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It Is the Light of Enlightenment That Caravaggio Shows Appearing from the Right with Jesus, Manifesting the Calling of St

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It Is the Light of Enlightenment That Caravaggio Shows Appearing from the Right with Jesus, Manifesting the Calling of St It is the light of enlightenment that Caravaggio shows appearing from the right with Jesus, manifesting the calling of St. Matthew (in the middle of the seated group). FOCUS_Light Between Spotlight and Shadow Caravaggio is one of the most influential artists of the Early Baroque. He is especially well known for his dramatic lighting effects. The technique he used to create these was something he guarded like a trade secret. As a result, legends surrounded the painter even during his lifetime. Sybille Ebert-Schifferer, Director at the Bibliotheca Hertziana in Rome, has taken on the task of demystifying Caravaggio’s image. TEXT MECHTHILD ZIMMERMANN ome, around 1600: The cap- alongside the prestigious commissions ital of the Papal State was awarded by the church and aristocracy, a Mecca for painters. Here, there was also a flourishing market for they were able to study mass-produced artworks: copied por- masterpieces from antiqui- traits of saints that anyone could pur- R ty through to those by Leonardo da chase for a few coins. Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. How- ever, there was also huge demand for CARAVAGGIO STRUCK A CHORD the new. Before he died in 1590, Pope WITH THE AGE Sixtus V had numerous churches built and renovated that now required Michelangelo Merisi, who adopted the adornment. On his trip to Rome, Mon- name of his parent’s home town Cara- taigne noted that there were “barely vaggio, was one of those who went to any visual depictions” in the church- Rome as a trained painter in the early es there – something that is hardly 1590s. He, too, must have started by ek- imaginable today. ing out a living with copying. But with- Artists from all over the world ar- in just a few years’ time, he succeeded rived in the hope of being able to dem- in establishing valuable contacts. Even onstrate their talent and be discovered. more importantly, he developed a style It was their chance to attain prosperity, that was new, and that struck a chord or even affluence and nobility. But with the age. competition was tough. There were Four criteria distinguish Caravag- many who spent their entire lives copy- gio’s visual language: sensuality, vibran- Photo: Archiv für Kunst und Geschichte ing works of art for a pittance. After all, cy, intelligent use of artistic quotations 2 | 15 MaxPlanckResearch 33 Scientists reconstructed the scene of The Crowning with Thorns in order to reproduce the lighting. The result: not one spotlight – as one might think at first glance – but three were required to approximate the lighting of Caravaggio’s painting. and – especially striking – his space-de- paintings are further evidence of his as a degenerate failure. As Bellori had fining use of light-dark conceptions. success. As early on as 1600, he earned a major influence on European art the- Caravaggio painted as if the light were 600 scudi for two pictures – twice the ory, the image he propagated of Cara- falling at an angle from above, like a annual salary of a university professor vaggio has endured to this day – much spotlight that in turn cast deep shad- at the time. to the irritation of Sybille Ebert- ows. The background is often dark, Schifferer: the Director of the Biblio- and parts of the painting can only be MALIGNED AS A “MONSTER theca Hertziana, the Max Planck Insti- guessed at. Landscapes or general spa- OF GENIUS” tute for Art History in Rome, has been tial details are very rarely recognizable, fighting to rehabilitate the artist for with the result that the figures appear Caravaggio’s success not only attracted some time. extraordinarily sculptural – in fact, al- admirers – it also generated rivalry and To this end, she has compiled copi- most too close for comfort, from the envy. This was why, during his lifetime, ous evidence from the most diverse viewer’s perspective. and even more so after his death, a sources and writings, and published her In the first few years of the 17th great many rumors developed that findings in the monumental volume century, Caravaggio was celebrated by eventually grew into legends. In 1633, Caravaggio: The Artist and His Work. A many contemporaries for his “divine Florentine painter Vicente Carducho key issue is what Ebert-Schifferer calls art of painting,” and was glorified as a called his colleague “a monster of ge- Caravaggio’s “lighting direction” – the paragon. In his verses, the poet Gaspare nius and talent” and an “Anti-Michel- painter’s characteristic application of Murtola, for example, praised the effect angelo,” and even an “Antichrist.” light and shadow. She regards this fea- of his figures, which he claimed were In a biographical work by art theo- ture of his work as part of a develop- barely distinguishable from living be- rist Giovanni Pietro Bellori published ment in art history, as with the advent ings. The prices paid for Caravaggio’s in 1672, Caravaggio is already described of the work of Leonardo da Vinci – 100 Photo: Archiv für