DOCSLIB.ORG

Acrylic Painting Basics

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Acrylic Painting Basics AVI 2O UNIT 2 Chapter 2 Acrylic Painting Basics How To Complete This Module You will work through this module step by step, reading each section and completing any of the activi- ties in the investigation as well as any formative and summative assignments. Be sure you spend the appro- priate amount of time on each of the activities and assignments. All of the investigations must be completed properly before this module is considered complete. All formative work will be placed in your portfolio within a separate folder of paper to be evaluated for feedback and assessment of learning skills. Summative work is to be handed in for assessment by the deadline given. Rubrics are provided for evaluation of all summative work. Good luck with the assignments and remember to ask for help when you encounter problems! Unit 2: Expanding Techniques | Chapter 2: Acrylic Basics Course Code: AVI 2O INVESTIGATION ACRYLIC PAINTING Acrylic paint is fast-drying paint containing a pigment suspended in an acrylic emulsion or binder. Acrylic paints can be diluted with water, but become water-resistant when dry. Depending on how much the paint is thinned with water or modified with acrylic gels etc. the finished acrylic painting can resemble awatercolour or an oil painting - it may also have its own unique characteristics not attainable with other media. a student acrylic painting YOUR NOTES ON ACRYLICS APPLYING PAINT 2 Unit 2: Expanding Techniques | Chapter 2: Acrylic Basics Course Code: AVI 2O INVESTIGATION ACRYLIC TECHNIQUES BLOCK-IN/BUILD UP APPROACH TO ACRYLICS It is important that every painter knows how to create depth, and three dimensional form. This is best accomplished by understanding how to use perspective properly together with the building up of highlight, middle tone and shadow detail over a base colour to suggest form. This traditional technique is called a block-in/build up approach. build up adds detail and texture over the blocked colour block in fills in approximate colour over a pencil sketch in the build up layer overlap tones and use a damp brush to blend transitions of colour values YOUR NOTES ON THE BLOCK IN/BUILD UP APPROACH TO ACRYLICS 3 Unit 2: Expanding Techniques | Chapter 2: Acrylic Basics Course Code: AVI 2O INVESTIGATION CREATING HIGHLIGHTS AND SHADOWS A REVIEW OF TINTS AND SHADES Tints and shades are similar to the tones in a value scale. The difference is that you are making a colour lighter or darker than its pure “hue”, by add- ing either white or black. For the following assign- ment you will make a large tints and shades chart to use as a reference for future painting assignments. It is extremely important to practice creating a range of colour values that gradual change in tone before you build up adds detail and texture over the blocked colour attempt to create a painting that captures a sense of realism and depth. YOUR NOTES ON TINTS AND SHADES YOUR NOTES ON TINTS AND SHADES HUE: TINT: SHADE: 4 Unit 2: Expanding Techniques | Chapter 2: Acrylic Basics Course Code: AVI 2O The religious strife of the Reformation was set- INVESTIGATION tling down and in the Catholic church an emotional CONTRAST IN PAINTING emphasis replaced an intellectual one. Rome became The word Baroque comes from the Portuguese the art center of Europe. and means grotesque or irregular. The term was used The art works of the Baroque vary through the by historians to describe its flamboyance. The Ba- time period and even from artist to artist, but in gen- roque has now come to include the art, music and eral they shared some common artistic goals. the architecture produced in Europe from the 1600’s A sense of drama and an emotional appeal to 1780 (approx.). In Europe many countries were were very important and in the visual arts. This colonizing various parts of the world, which brought translated into strong contrasts of light and dark, a great deal of wealth to an established middle class. intense swirling movement, vivid colours and a scale for paintings that was often larger than life. MICHELANGELO MERISI, (CARAVAGGIO) (1573-1610) The Rococo refers to a style of art that followed the Baroque in the early 18th century in France, Ger- many, Austria, and Spain. The Rococo style empha- sized light hearted subjects with a romantic appeal. Caravaggio uses extreme contrasts of bright and dark to heighten the intense mood each character is involved in some sort of motion or action that lends an energy to the “The Supper at Emmaus”. oil on canvas. Caravag- gio. 1597. 