Caravaggio (1571-1610) is the stage name of the painter Michelangelo Merisi. It comes from the birthplace of his father Fermo Merisi.
Life
Caravaggio had an intricate and challenging life because many colleagues envied his talent. Besides, he had a turbulent and scrappy attitude.
His art took inspiration from the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci. He aimed to portray reality as it was. He did not want to realize the classical ideals of proportion and harmony. Instead, he prefered reproducing the cold hard reality. We can observe this in genre scenes, such as Basket of Fruit: a still-life where he shows rotten fruit and damaged leaves.
Sick Bacchus
Caravaggio painted this work of art in 1595 when he was young. It now hangs in Galleria Borghese in Rome.
The painter realized it when he lived in Rome, while he was taking part in the workshop of the artisan Cavalier d'Arpino. Sources for this period are inconclusive and probably inaccurate. Despite these doubts, all art critics agree that, at one point, the artist fell extremely ill. That is the reason why he spent six months in the hospital of Santa Maria della Consolazione. This autobiographical event is crucial to understand this work of art.
Sick Bacchus portrays Bacco, the Roman god of wine, in singular circumstances. We can notice he is ill from his greenish skin and his facial expression. These depict a melancholy smile, showing physical pain. The conditions of Bacco refer to Caravaggio’s life. Some scientists recognize in the painting that Caravaggio could have been involved in malaria. According to others, those are signs of anaemia. Still, others suggest that the artist dangerously wounded his leg.
In the picture, Caravaggio maintained some Christian elements. In this way, Bacco can represent a young Christ: grapes state His blood and the dark drape His passion.
For these reasons, we can assume Caravaggio combined Christianity and mythology. He developed the painting on different levels of interpretation. For instance, the individual wears a crown made of ivy. It is both a symbol of Bacco and the eternal life of Christ.
The work of art utterly embodies the Caravaggesque realism. He demonstrates his virtuosity in painting genres such as still-life and portraits. Moreover, he hints at the ability to paint the classical figures of antiquity. He represented the real sense of suffering, a feature that most Baroque art shares.
We can make a comparison between this still-life and his later works. An example is Boy With a Basket of Fruit. Caravaggio depicted fruits as in a better condition there. They reflect the artist's improved condition, both physically and mentally.
The role of light
Every person in the world would be able to recognize Caravaggio's works of art. We can find the explanation of this phenomenon in the use of light.
As a modern photographer or filmmaker, the artist was used to prepare a sort of stage. There, he placed the "actors" of the scene. They were part of the poor population of that time: prostitutes, peasants and miserable people. He could take inspiration from them to portray figures of Saints, Christ and the Vergin.
The room was in complete darkness. The painter could find a way to enlighten the chamber by adding candles and candelabras. Creating a balance between light and obscurity in real life, such as in pictures, was very difficult. Despite adversities, Caravaggio could deal with all the problems concerning the establishment of the right atmosphere and shadows. That is just one of the incredible talents and skills he put into practice while painting, such as patience, resilience and hardworking.
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