"He had a dark complexion and dark eyes and his eyebrows and hair were black: this colouring was naturally reflected in his paintings" Bellori, 1672
It seems extraordinary to us now but Caravaggio has only recaptured his former fame and attention in the last 100 years. Until the beginning of the 20th century, he was forgotten or dismissed.
Caravaggio was working in Rome at the time of the Counter Reformation - a period defined by the resurgence of the catholic church in response to the rise of protestantism across Europe. This was a fight for people’s money as much as their souls and catholicism expanded dramatically, both geographically and culturally. Recognised for its power to instruct and seduce, art was weaponised by the church and artists were the Mad Men of the era - masters and mistresses of propaganda and persuasion.
Caravaggio's Taking of Christ, in Dublin, is a characteristically crowded, claustrophobic composition, in which he deploys light in the same way he wielded the sword that rarely left his side. That is, with great precision and to devastating effect. Like a great film director, he knew how to light a picture to guide the viewer to an understanding of the scene. The figures here are pushed right up into the foreground of the painting, almost merging with our own space, so that we feel part of the action, part of the drama.
The contrasting faces of Jesus and Judas, each in their own state of agony, are placed against the billowing blood-red drapery of St John's cloak, as if to amplify the human tragedy captured here. Christ accepts his fate whilst acknowledging its implications - his clasped hands at the bottom of the picture are a masterclass in vulnerability and torment. Judas has almost certainly realised the emptiness of material gain as he grasps Jesus in his embrace of betrayal. The man carrying the lantern at the right hand side has been identified as a self portrait of the artist. Caravaggio knew what is was like to witness, and to instigate, violence. He spent the last four years of his life effectively on the run, following his murder of Ranuccio Tomassoni in 1606.
Caravaggio's affecting dramas and emotional manipulation of his audience had a huge impact on film directors in the 20th century, eager to manipulate the cinematic effects of light. Devotees include Ingmar Bergman, Fritz Lang, Orson Welles and Francis Ford Coppola; the last most notably in The Godfather (1972) which explores Caravaggian themes of sin and retribution.
As the days get shorter and the evenings start to darken, my next talk is on the extraordinary life and work of Caravaggio and how his dramatic and revolutionary treatment of light has influenced artists over the course of the last 400 years.
I do hope you can make it to one of the dates.
** Tuesday 4th October, 7.30pm. Abbotts Ann Village Hall £10 - glass of wine included
**Thursday 3rd November, 10.30am. Penton Mewsey Village Hall
£10 - refreshments included
To book a ticket in advance please email me at tangerinearttalks@gmail.com
Tickets will also be sold on the door.
** Image credits
Detail from The Martyrdom of St Matthew, 1600-1 - Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
The Taking of Christ, 1602 - National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
Still from The Godfather, 1972 - Paramount Pictures
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