138 x 194 cm. National Gallery, London, painting England. YOUR NOTES ON CARAVAGGIO THE ARTIST Caravaggio was a rebellious person known for outrageous behaviour and con- stant involvement in bar room brawls, (he met an early death while on the run from the law). His worked shocked people of the 1500’s and 1600’s by placing religious figures from the Bible in commonplace settings from his own time. THE PAINTING 5 Unit 2: Expanding Techniques | Chapter 2: Acrylic Basics Course Code: AVI 2O BACKGROUND READING CARAVAGGIO | PAINTER ON THE RUN *adapted from the Wikipedia entry on Caravaggio http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caravaggio Famous (and notorious) while he lived, Caravag- gio was forgotten almost immediately after his death, and it was only in the 20th century that his importance was rediscovered. Caravaggio was born in Milan, in northern Italy. His father was a household administrator and architect-dec- orator to the Marchese of Caravaggio. His mother came Chalk portrait of Caravaggio by Ottavio Leoni from a wealthy family of the same district. In 1576 the family moved to Caravaggio in northern Italy to escape a plague in Milan. Caravaggio’s father died there in 1577 and his mother in 1584. In the same year he was apprenticed for four years to a painter from Milan. Caravaggio fled Milan for Rome in mid-1592 after “certain quarrels” and the wounding of a police officer. He arrived in Rome without provisions or money. A high realism appeared in Caravaggio’s first paintings of religious themes. The works, viewed by a limited num- ber of people, increased Caravaggio’s fame with both experts and his fellow artists. Caravaggio preferred to paint his subjects with all their flaws and defects instead of as idealized.This allowed a full display of Caravaggio’s incredible talents, but the shift from idealism was very controversial at the time. He also preferred working in oils directly from the subject. One of the paintings at this time was his work, “Supper at Emmaus”. In 1599 Caravaggio was contracted to decorate a church and the two works were an immediate sensation. Caravaggio’s tenebrism brought high drama to his sub- jects, and his realism brought a new level of emotional intensity. Opinion varied but for the most part he was hailed as a great artistic visionary. Caravaggio went on to secure a string of impor- tant commissions for religious works featuring violent struggles, grotesque decapitations, torture and death. Each new painting increased his fame, but a few were rejected. because his realism was seen by some as unacceptably vulgar. Caravaggio led an adventurous life. He was notori- ous for brawling, even in a time and place when such behavior was commonplace. On 29 May 1606, he killed, possibly unintentionally, a young man and Caravaggio fled to Naples. His connections in Naples led to a stream of impor- tant church commissions yet despite his success Cara- vaggio left for Malta after a few months hoping that the Grand Master of the Knights of Malta, could help him secure a pardon for his crime. Impressed at having the The Crucifixion of Saint Peter, 1601. Cerasi Chapel, Santa famous artist as official painter to the Order he was made Maria del Popolo, Rome. a knight By late August 1608 he was arrested and imprisoned, the result of another brawl, during which a knight was seriously wounded. Imprisoned by the knights he managed to escape and by December he had been expelled from the Order “as a foul and rotten member.” Caravaggio made his way to Sicily. In each city Caravaggio continued to win prestigious and well-paid commissions. His style continued to evolve, but his behaviour was becoming increasingly bi- zarre, (sleeping fully armed and in his clothes). After only nine months in Sicily, Caravaggio returned to Naples hoping he could secure his pardon from the pope. In Naples an attempt was made on his life, In the summer of 1610 he took a boat northwards to receive the pardon, which was thanks to his powerful Roman friends. With him were three last paintings. What happened next is the subject of much confusion and conjecture. A private newsletter arrived in Rome which said that Caravaggio had died of fever on his way from Naples. A poet friend of the artist later gave the 18th of July as the date of death, and a recent researcher claims to have discovered a death notice showing that the artist died on that day of a fever in Porto Ercole, in Tuscany. Human remains found in a church in Porto Ercole in 2010 are believed to almost certainly belong to Caravaggio. The findings come after a year-long investigation using DNA, carbon dating and other tests. 