Italian Art in a Nutshell

Once upon a time I was an Art History major - before I got practical and switched to Medieval History.  Maybe that's why I look forward to Kris Killen Olberding's regular posts on her Facebook page. She, too, was once upon a time an Art History Major, is very smart and has excellent taste.  Recently I asked if she might write something specifically about Italian artists and she was kind enough to share her favorite painting.

Conversion on the Way to Damascus

 

For my friends at School Amici 

"Conversion on the Way to Damascus," 1601, by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. One of the most brilliant painters of the early Italian Baroque period, Caravaggio was born in Lombardy and later moved to Rome, where he soon became celebrated for his vigorous and highly theatrical style, which brought a revolutionary humanity to his religious subject matter. He is credited with creating Tenebrism (from the Italian “tenebroso” meaning dark or gloomy), a technique which emphasizes violent contrasts of light and dark, with the dominant darkness accentuated by piercing illumination. Further cementing his rock star status, Caravaggio was also known for his swaggering personal life. The infamous painter was jailed several times, involved in many brawls, accused of killing a man in a sword fight, and had a death warrant issued against him by the Pope, forcing him to flee to southern Italy. While in exile, he died mysteriously of a fever at the age of 38, still hoping for a pardon. This painting resides in Rome at the church of Santa Maria del Popolo.