Caravaggio: Beauty, Blood, Gore and Burnt Umber
Story by Terry Hays

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio    Boy Bitten by Lizard   1593-94   oil on canvas   26 x 20 inches

images courtesy The Kimbell Museum

The Caravaggio exhibition at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth is definitely a must-see. Beautiful building, wonderful paintings.

Caravaggio studied as a painter in Milan, and when he was in his early 20s he moved to Rome where he adopted his style of radical naturalism. His style became increasingly popular with the Roman Catholic Church, so he never wanted for commissions. Between commissions, however, he adopted a lifestyle that led to trouble. He was in and out of jail, and his out-of-control behavior eventually led him to kill a man in a brawl. Approximately a year before his death he was severely injured in another fight and never recovered. He died at the young age of 38.

The Kimbell has assembled a stunning collection of ten Caravaggios and more than forty other inspiring works from an assortment of other great painters who were influenced by Caravaggio. The two that best reveal the greatness of Caravaggio are his Boy Bitten by Lizard and Sick Bacchus.
 

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio    Sick Bacchus   1593-94   oil on canvas   26 3/8 x 20 3/4 inches
 

These two small paintings — the smallest in the exhibition — show us the animated facial expressions and body gesture that resulted from Caravaggio working from models who were often brought into the studio right off the street. The furled forehead of the bitten boy is wonderful, and and the color of Bacchus´s face with those pale lips is telling. It is thought that Caravaggio often used himself in his paintings and Sick Bacchus might be one of those.

The large Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness is probably the show piece of the exhibit. It is a very impressive Caravaggio that appears as if it were painted directly from a large sculpture. I think this was again the result of working from a model.

A lot of drama!

This model must have had incredibly pale skin! It is an incredibly cold painting. However, this is a great example of how Caravaggio relied heavily on severe theatrical lighting and often used light to symbolize divine intervention, an element that is seen throughout this exhibit. It truly is a great painting.
 

 

Georges de La Tour   The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs   Late 1620s   oil on canvas   38.5 x 61.5 inches
 

One other painting that got my attention, mainly because it was so different, was the painting by Georges de La Tour, The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs. This particular painting, owned by the Kimbell, is noticeably different in that the figures are very flat against a flat dark background almost appearing to be cutout and applied to the surface. There was absolutely no air in this painting, it seemed a bit odd in comparison to the other dramatic chiaroscuro style of the other paintings in the exhibit.

There is a lot of beauty, blood, gore and burnt umber in this exhibit. If you love to see technical skill in painting, this is the show for you. According to the Kimbell this is the second largest display of his paintings in North America. Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome will be on view at the Kimbell until January 8, 2012.

 

 since November 28 2011