6 Unit 2: Expanding Techniques | Chapter 2: Acrylic Basics Course Code: AVI 2O INVESTIGATION A REVIEW OF COLOUR HARMONY Colour is the most important aspect of painting. To make the most of any painting an artist will often limit the colour palette to specific set of colours. Colour harmonies are sets of colours that work well together and will often inform a painters deci- sion about how to develop a painting.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Artists' Portraits & Self Portraits
    1 Attavio Leoni Self Portrait ARTISTS' PORTRAITS & SELF PORTRAITS Selected from the Permanent Collection Auckland City Art Gallery 4 August ~ 2 September 1979 • INTRODUCTION Portrait painting, along with religious painting, 'history' painting and, more recently landscape painting, has always been a major pre­ occupation of artists. For many artists the painting of formal portraits or portrait groups on commission was their 'bread and butter', whatever their own interests, but the special talents and training required for the successful delineation of the human features tended to make artists specialise, and the great portrait artists of all periods and places have tended to be portrait painters pure and simple. One has only to think, in England for instance, of Gainsborough, Reynolds and Lawrence. Formal portraiture, however, though making reputations and fortunes for many of its practitioners, is only one aspect of portraiture. Of equally ancient tradition, and perhaps wider practice among artists, are the self portrait, the mutual portrait of artist by artist, and the informal family sketch. Here we come most immediately in contact with the artist himself and with those persons for whom he held the closest regard. The barriers of formality behind which the subject hides in the commissioned portrait are no longer present and the artist sees, or is seen, with the penetrating vision of intimacy. This exhibition, drawn entirely from the resources of our own rermanent Collection, is of such intimate portraits. Among the artists represented are many whom we do not normalYy connect with portraiture and among the works shown are many in media, particularly in print media, not normally associated with the artists in question.
    [Show full text]
  • The Encounter of the Emblematic Tradition with Optics the Anamorphic Elephant of Simon Vouet
    Nuncius 31 (2016) 288–331 brill.com/nun The Encounter of the Emblematic Tradition with Optics The Anamorphic Elephant of Simon Vouet Susana Gómez López* Faculty of Philosophy, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain [email protected] Abstract In his excellent work Anamorphoses ou perspectives curieuses (1955), Baltrusaitis con- cluded the chapter on catoptric anamorphosis with an allusion to the small engraving by Hans Tröschel (1585–1628) after Simon Vouet’s drawing Eight satyrs observing an ele- phantreflectedonacylinder, the first known representation of a cylindrical anamorpho- sis made in Europe. This paper explores the Baroque intellectual and artistic context in which Vouet made his drawing, attempting to answer two central sets of questions. Firstly, why did Vouet make this image? For what purpose did he ideate such a curi- ous image? Was it commissioned or did Vouet intend to offer it to someone? And if so, to whom? A reconstruction of this story leads me to conclude that the cylindrical anamorphosis was conceived as an emblem for Prince Maurice of Savoy. Secondly, how did what was originally the project for a sophisticated emblem give rise in Paris, after the return of Vouet from Italy in 1627, to the geometrical study of catoptrical anamor- phosis? Through the study of this case, I hope to show that in early modern science the emblematic tradition was not only linked to natural history, but that insofar as it was a central feature of Baroque culture, it seeped into other branches of scientific inquiry, in this case the development of catoptrical anamorphosis. Vouet’s image is also a good example of how the visual and artistic poetics of the baroque were closely linked – to the point of being inseparable – with the scientific developments of the period.
