Caravaggio's Drama: Art, Theater, and Religion During Italy's
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CARAVAGGIO’S DRAMA: ART, THEATER, AND RELIGION DURING ITALY’S “SPANISH AGE” by Kathy Johnston-Keane B.S. Art Education, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 1984 M.A. Art History, University of Pittsburgh, 2003 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2010 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Kathy Johnston-Keane It was defended on March 19, 2010 and approved by David G. Wilkins, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of the History of Art and Architecture Kathleen Christian, Assistant Professor, Dept. of the History of Art and Architecture H. Anne Weis, Associate Professor, Dept. of the History of Art and Architecture Francesca Savioa, Associate Professor, Dept. of French and Italian Languages and Literature Attilio Favorini, Professor, Dept. Theatre Arts Dissertation Advisor: Ann Sutherland Harris, Professor, Dept. of the History of Art and Architecture ii Copyright © by Kathy Johnston-Keane 2010 iii CARAVAGGIO’S DRAMA: ART, THEATER AND RELIGION DURING ITALY’S “SPANISH AGE” Kathy Johnston-Keane, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2010 Scholars often describe Caravaggio’s paintings as inspired by scenes from quotidian life. A few see his work as influenced by popular dramas such as the commedia dell’arte. While one might think these are conflicting explanations, close examination shows that a wide variety of popular dramatic forms was as much part of daily life as daily life was part of popular drama. Caravaggio’s “theatricality” is the careful depiction of quotidian life, expressed through the familiar language of popular dramatic forms, a sort of “visual vernacular” known to all classes. Caravaggio appropriated specific elements both found in a wide variety of popular theatrical media and recommended in treatises on oration, preaching, Jesuit spiritual exercises, and memory models, because they were proven to engage the emotions and make imagery memorable. Caravaggio went against painterly tradition and filled his shallow pictorial spaces with sharp side-lighting, deep shadow, and personages based on everyday life to make his paintings distinctive and to bolster his reputation among the general public, who was fascinated with dramatic entertainment. In Spanish Lombardy, Caravaggio saw public spectacles hosted by Spanish officials; the Entierro, a torch-lit procession with live actors and painted statuary; stage- like Sacro Monte chapels filled with polychrome statuary; and action packed and often violent illustrations from epics such as the vastly popular Orlando Furioso, which was frequently represented in street theater. In Rome, he frequently saw secular and religious street dramas and associated with elites, such as Cardinal del Monte and the Colonna family, who used various iv forms of popular theater to enhance their reputations. In southern Italy, Caravaggio looked to Italian/Spanish hybrids of local drama, travelling commedia dell’arte troupes, local and Iberian drama and literature, and the Neapolitan presepe for inspiration. In the south, he transformed his polished Roman painting style into one with rough, brushwork, dark palette, somber mood, and deep psychological complexity, reflecting the current writings of the Spanish mystics, local dramatists and memory scholars. Thus, the artist’s work serves as a lens that focuses, with illuminating intensity, on the wide range of dramatic forms found in Spanish Italy that were common sights in daily life. v TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1 1.1 GENERAL HISTORY OF POPULAR THEATER ......................................... 6 1.2 THEATRICAL ELEMENTS IN CARAVAGGIO’S WORK ......................... 8 1.2.1 Sharp Side-Lighting ........................................................................................ 8 1.2.2 Shallow Pictorial Space ................................................................................. 16 1.2.3 Characterization ............................................................................................ 19 1.3 POPULARITY AS LIABILITY ....................................................................... 23 1.4 SCHOLARS ON CARAVAGGIO’S “DRAMATIC” PAINTINGS ............. 27 1.5 “THEATRICALITY” IN ART HISTORY ..................................................... 29 1.6 ORGANIZATION OF DISSERTATION ....................................................... 33 2.0 SPANISH LOMBARDY & MILAN ........................................................................ 44 2.1 THE SFORZA AND SPANISH USE OF DRAMATIC FORMS ................. 47 2.1.1 Spanish Lombardy ........................................................................................ 