Kunst und Geschichte 34 MaxPlanckResearch 2 | 15 FOCUS_Light » Caravaggio showed considerable skill in taking a form of representation previously unknown in Rome, adapting it to his own style, and marketing it effectively. years before Caravaggio – light phe- lated by the Counter-Reformation,” nomena attracted the interest of nu- says Ebert-Schifferer. And she points merous artists. out that light in his work is more than The natural depiction of light and just illumination: in his religious paint- shadow became an important subject. ings, it actually embodies Divine Light, In his treatise on painting, Leonardo enlightenment. One very early exam- himself stated explicitly that sharp ple is The Calling of St. Matthew, which shadows were to be avoided. An exam- remains one of Caravaggio’s most fa- ination of his paintings reveals why: mous paintings to this day. Together the use of so-called sfumato – bright with The Martyrdom of St. Matthew of segments that merge softly with darker 1599, it was the artist’s first major com- ones, though even these are never com- mission for a work to be put on public pletely dark. Up until the turn of the display. It’s a remarkable painting, even 16th to the 17th century, Roman paint- to the non-expert. It’s even more im- ers avoided strong shadows. pressive when Sybille Ebert-Schifferer During his training in Milan, Cara- explains the details: vaggio had already been exposed to other approaches. In Lombardian art, ART QUOTATIONS AS A POPULAR there were paintings with strong light- STYLISTIC DEVICE dark contrasts, such as those of Giovan- ni Girolamo Savoldo and Antonio “The Calling of St. Matthew shows Christ Campi. But such painters were a long coming into a room where Matthew, a way from their contemporaries in tax collector, is seated. Whether out- Rome, and their works were simply not doors or indoors remains uncertain known. According to Ebert-Schifferer’s due to the darkness. The light appears analysis, Caravaggio showed consider- with Christ from the right-hand side able skill in taking a form of represen- and reinforces the natural light of the tation that was previously unknown in scene, as there is a window behind the Rome, adapting it to his own style, and altar on the same side. But the light marketing it effectively. that comes in with Christ is also the Shed new light on Caravaggio with her book: What’s more, by focusing on the light of enlightenment, which is at its Sybille Ebert-Schifferer, Director at the Bibliotheca Hertziana. use of light, Caravaggio was, in fact, brightest where it falls on the face of addressing a key criterion that artists the tax collector as he looks up. He is were being called upon to pay atten- the one to be enlightened and invest- Chap el by Caravaggio’s namesake Mi- tion to at the time: At the Council of ed with a new life. The light also clear- chelangelo. Art connoisseurs in Rome Trent, the Catholic Church had initiat- ly emphasizes Christ’s outstretched at the time certainly identified and ap- ed the Counter-Reformation in re- hand. This is what establishes the con- preciated this.” sponse to the spread of Protestantism, nection and depicts the crucial gesture: It is a fact that the mutual viewing and art was expected to contribute to you are the one I mean.” and interpreting of paintings was a pop- this. Orders were issued that called for The art historian also points out an ular pastime among the upper classes church paintings to overwhelm the example of another characteristic fea- of the time. The aristocracy and church people and appeal to the emotions of ture of Caravaggio’s work to be found dignitaries enjoyed showing each oth- the faithful by literally drawing them in The Calling of St. Matthew – the er their art collections and demon- into the action in scenes of Biblical skilled quotation of other famous strating their expertise by discovering events and martyrdom. paintings: “Christ’s gesture is the same quotations from other works of art. “Caravaggio was most persuasive in as that of Adam in The Creation of Caravaggio deliberately played on this Photo: Andreas Muhs implementing this requirement stipu- Adam on the ceiling of the Sistine penchant of his Roman clients. Later, 2 | 15 MaxPlanckResearch 35 FOCUS_Light MICHELANGELO MERISI DA CARAVAGGIO September 29, 1571 Birth of Michelangelo Merisi in Milan; childhood presumably spent with his grandparents in Caravaggio 1584 to 1588 Apprenticeship with renowned Milanese painter Simone Peterzano from ca. 1592 Resident in Rome, work in various studios from 1599 Prestigious public and private commissions for paintings May 1606 Caravaggio flees Rome to the nearby principality of Paliano from October 1606 Resident in Naples July 1607 Period of stay in Malta July 1608 Admission to the Maltese Order (barred again in December 1608) October 1608 Flees to Sicily due to involvement in a brawl October 1609 Second period of stay in Naples July 18, 1610 Death in Porto Ercole when he was forced to leave Rome and thing to be able to emulate the tech- had been that, in exchange for the in- paint for less knowledgeable custom- nique, as shown by trial records dating formation, Salini was to show him how ers, this type of allusion is no longer to back to 1603.
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