    [Show full text]
  • Robert Lehman Papers
    Robert Lehman papers Finding aid prepared by Larry Weimer The Robert Lehman Collection Archival Project was generously funded by the Robert Lehman Foundation, Inc. This finding aid was generated using Archivists' Toolkit on September 24, 2014 Robert Lehman Collection The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1000 Fifth Avenue New York, NY, 10028 [email protected] Robert Lehman papers Table of Contents Summary Information .......................................................................................................3 Biographical/Historical note................................................................................................4 Scope and Contents note...................................................................................................34 Arrangement note.............................................................................................................. 36 Administrative Information ............................................................................................ 37 Related Materials ............................................................................................................ 39 Controlled Access Headings............................................................................................. 41 Bibliography...................................................................................................................... 40 Collection Inventory..........................................................................................................43 Series I. General
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Caravaggio and a Neuroarthistory Of
    CARAVAGGIO AND A NEUROARTHISTORY OF ENGAGEMENT Kajsa Berg A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of East Anglia September 2009 © This copy of the thesis has been supplied on the condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that no quotation from the thesis, nor any information derived therefrom, may be published without the author’s prior written consent. 1 Abstract ABSTRACT John Onians, David Freedberg and Norman Bryson have all suggested that neuroscience may be particularly useful in examining emotional responses to art. This thesis presents a neuroarthistorical approach to viewer engagement in order to examine Caravaggio’s paintings and the responses of early-seventeenth-century viewers in Rome. Data concerning mirror neurons suggests that people engaged empathetically with Caravaggio’s paintings because of his innovative use of movement. While spiritual exercises have been connected to Caravaggio’s interpretation of subject matter, knowledge about neural plasticity (how the brain changes as a result of experience and training), indicates that people who continually practiced these exercises would be more susceptible to emotionally engaging imagery. The thesis develops Baxandall’s concept of the ‘period eye’ in order to demonstrate that neuroscience is useful in context specific art-historical queries. Applying data concerning the ‘contextual brain’ facilitates the examination of both the cognitive skills and the emotional factors involved in viewer engagement. The skilful rendering of gestures and expressions was a part of the artist’s repertoire and Artemisia Gentileschi’s adaptation of the violent action emphasised in Caravaggio’s Judith Beheading Holofernes testifies to her engagement with his painting.
    [Show full text]
  • The Morgan Explores the Unique Role of Drawing in Portraiture in a New Exhibition Opening June 12
    Press Contacts Michelle Perlin 212.590.0311, [email protected] Patrick Milliman 212.590.0310, [email protected] THE MORGAN EXPLORES THE UNIQUE ROLE OF DRAWING IN PORTRAITURE IN A NEW EXHIBITION OPENING JUNE 12 Life Lines: Portrait Drawings from Dürer to Picasso June 12 through September 8, 2015 **Press Preview: Thursday, June 11, 10–11:30 AM** RSVP: [email protected] New York, NY, May 4, 2015 — Drawing is often seen as the most immediate of the fine arts, capturing a subject’s essence in quick, suggestive strokes of chalk, pencil, or ink. This can be particularly evident in portrait drawing where the dynamism of the medium allows for the recording of a likeness in the here and now, while simultaneously offering clues into the relationship between artist and sitter. In a new exhibition titled Life Lines: Portrait Drawings from Dürer to Picasso, opening June 12, the Morgan Library & Museum takes visitors on a fascinating exploration of the genre. Spanning five centuries and including more than fifty works—from Dürer’s moving sketch of his brother Endres to Picasso’s highly Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), Portrait of the Artist’s expressive portrait of the actress Marie Derval—the Brother Endres, ca. 1518, Charcoal on paper, background heightened with white. Gift of Mrs. Alexander Perry Morgan in memory of Alexander Perry Morgan, 1973, The Morgan show features treasures from the Morgan’s Library & Museum. collection as well as a number of notable drawings from private holdings. The exhibition is on view through September 8. “Life Lines is aptly named as no medium quite captures a person or the connection between artist and sitter like drawing,” said Peggy Fogelman, acting director of the Morgan.
