Introduction
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, an Italian Baroque style master of the Renaissance period was famous for his prolific paintings that decorated the churches and monasteries of Europe. This paper discusses four of his religious paintings.
Burial of St. Lucy, 1608, Oil on Canvas
This painting was done by Caravaggio in Syracuse and depicts the body of St. Lucy as she is readied for burial. Actual history suggests that St. Lucy who was martyred in 304 AD by pagan rulers who had severed her head but the artist has chosen to show her with her head intact and a small cut in the side of the neck. The painting shows a number of strongly muscled gravediggers who are poised in the act of digging the grave. One of the diggers is lightly bearded and critics have compared him with Christ and the symbolism that the artist is making as he gazes at something in the distance, over his shoulder indicates that it is perhaps Christ himself who has come to bury his martyred disciple. As was the custom, burials were done in deep and dark catacombs and the grave diggers seem to appear from the murky shadows and the strong lines of force in their act of digging seem to point towards the ground where the grave is being du. Their shoulders however seem to be hunched up towards the heavens. A group of mourners are standing beside the body and they are dwarfed by the height of the catacomb walls. Among the mourners is a bishop is a red cloak and the color seems to symbolize spilled blood. An officer, presumably of the pagan authorities is directing the activities and he is obscured among the mourners and this seems to indicate that authority goes away when death is in front. Caravaggio has tried to capture the helplessness of the saint as she lay on the ground, with her head turned skywards and right palm turned upwards, as if seeking redemption from the horrors that she was subjected to by the pagans (Alexander, 2000).
Saint Matthew and the Angel, 1602 AD, Oil on Canvas
This painting by the master is one of his most controversial concepts and portrayal of an angel. The work was commissioned by the authorities to replace an sculpted altarpiece that James Cobaert has taken up and could not complete. This painting represents an acute three-dimensional work and it seems Caravaggio wanted to give his work the appearance of a sculpture. An important note is that the priests who had commissioned this work considered it blasphemous and rejected it. The painting is supposed to represent St. Mathew as he speaks with an angel. Caravaggio represented the holy saint as a balding middle-aged man with dirty and knobby bare feet that jutted out obscenely and pointed out to the viewer. The priests were of the opinion that this was not the way in which a saint was to be depicted. The author has suggested that Caravaggio has deliberately chosen to depict the saint as a common man since the saint actually came from a humble background. The clothes that the saint is seen wearing also represent the simple garb of the peasant. The author has argued that the painter chose this representation to highlight the closeness of god with the common man, that god exists in all forms even including a baldheaded middle-aged man. This thought is also borne out by the strongly bunched forearms of the saint as he struggles to read a book with the angle directing his hand and this again points out that the saint was a working class peasant who was probably illiterate. In the painting, the left foot seems to jut out and when placed as an altarpiece, the left foot would be above a spot where the priest would have raised the Host while conducting mass. The painting has departed from his earlier depiction of angels and Christ where they were shown as sophisticated and esoteric beings. This painting was destroyed in the Second World War and only a photograph remains (Alexander, 2000).
John the Baptist (Youth with a Ram) 1602 AD, Oil on Canvas
This painting also called as Youth with a Ram represents Caravaggio’s esperiments with light and shadows. The painting exists in two almost identical versions and many theories have been proposed about its origins. The painting depicts an adolescent John, posing in the nude. A sacrificial Ram with its horns thrust out is nuzzling young John and shrubs of grapevines are shown in the background. The everlasting appeal lies in the soft play of light and shadows that the artist has used and the soft nature of the ochre cloak, the nude flesh of the model and the grape vines that presumably hold the red wine are depicted very prominently. The ochre red coverings contrast sharply with the stark white of the coverlets on which the figure is reclining and this suggests the innate relation between life and purity. The red symbolizes the blood of life and the white represents the pristine purity of the youth who has not yet been perhaps corrupted by life. The manhood of the boy is hidden in the shadows of the crossed thighs of the model as he caresses the horns of the Ram. The horns of the Ram are shown as knurled and coiled in an arc as young John attempts to caress them and they seem to draw the model in a whorl of energy. Christ was supposed to have sent a sacrificial lamb that was to take away the sins of mankind but this full-grown lamb is an antithesis. A Ram is usually associated with lust and adultery but such feelings are not conveyed through the painting and we have to presume that the innocence and youthfulness of the boy is supposed to temper even the lust of the beast. The boy is shown turned towards the viewer with an impish grin, as if he is enjoying the adulation that is being directed towards him (Alexander, 2000).
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, 1608 AD, Oil on Canvas
This is one of the most famous paintings created by Caravaggio and it depicts the execution and beheading of St. John the Baptist in a prison by the Pagan authorities. There is an intense play of light and shadows in the dark prison with the high walls and the somber atmosphere. Two shadowy figures are placed at the far right back window and they are witnessing the execution of the saint and they seem to be a part of the scene and looking inwards. There are four other characters in the scene: the executioner, the jailor who is directing the activity, the old lady who has covered her ears in horror and the maid who is bending down with a metal bowl, presumably to collect the blood of St. John who is lying on the floor with his hands tied behind his back, face resting on earth and turned towards the viewer, already dead. The executioner is forcing St. Johns head to the floor, perhaps to hold him still as the lifeblood oozes away. The executioner knife is shown to be an ordinary knife and is held behind the executioners back as if he is ashamed of his deed. The jailer is shown trim and proper with his set of keys jutting forward and his index finger pointing towards the prostrate saint at his feet. The maid is shown in rapt attention as she holds the bowl delicately between her thumb and forefinger. The old lady is the only one who is showing horror and remorse at the vile act that has been done as she holds her hands to her ears, perhaps to block the death cries of the saint. The painter has made magnificent use of shadows and light and the background is stark and bare except for the bars of the cell in which the saint was held. Everything else is muted and the lines of force are strongly centered on the figures huddled around the fallen saint. The drama and the tragedy is very starkly and movingly portrayed the painter has taken care to suppress all other external demonstration of remorse and grief and it can be said that is one of the best works by the artist (Alexander, 2000).
References
- Alexander Nagel (2000), ‘Michelangelo and the Reform of Art’, Cambridge University Press
- Fernie, Eric, ‘Art History and its Methods: A critical Anthology’
- Honour Hugh, John Fleming, ‘The Visual Arts: A History, 7th Edition.’