Caravaggio essays

Caravaggio essays Caravaggio is considered to be one of the most acclaimed painters of all time, and his painting The Calling of St. Matthew is my favorite of all his work. He was born in 1573 in Italy. His is the son of an architect and steward. We dont know much of his childhood, but we do know that he was orphaned at the age of 11. Later that year he became an apprentice to painter Simone Peterzano of Milan, who is known for works such as La Nativita. At the age of 17 Caravaggio set out to Rome. He was bright, intuitive, and eager to learn. He understood the Venetian style of painting, he knew what the Venetians were all about, but did not find the Venetian style fulfilling. He took the defining elements of the Venetian style, opposition of Florentine painting, and picked up a style that was a nearer representation to natural events. Caravaggio invented a painting style based on chiaroscuro in which areas of shadow and light contrast sharply called tenebrism. Caravaggios painting The Calling of St. Matthew was completed in 1600 and took about a year to finish. It is representational and ecclesiastical. There is a system of lines that relate to the space of the painting. The vertical edge of the shutter is exactly in the middle of the painting. It splits the painting into two almost equal halves, with four people to the right, and three to the left. The way the light entering the room from the top right corner, to the middle of the painting gives a sense a diagonal symmetry but also adds the vertical symmetry because the shadow ends in the center of the painting. Even though I feel as if there is a system of lines, most scholars say that there is a rejection of axille symmetry. Baroque art built up on Renaissance techniques and ideas but at the same time it moved away from these ideas. The baroque style was interested in beauty in new ways such as shape shadow and line. Symmetry was out, light...