    [Show full text]
  • Caravaggio, Second Revised Edition
    CARAVAGGIO second revised edition John T. Spike with the assistance of Michèle K. Spike cd-rom catalogue Note to the Reader 2 Abbreviations 3 How to Use this CD-ROM 3 Autograph Works 6 Other Works Attributed 412 Lost Works 452 Bibliography 510 Exhibition Catalogues 607 Copyright Notice 624 abbeville press publishers new york london Note to the Reader This CD-ROM contains searchable catalogues of all of the known paintings of Caravaggio, including attributed and lost works. In the autograph works are included all paintings which on documentary or stylistic evidence appear to be by, or partly by, the hand of Caravaggio. The attributed works include all paintings that have been associated with Caravaggio’s name in critical writings but which, in the opinion of the present writer, cannot be fully accepted as his, and those of uncertain attribution which he has not been able to examine personally. Some works listed here as copies are regarded as autograph by other authorities. Lost works, whose catalogue numbers are preceded by “L,” are paintings whose current whereabouts are unknown which are ascribed to Caravaggio in seventeenth-century documents, inventories, and in other sources. The catalogue of lost works describes a wide variety of material, including paintings considered copies of lost originals. Entries for untraced paintings include the city where they were identified in either a seventeenth-century source or inventory (“Inv.”). Most of the inventories have been published in the Getty Provenance Index, Los Angeles. Provenance, documents and sources, inventories and selective bibliographies are provided for the paintings by, after, and attributed to Caravaggio.
    [Show full text]
  • Ebook Download Caravaggio in Film and Literature 1St Edition
    CARAVAGGIO IN FILM AND LITERATURE 1ST EDITION PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Laura Rorato | 9781351572682 | | | | | Caravaggio in Film and Literature 1st edition PDF Book These items are included deliberately as a stylistic decision of the filmmakers, not "goofs" of people unaware of the absence of these items in the s and s. Lady with the Jewels Sadie Corre But they fled in vain. Parents Guide. Following the theft, Italian police set up an art theft task force with the specific aim of re-acquiring lost and stolen art works. Back to School Picks. The Baroque, to which he contributed so much, had evolved, and fashions had changed, but perhaps more pertinently Caravaggio never established a workshop as the Carracci did, and thus had no school to spread his techniques. Ostensibly, the first archival reference to Caravaggio in a contemporary document from Rome is the listing of his name, with that of Prospero Orsi as his partner, as an 'assistante' in a procession in October in honour of St. In the 20th century interest in his work revived, and his importance to the development of Western art was reevaluated. The art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon has summarised the debate:. The French ambassador intervened, and Caravaggio was transferred to house arrest after a month in jail in Tor di Nona. Caravaggio's innovations inspired the Baroque, but the Baroque took the drama of his chiaroscuro without the psychological realism. Quotes Caravaggio : [ to Ranuccio ] Give me your hand. Perhaps at this time, he painted also a David with the Head of Goliath , showing the young David with a strangely sorrowful expression gazing on the severed head of the giant, which is again Caravaggio.
    [Show full text]
  • Guercino: Mind to Paper/Julian Brooks with the Assistance of Nathaniel E
    GUERCINO MIND TO PAPER GUERCINO MIND TO PAPER Julian Brooks with the assistance of Nathaniel E. Silver The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles Front and back covers: Guercino. Details from The Assassination © 2006 J. Paul Getty Trust ofAmnon (cat. no. 14), 1628. London, Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery This catalogue was published to accompany the exhibition Guercino:Mind to Paper, held at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, October 17,2006, to January 21,2007, and at the Courtauld Institute of Art Gallery, London, February 22 Frontispiece: Guercino. Detail from Study of a Seated Young Man to May 13,2007. (cat. no. 2), ca. 1619. Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum Pages 18—ic>: Guercino. Detail from Landscape with a View of a Getty Publications Fortified Port (cat. no. 22), ca. 1635. Los Angeles, J. Paul 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 500 Getty Museum Los Angeles, California 90049-1682 www.getty.edu Mark Greenberg, Editor in Chief Patrick E. Pardo, Project Editor Tobi Levenberg Kaplan, Copy Editor Catherine Lorenz, Designer Suzanne Watson, Production Coordinator Typesetting by Diane Franco Printed by The Studley Press, Dalton, Massachusetts All works are reproduced (and photographs provided) courtesy of the owners, unless otherwise indicated. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Brooks, Julian, 1969- Guercino: mind to paper/Julian Brooks with the assistance of Nathaniel E. Silver, p. cm. "This catalogue was published to accompany the exhibition 'Guercino: mind to paper' held at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, October 17,2006, to January 21,2007." Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-89236-862-4 (pbk.) ISBN-io: 0-89236-862-4 (pbk.) i.
