Violence shaped Caravaggio’s life and his work. He was:
• exiled
• wounded
• hunted
Caravaggio died at 38.
And he still changed art forever.🧵👇
• exiled
• wounded
• hunted
Caravaggio died at 38.
And he still changed art forever.🧵👇
He lost almost his entire family to the plague by age 6. Was orphaned by 10.
And never recovered from it.
Death wasn’t a theme in his paintings
— It was the world he came from.
And never recovered from it.
Death wasn’t a theme in his paintings
— It was the world he came from.
At 20, in Rome, he caught malaria.
Sick, broke, and unknown,
he painted himself as Bacchus.
Pale. Gray lips. Half-dead.
That’s how he introduced himself to the world.
Sick, broke, and unknown,
he painted himself as Bacchus.
Pale. Gray lips. Half-dead.
That’s how he introduced himself to the world.
He never used sketches.
Painted straight onto the canvas.
Worked at night. Obsessed.
He needed light so badly,
He once cut a hole in the ceiling of a rental…
— Got evicted.
Painted straight onto the canvas.
Worked at night. Obsessed.
He needed light so badly,
He once cut a hole in the ceiling of a rental…
— Got evicted.
His models weren’t idealized angels.
They were real people…
— Prostitutes. Beggars. Drunks.
He gave them the face of saints.
The Church was not amused.
They were real people…
— Prostitutes. Beggars. Drunks.
He gave them the face of saints.
The Church was not amused.
He was tried 11 times.
• Once for smashing a plate of artichokes in a waiter’s face.
•Another for attacking a guard.
The worst came in 1606:
— He killed a man during a fight and fled Rome with a death sentence.
• Once for smashing a plate of artichokes in a waiter’s face.
•Another for attacking a guard.
The worst came in 1606:
— He killed a man during a fight and fled Rome with a death sentence.
From that moment on, he painted as a fugitive.
• In Naples, he created The Seven Works of Mercy.
• In Malta, The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist.
• In Sicily, The Burial of Saint Lucy.
Each painting was darker than the last.
• In Naples, he created The Seven Works of Mercy.
• In Malta, The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist.
• In Sicily, The Burial of Saint Lucy.
Each painting was darker than the last.
He joined the Knights of Malta, not for religion, but for protection.
Then stabbed a knight.
Got jailed. Escaped.
And was disfigured in a revenge attack.
That face appears in his next painting,
—decapitated.
Then stabbed a knight.
Got jailed. Escaped.
And was disfigured in a revenge attack.
That face appears in his next painting,
—decapitated.
In David with the Head of Goliath,
David holds a severed head.
It’s Caravaggio’s.
The executioner and the condemned,
— painted by the same hand.
David holds a severed head.
It’s Caravaggio’s.
The executioner and the condemned,
— painted by the same hand.
He sent that painting to the Pope.
Begging for a pardon.
He was tired, wounded, and desperate to come home.
— It never arrived.
Begging for a pardon.
He was tired, wounded, and desperate to come home.
— It never arrived.
In 1610, Caravaggio set out for Rome.
He never made it.
He died alone on a beach in Porto Ercole.
His body vanished.
No funeral. No grave.
He never made it.
He died alone on a beach in Porto Ercole.
His body vanished.
No funeral. No grave.
In 2010, researchers examined bones found near Porto Ercole.
High lead levels. Just like in his paints.
Caravaggio may have been poisoned by his own art.
— Slowly. For years.
High lead levels. Just like in his paints.
Caravaggio may have been poisoned by his own art.
— Slowly. For years.
Today, only around 60 paintings are known.
No students. No workshop. No school.
Just one man. One short, violent life.
— And the works that changed painting forever.
No students. No workshop. No school.
Just one man. One short, violent life.
— And the works that changed painting forever.
Follow @JScotteswood for more art, scripture, and untold history.
— If you liked it, share the initial post, it helps me a lot.
Main references
• Vatican.va
• USCCB Bible
• Catholic-resources.org
• Academia.edu
• The Jerusalem Bible
• Museum of the Bible
• Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
• The New Oxford Annotated Bible
— If you liked it, share the initial post, it helps me a lot.
Main references
• Vatican.va
• USCCB Bible
• Catholic-resources.org
• Academia.edu
• The Jerusalem Bible
• Museum of the Bible
• Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana
• The New Oxford Annotated Bible
Bonus paintings:
• • •
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