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--Born near Milan in 1571 as  Michelangelo Merisi --Known as Caravaggio because  that city, a small farming  community east of Milan, was  the family home  --His father died in 1577, leaving  him to be raised by his mother  --Apprenticed to the painter  Simone Peterzano in Milan in  1584; Peterzano claimed to  have studied under Titian in Venice --Unknown if Caravaggio  completed his apprenticeship,  and no art work from this  period is attributed to him CARAVAGGIO Caravaggio by Ottavio Leoni by Simone Peterzano
--In late 1580s left Milan; he may  have fled the city because he killed someone, and there are  notations indicating that he had  spent a year in a Milanese  prison --In the early 1590s, his mother  died and her property was sold; Caravaggio took his part of the  inheritance and went to Rome CARAVAGGIO Caravaggio by Ottavio Leoni by Simone Peterzano
--Worked for minor painters who  sold small devotional images  and portraits on the streets --Went to work for Giuseppe  Cesari (the Cavalier d’Arpino), a  well-known artist who had  worked for Pope Clement VIII --It was noted that Cesari  employed Caravaggio to paint  fruits and flowers; unknown  whether he participated in  Cesari’s papal commissions CARAVAGGIO: EARLY DAYS IN ROME Still life (1590s)
CARAVAGGIO: EARLY WORKS—Cardinal del Monte Cardsharps (c.1594-95) --Sold through a dealer  to Cardinal Francesco  Maria del Monte --Del Monte was from a  powerful, wealthy, and  influential family. He was  a known connoisseur of  the arts and practitioner  of alchemy. His public  reputation was good, but  in fact he was known to  cavort with women of  ill-repute, and was also  a homosexual pedophile. --Del Monte becomes  Caravaggio’s first  important patron
Concert of Youths  (c.1595) “ Love is always in  the company of  music.” Cupid (wings)     Grapes: wine  CARAVAGGIO: EARLY WORKS—Cardinal del Monte    Unused violin and sheet  music: invitation to the  viewer to join them  
CARAVAGGIO: EARLY WORKS—Cardinal del Monte Boy Bitten by a Lizard  (c.1596) Rose   behind  ear:  solici-  tation     Cherries: sexual connotations Lizard (biting  the boy’s finger)
CARAVAGGIO: BAROQUE REALISM  Supper at Emmaus (c.1600)  Baroque Realism: --High degree of realism in  textures, forms, effects,  characterizations --Lack of idealization of  figures; appear as lower- class or common types  --Penchant for drama  --Dark and shallow spaces  penetrated by a hard,  exterior spotlight  --Frequently austere, somber  --Even mystical events given  a visceral, physical reality  --Interest in the psychology of  an event  --Lack of traditional symbolism
CARAVAGGIO: CONTARELLI CHAPEL  --Cardinal Matteu Cointrel (Contarelli) died in 1585; left money to decorate  a chapel in San Luigi dei Francesi  (St. Louis of France), the French  national church in Rome. --The will stipulated that the work was  to be finished under the supervision  of a member of the Crescenzi family,  and a contract had been signed for  paintings involving St. Matthew (the  cardinal’s patron saint) with the  artist Girolamo Muziano.  --Muziano never completed the  work; a contract was signed with a  Flemish sculptor, but his works  were not considered satisfactory.