    [Show full text]
  • Caravaggio's Fruit
    Chronica HORTICULTURAE Volume 44 - Number 4 - 2004 A PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR HORTICULTURAL SCIENCE Symposia and Workshops Rose Hip • Hazelnut • Plum and Prune Genetics, Breeding and Pomology • Persimmon • Fire Blight Horticultural Highlights Horticultural Biotechnology: Challenges for Commercial Development • Caravaggio’s Fruit: A Mirror on Baroque Horticulture • Australian Ginger Industry • Biodiversity of Tropical African Vegetables • Horticulture in Sri Lanka • Horticultural Research in the French Agricultural Research Centre (CIRAD) ISHS HORTICULTURAL SCIENCE FOCUS HORTICULTURAL SCIENCE FOCUS Caravaggio’s Fruit: A Mirror on Baroque Horticulture Jules Janick The star of Caravaggio (1571-1610) as a Figure 2. Paintings by Caravaggio with incidental pictures of fruits; A. Boy Peeling master painter has never been higher. His Fruit; B. Self Portrait as Bacchus; C. Musicians; D. Boy Bitten by a Lizard; E. Lute innovative artistry is recognized as the bridge Player; F. Conversion of Mary Magdalen. between the Mannerist style typified by Michelangelo Buonarroti, Agnolo Bronzino, and Titian of the High Renaissance, with the Baroque splendor of Rubens and Rembrandt. His paintings and persona have entered popu- lar culture, his portrait and two of his works were featured on the 100,000 lire banknote of Italy and a movie has been made of his life. Interest in Caravaggio has been enhanced by four current books; three of them biographies: Caravaggio by John T. Spike (2001), M: The Man Who Became Caravaggio by Peter Robb (1998), Caravaggio by Catherine Puglisi C A (1998), and a recent work Secret Knowledge by David Hockney (2001), proposing Cara- vaggio’s use of optical aids. The life of Michelangelo Merisi, known to us as Caravaggio (Fig.
    [Show full text]
  • Velázquez's an Old Woman Cooking Eggs
    Art Appreciation Lecture Series 2015 Meet the Masters: Highlights from the Scottish National Gallery Velázquez’s An Old Woman Cooking Eggs Dr Lisa Beaven 4 March 2015 Lecture summary: This lecture places Diego Velázquez’s An Old Woman Cooking Eggs in its social and artistic context, beginning with an analysis of Seville in the first two decades of the seventeenth century, then moving onto Velázquez’s experience in the studio of Pacheco, his teacher, and the intellectual stimulus this environment provided. A broader discussion of genre painting in Europe follows, with the focus shifting to the core question of the relationship between Velázquez’s bodegones and Caravaggio’s paintings. The lecture concludes with a detailed examination of the painting in question, and its possible relationship to life on the streets of Seville. Slide list: 1. Diego Velázquez, An Old Woman Cooking Eggs, 1618, oil on canvas, 101 x 120 cm, National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh. 2. Anon., Map of Spain. 3. Diego Velazquez, Las Meninas, 1656, oil on canvas, 318 x 276 cm, Museo del Prado. 4. ‘A Sixteenth century view of Seville’, from Georg Braum and Frans Hogenberg, I Civitas Orbis Terrarum, Cologne, 1572-1617, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. 5. ‘A panoramic View of Seville’ (detail), by Jan Janssen van Aernhem, a print-publisher in Amsterdam, who obtained the permit to print and publish this engraving in 1617. This edition possibly 1700. 6. Alonso Sánchez Coello (attrib.), View of Seville, sixteenth century, Museo de América. 7. ‘Main Façade of Seville’s Cathedral’, engraving attributed to Pedro Tortolero, 1738, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
    [Show full text]
