We are discussing Caravaggio and his influence on painting in the early 17 century in the class I am leading at the V.A. He arrive in Rome from Milan in 1592 at the age of 21 and remained there until his flight from the law in 1606 (he killed someone in a fight). He painted in Naples, then fled to Malta then Sicily where he painted and then died on a beach South of Rome in 1610, age 38, perhaps of Malaria and Lead Poisoning (from the paints). This troubled man had a big influence on the Baroque Style of painting combining "radical naturalism, drama, and use of chiaroscuro" which is the shift from light to dark often with a sole source of light leaving only shadows in the background and a moody "cinematic" like style. He paint religious scenes for church alters using common street folk with all their imperfections. Some of paintings were rejected such as the dieing Madona as he used a know prostitute as his model...with bloated stomach and dirty feet no less.
The recent L.A.C.M.A Caravaggio exhibit made an impression on me and I have enjoyed exploring and talking about his work and influence. On Wednesday, I stopped into the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena to make sure I had capture a picture of all the Caravaggisti paintings....influence by him. Below are some that I have found there as well as a few I could photograph at the LACMA exhibit. I have not found any Caravaggio originals in L.A. except those that visited during the recent show.
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| "A Geographer" 17th Century by a Caravaggisti, follower of Caravaggio |
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| "The Sense of Touch" 1615 by Geuseppe de Ribera (Spanish, 1691-1652) |
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| "Christ Crowned with Thornes" 1633-1639, by Matthias Stome (Dutch 1600-after 1651) |
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| "St. Francis in Prayer" 1638 by Francisco de Zurbarian (Spanish, 1598-1664) |
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| "The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame" 1636 by Georges de La Tour (France 1593-1652) a LACMA |
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| "The Smoker" 1623 by Dirck van Baburen (Dutch 1595-1624) |
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| Known as the sick Baccus a self portrait by Caravaggio |
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