Whatever our feelings about the approach of the Italian painter Carracci at the end of the 16th century, caravaggio and his supporters in the 17th century undoubtedly did not have a high opinion of it, and the relationship between the two painters was indeed very good- for Caravaggio, which was very rare, because he was wild-tempered, angry at every turn, and even stabbed people with daggers, but Caravaggio's work was different from Carrachi's path, Caravaggio believed that fear of ugliness seemed to be a despicable problem, he wanted to be real, As real as he saw it, he did not like classical models in the slightest, nor did he attach the slightest importance to "ideal beauty", whether it was depicting women or men.
It is precisely because Caravaggio does not like classical models and does not attach importance to "ideal beauty", resulting in the paintings in his pen have been causing various controversies, as the patron of religious institutions believe that some paintings are too realistic and profane, Caravaggio's "too realistic" is a deep portrayal of the character's psychology, not a delicate and delicate modification to depict the external image of the characters, Caravaggio's creation is to turn the focus to the real scene of real life, and use a contrasting chiaroscuro method in the painting to render the atmosphere, so that the viewer has a kind of "immersive" The real feeling is as if you are a participant in the events of the characters in the painting.
Caravaggio's stubborn personality, never caring whether people think that the picture is "beautiful or not", he has to faithfully depict nature, this "naturalistic" attitude is more religious than Karachi's attitude of emphasizing beauty, Caravaggio reads the Bible repeatedly before creating paintings with religious themes, thinking deeply about its words, which is much like the great artists of Giotto and Dürer before, who regard the sacred events in the Bible as if they happened in the neighbor's house, and can witness those sacred events, such as the "Death of the Virgin". All the people in the painting are in the home of an ordinary person, not in a sacred church,
Caravaggio works
And the Virgin in the painting is modeled on a local prostitute, she is also the painter's lover, which is to completely "personify" the Virgin, to show her as a middle-aged woman in the human world, with a swollen abdomen and bare legs and feet, this painting is rejected by the ordered church because it is too realistic, the church believes that Caravaggio depicts not a virgin with divine power, but a middle-aged woman with seven passions and six desires, the dead Virgin, caravaggio wants to express that religious theological ideas are dead, and the desires of human nature have been resurrected. Caravaggio, with his method of light and shade, has made the characters in ancient scriptures look more real and more tangible,
Although those religious theocracy rejected caravaggio's works, but did not affect Caravaggio's influence in the painting world, there are a large number of painters who admire Caravaggio very much, for example, the same 17th century female painter Zhentileschi, male painters Rembrandt, Rubens, Latour, etc., they are good at absorbing Caravaggio's chiaroscuro method, so as to create dramatic pictures, shocking paintings, it is worth noting that Caravaggio's light does not make the body of the character look beautiful and soft, Instead, it makes the light dazzling, almost dazzling, in contrast to the deep shadows.
Caravaggio's position in the entire history of Western art is also immeasurable, on the effect of light and shadow, he can be compared with the "Three Masters of the European Renaissance", Caravaggio with the "human fireworks" light and shadow effect, ending the religious atmosphere of religious paintings, the light he uses is so stubborn and faithful to highlight the whole strange scene, the degree of fidelity at that time few people can appreciate, but it has a decisive influence on future generations of artists. Let's go back to the female oil painting "The Death of the Virgin", the light sprinkles from the upper left corner, shines on the dead Virgin, covering the weeping Madeleine, the light turns dark around maderena, representing endless sorrow, the Virgin is completely "personified", the religious figure is completely "personified", without the slightest breath of God. Caravaggio was the first person in the history of Western art, and Raphael only "pro-people" the Virgin Mary, still with the breath of God.
Caravaggio's Death of the Virgin