CARAVAGGIO: CONTARELLI CHAPEL  --In 1591, a contract was signed with  Giuseppe Cesari (Cavalier d’Arpino).  He completed the vault with prophets  and scenes involving St. Matthew. Drawings were made for the side  walls but the artist was increasingly  involved in papal and other  commissions, and by 1599 had  completed nothing more in the  chapel. --The priests of San Luigi became  annoyed at the delays and  asked the pope to intercede. He  put the work under Vatican  jurisdiction and, with the influence of  Del Monte, Caravaggio in 1599 signed  a contract to complete the paintings. By Giuseppe Cesari
CARAVAGGIO: CONTARELLI CHAPEL  The Martyrdom of St. Matthew
CARAVAGGIO: CERASI CHAPEL  --In 1600 (a papal jubilee year),  Caravaggio received another  important commission for a  private chapel, from Tiberio  Ceraso (the papal treasurer), in  Santa Maria del Popolo  --Commission obtained through  the influence of Vincenzo  Giustiniani. who had been  superseding Del Monte as  Caravaggio’s most important  patron and protector  --The commission also involved  Annibale Carraci, who painted  the vault and altar
CARAVAGGIO: CERASI CHAPEL  The Conversion of Saul (Paul)
CARAVAGGIO: CERASI CHAPEL  The Crucifixion of Peter
CARAVAGGIO: VIOLENCE, LEGAL PROBLEMS  --May have left Milan and the north  for Rome because he killed  someone; apparently spent a year  in prison in Milan. --In Rome, initially stayed with a  priest named Monsigner Pucci,  but he had to leave after he beat the  priest up because he didn’t like the  salad he was fed. --Part of a street gang in Rome, but  was protected from legal charges  by his patrons. The gang’s motto  was “without hope or fear” and  they were led by a notorious felon.  The gang was famous for street  fights, duels in brothels, and  singing bawdy songs at old ladies.
CARAVAGGIO: VIOLENCE, LEGAL PROBLEMS  --Known for expert swordsmanship  (and tennis playing). --Arrested frequently for charges of  violence and concealed weapons. --Used even prostitutes as models  for religious figures. --Described by one by biographer as spending half his time painting and  the other half out on the street with  a sword looking for someone to  fight—said he was impossible to  get along with. --Arrested and tried for libel (he  wrote scandalous verses about  another painter), but released.
CARAVAGGIO: VIOLENCE, LEGAL PROBLEMS  --Arrested for beating up a waiter in  a restaurant with a plate of  hot artichokes, but released. --Arrested for throwing rocks at the  police. --Assaulted a rival painter, slashed  his paintings, and stuck his head  through the hole in one of the  canvases and started screaming  obscenities at him. --Fled to Genoa in contempt of  court after beating up another man  after an argument about a  prostitute; a pardon was arranged  but upon his return was evicted  from his apartment for throwing  rocks at his landlady.
CARAVAGGIO: VIOLENCE, LEGAL PROBLEMS  --In 1606, kills a man named  Rancuccio during an argument  over a tennis match. --In contempt of court, he flees  Rome for Naples as a wanted  man.
1607: Goes to Malta; wants to  join the Knights of St. John  CARAVAGGIO: ON THE RUN  Alof de Wignacourt (Grand Master) with a Page (1607) 
CARAVAGGIO: MALTA AND THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN  Alof de Wignacourt  (1607) --Realizing the prestige that  Caravaggio’s paintings could  potentially bring his order, Alof  de Wignacourt start campaigning  for his admittance. He even asks  for and receives papal permission  to overlook the murder. --After a 12-month novitiate,  Caravaggio is accepted into the  order. Most knights, who were  from noble families, were  expected to pay a hefty initiation  fee. Caravaggio cannot do this,  but instead paints for them an  altarpiece of the order’s patron,  John the Baptist.
CARAVAGGIO: MALTA AND THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN  --Caravaggio runs afoul of, perhaps  assaults, one of the leading  knights. --He is stripped of his knighthood  and thrown in a dungeon. --He escapes the dungeon and, in  disguise, escapes the island of  Malta. --Goes to Sicily.
CARAVAGGIO: SICILY  --While painting the Lazarus, forces  workmen to dig up a corpse so he can  use it as a model, and forces them to  hold it in pose while he paints. When  he unveils the painting it is criticized,  and he reportedly takes out a dagger  and slashes it to pieces, claiming it  was not properly appreciated. He  then paints a second version. --A teacher sees him watching young  boys on a playground; the artist  claims he is taking notes for a  painting, but the teacher asks him to  leave. Caravaggio bashes him over  the head with a rock.  --Decides to return to Naples.
CARAVAGGIO: LAST DAYS  --In Naples, attacked by 4 men; badly  wounded, and his face reportedly so  maimed as to be unrecognizable.  --Wants to return to Rome and the  protection of his friends and patrons. --Cardinal Fernandino Gonzago, a  friend of Giustiniani and del Monte,  arranges a pardon on the murder  charge. --Goes by boat to Port’Ercole, intending  to go on from there to Rome; detained  by the captain of the guard there, who  wanted to confirm his pardon and  safe conduct pass. --Since his ship had departed, and his  paintings were on board, he tried to  catch up with it by crossing a swamp.