48 2.1.2 The Sforza-Colonna family in Milan ........................................................... 51 2.2 MILAN: THE MODEL COUNTER-REFORMATION CITY .................... 61 2.2.1 Borromeo’s Ideas on Education and Drama ............................................... 67 2.2.2 History of Public Performance in Milan ..................................................... 68 2.2.3 The Duomo, Center of Milanese Religious Drama ..................................... 76 vi 2.2.4 Carlo Borromeo and Theatrical Performance ............................................ 80 2.2.5 The Laity in Religious and Secular Drama ................................................. 85 2.3 PROCESSIONS IN MILAN DURING CARAVAGGIO’S STAY ............... 89 2.4 THE NORTHERN ITALIAN SACRO MONTE ............................................ 93 2.5 PAINTING IN MILAN ................................................................................... 102 2.6 POPULAR PRINT MEDIA: DRAMATIC IMAGES FOR ALL ............... 104 2.7 SOURCES FOR CARAVAGGIO’S ARTISTIC PERSONA ...................... 116 2.7.1 The Myth of the Ideal Artist ....................................................................... 119 2.7.2 Popular Views of the Melancholic Genius ................................................. 121 2.7.3 Michelangelo’s “Terribilità” and Caravaggio’s Artistic Persona ............ 125 2.7.4 Caravaggio’s Self-Fashioning via Self-Portraiture .................................. 127 2.7.5 Caravaggio’s “Divine Madness” ................................................................ 130 2.7.6 Ariosto as a Model for a Young Painter .................................................... 134 3.0 COUNTER-REFORMATION ROME .................................................................. 146 3.1 CARAVAGGIO HEADS TO ROME ............................................................ 147 3.2 ROME: URBAN SPACE AS THEATER ...................................................... 151 3.3 SPANISH MYSTICISM AND CARAVAGGIO’S PAINTINGS ................ 154 3.4 THE SPANISH FACTION IN ROME .......................................................... 158 3.4.1 The Colonna Family in Rome ..................................................................... 161 3.4.2 Herrera & Costa Bank ................................................................................ 173 3.5 PUBLIC DRAMA IN ROME DURING CARAVAGGIO’S STAY ........... 175 3.5.1 Jubilee Year 1600 and Caravaggio’s Religious Paintings ........................ 179 3.5.2 The Spectacle of Ritualized Violence ......................................................... 182 vii 3.5.3 Jesuit Performances in Rome ..................................................................... 186 3.5.4 Dramatic Performances in Roman Palaces ............................................... 188 3.5.4.1 Cardinal Francesca Maria del Monte ............................................. 189 3.5.4.2 Vincenzo Giustiniani ......................................................................... 192 3.6 COSTUMES AND CHARACTERS .............................................................. 194 3.6.1 “Classical” Attire and Beautiful Boys ....................................................... 194 3.6.2 Men Playing Women in Theatrical Performances ................................... 197 3.6.3 Commedia dell’Arte ...................................................................................... 201 3.6.3.1 Scenes of “Everyday Life” ................................................................ 202 3.6.3.2 Commedia’s Stock Characters ......................................................... 207 3.7 CARAVAGGIO’S EXPOSURE TO THEATER IN ROME ....................... 218 4.0 THE SPANISH KINGDOMS OF NAPLES & SICILY ....................................... 220 4.1 THE SPAIN IN ITALY “PROBLEM” .......................................................... 222 4.2 SPANISH ARTISTIC TASTE AND ITALIAN PAINTING ....................... 231 4.3 SPANISH PRESENCE IN NAPLES AND SICILY ..................................... 234 4.4 COLONNA SUPPORT OF CREATIVE INNOVATION ........................... 235 4.5 CARAVAGGIO’S LAST YEARS IN SOUTHERN ITALY ....................... 239 4.6 CARAVAGGIO’S MOVEMENTS DURING HIS LAST YEARS ............. 243 4.7 THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE IN SOUTHERN ITALY ..................... 245 4.7.1 Commedia dell’Arte ...................................................................................... 246 4.7.2 Jesuit Theater ............................................................................................... 247 4.7.3 Neapolitan Playwrights ............................................................................... 259 4.7.3.1 Giambattista della Porta .................................................................