  • Caravaggio's Fruit
    Reading 40-1 1 READING 40-1 Caravaggio’s Fruit: A Mirror on Baroque Horticulture Jules Janick Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2010 The star of Caravaggio (1571–1610) as a master painter has never been higher. His innovative artistry is recognized as the bridge between the Mannerist style typifi ed by Michelangelo Buonarroti, Agnolo Bronzino, and Titian of the High Renaissance and the Baroque splendor of Rubens and Rembrandt. His paintings and persona have entered popular culture, his portrait and two of his works were featured on the old 100,000 lire banknote of Italy (Fig. 1), and a movie has been made of his life. Interest in Caravaggio has been enhanced by four current books; three of them biographies: Caravaggio by John T. Spike (2001), M: The Man who be- came Caravaggio by Peter Robb (1998), Caravaggio by Catherine Puglisi (1998), and a recent work Secret Knowledge by David Hockney, (2002) proposing Caravaggio’s use of optical aids. The life of Michelangelo Merisi, known to us as Caravaggio, was short and intense, characterized by bouts of brawling, time in jail, banishment, and homicide. His paintings are typifi ed by a dramatic manipu- lation of light (chiaroscuro); reliance on human models, many with multiple appearances in his paintings; by a blatant homoerotic content (see Posner 1971, Robb, 1988); direct painting without preliminary draw- ings, a non-sentimental approach to religious art, and an eerie “photorealism” that extends to portraiture, various objects including musical instruments, scores, and plant material. Caravaggio has left few personal records by his own hand but the interpretations of his paintings by generations of art historians, combined with recently unearthed archival information, provides a rich history of the man and his time.
    [Show full text]
  • Still Life with Fruit on a Stone Ledge
    CARAVAGGIO Still Life with Fruit on a Stone Ledge AARON H. DE GROFT, PH.D., EDITOR PAPERS OF THE MUSCARELLE MUSEUM OF ART VOL. I From the Symposium held at the Muscarelle Museum of Art at The College of William & Mary November 9 - 10, 2006 Caravaggio: Still Life with Fruit on a Stone Ledge, Papers of the Muscarelle Museum of Art, Vol. 1, The College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. © 2010, Muscarelle Museum of Art The College of William & Mary All rights reserved. Produced by the Muscarelle Museum of Art Printed in the USA by Taylored Printing Co., Yorktown, Virginia Production & Design by Amy K. Gorman MUSEUM STAFF Aaron H. De Groft, Ph.D., Director Elana Carpinone, Registrar’s Fellow Christina Carroll, Manager of Institutional Advancement Caravaggio: Still Life with Fruit on a Stone Ledge, Papers of the Kevin Gilliam, Exhibitions/Operations Manager Amy K. Gorman, Ph.D., Curator of Education & New Media Symposium held at the Muscarelle Museum of Art at The College Cindy Lucas, Assistant to the Director of William & Mary. Vol. 1. / edited by Rusty A. Meadows, Assistant to Development & Education Aaron H. De Groft, Ph.D. Ursula McLaughlin-Miller, Special Projects Administrator Melissa Parris, Registrar Elayne Russell, Education Specialist p. 160 : 98 ills. ; 27.8 cm. Bronwen Watts, Membership Manager Includes bibliographical references. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Contents: Introduction / Aaron H. De Groft—Caravaggio and the Theresa Thompson, W&M ‘67 - Chair Connie Desaulniers, W&M ‘75 - Secretary Origins of Roman Still Life Painting /John T. Spike—The Final William B. Bales Insult: Caravaggio, Baglione, and Still Life on a Stone Ledge / John Anne H.
    [Show full text]