CARAVAGGIO: LAST DAYS  --Crosses 100 kilometers of swamp land  but misses his ship. --In crossing the swamp, he had  contracted an unknown disease and  severe fever. --July 18, 1610: in a small town south of  Rome died from the disease he had  contracted in the swamp.
DIEGO DE VELAZQUEZ Y SILVA (VELAZQUEZ) John the Evangelist (1618) Old Woman Frying Eggs (c.1620)
VELAZQUEZ: SEVILLE    Seville  --An important commercial center in southern Spain; by 1600, it was one of  Europe’s largest cities,  with a population of over  100,000 --The only official Spanish  port for shipping with the New World; a cosmopolitan city which attracted  residents from all over  Europe  --As its commercial prestige grew, it also became a  leading art center
Old Woman Frying Eggs (c.1620) VELAZQUEZ  --Born 1599 in Seville, died  1660 in Madrid. --Little known about his early  life; evidence suggests both sets of his grandparents may have belonged to a lower  order of nobility. --Apprenticed to Pacheco in  1610, and admitted into the painter’s guild in 1617. --Married Pacheco’s daughter Juana in 1618
VELAZQUEZ: EARLY GENRE PAINTINGS  Velazquez  Early Caravaggio
VELAZQUEZ: BODEGONES  Old Woman Frying Eggs  (c.1620) --From “bodega,” which at the  time referred to a cheap inn  or eating place  --genre subjects involving food  with still-life elements and  lower class figures; typically  kitchen, cooking, or eating  scenes --Popular form of genre  painting in 17 th -century Spain --The word became expanded and is sometimes used to refer to Spanish still-life  painting in general
VELAZQUEZ: BODEGONES—Religious content  
VELAZQUEZ: BODEGONES—Religious content The Kitchen Maid with the Supper at Emmaus (c.1618)
VELAZQUEZ: BODEGONES—Religious content The Kitchen Maid with the Supper at Emmaus (c.1618) Recognition of Christ    (faith)    Lack of recognition, absorbed in worldly  cares (lack of faith)
VELAZQUEZ: BODEGONES—Religious content Kitchen Scene with Christ in the House of Mary and Martha (c.1620)
VELAZQUEZ: BODEGONES—Religious content Kitchen Scene with Christ in the House of Mary and Martha (c.1620)    Reminding her, per the example of Christ in the  house of Mary and  Martha, not to be so  preoccupied with  worldly duties that she forgets spiritual ones
SPANISH STILL LIFE PAINTING—Religious interpretations Symbolic of Christ’s Passion? Darkness: creates a  contemplative context to explore covert meanings? Carrots: nails from the cross; discolored like  rusted metal? Cardoon: scourge;  tinged red as if tainted  by blood? Sanchez Cotan: orders  as Carthusian in 1603
Still Life with Lemons by Zurbaran (1633): Marian meanings    Roses:  symbol of the  Immaculate  Conception     Lemons: fidelity and  love     Orange blossoms:  purity  SPANISH STILL LIFE PAINTING—Religious interpretations
VELAZQUEZ: MADRID --Had gone to Madrid in 1622, trying to catch the attention  of the new king, Philip IV; he  was not successful --Returned to Madrid with the  same objective in 1623, but  with the backing of Seville  natives who had assumed  prominent positions in the  king’s court  --In October 1623 he is put on  the payroll as a royal painter and moves permanently to  Madrid    Madrid
THE COUNT-DUKE OLIVARES (GASPAR DE GUZMAN) Equestrian Portrait of  the Count-Duke Olivares by Velazquez (1634)
Las Meninas (1658-60) Velazequez: dies in  1660  VELAZQUEZ: IN QUEST OF NOBILITY—Las Meninas
VELAZQUEZ: IN QUEST OF NOBILITY—Las Meninas  Las Meninas (1658-60)     The red cross: symbol  of the Order of Santiago