, but not Caravaggio. He had a hot temper and frequently got into fights with fellow artists, patrons and even law enforcement officials. He was arrested multiple times for assaults, carrying weapons without a permit and public disturbances. In one notable incident in 1606 or so, he wounded a fellow artist in a duel over a tennis match (or a woman). That dude later died of his injuries, and Caravaggio was forced to flee Rome to avoid prosecution. His violent and turbulent life translates into his paintings, and that’s how you obtain the dramatic intensity (and darkness) of his subjects.
It was all real. He felt that in himself, it was part of him, and he was able to paint it.
If you’re thinking: how could he paint and run a successful studio to produce, market and sell art if he was fleeing from authority who wanted to arrest him and enemies who wanted to kill him almost all the time? You are right. He could not. This whole lifestyle choice was really affecting his ability to work and secure commissions consistently. He had financial struggles throughout his life and died poor despite his immense talents. He died under mysterious circumstances in 1610 reportedly while he was en route to Rome to seek a pardon for his past crimes and a return to Rome.
Now you can enjoy his paintings with this knowledge and context. You would be gaining insight into the turbulent soul of an artist who lived more than 400 years before you. It’s unlike anything you would see. With human drama, with characters expressing a wide range of emotions from joy and ecstasy to pure bleakness and despair. His ability to convey the inner turbulence and psychological depth of his subjects was remarkable.
If you don’t feel that yet, it is okay. Spend time with his paintings when you have the privilege to be with them. (I know this may not sound like a real thing, but I promise it is real). Appreciating a painting is just like having sex - the first few times you have no fucking idea what you should be doing, and you might not even enjoy it at all, but the more you practice, the better it gets. And it’s about finding the right person or painting. So spend time with a Caravaggio and see how you feel :)
Do you think Caravaggio got away with it?