Liz calls yesterday the "Carravagio" Crawl. We visited 3 churches that boast of Caravaggio's paintings.
The first centers on the theme of St. Matthew. It is located in the Church of St. Louis the French. Check out this amazing work! This church was located in a high class neighborhood that had many wealthy people. Cardinal Delmonte invested in young artists and knew that Carravagio had tremendous talent. This work was completed in 1599 just before the Holy Year of 1600. Rome was preparing to be a city filled with pilgrims and this church's job was to preach conversion. He takes an ordinary scene of men gathered and look how the light emanates from the right window. No other background detail is necessary to tell this story. Matthew sees the light and leaves everything to follow Christ. After this series depicting Matthew's call, conversion and martyrdom Caravaggio would never return to ordinary paintings again. This work invites us to follow the light. Notice how the young man is seated on the bench with his feet not on the ground. Literally, Christ, through Peter, mesmerizes and strikes Matthew in such a way that he is literally brought off his feet.
The second visit was to St. Augustine Church. It is where this fascinating work called, "Madonna de Loreto" appears. Notice the two ordinary people to whom the Blessed Mother appears. They are ordinary people, dirty feet and all! Caravaggio was known to use ordinary folks like you and me to depict those blessed by divine visits. He caught a lot of flack for using ordinary prostitutes, farmers, and other local folks but his message was that God appears not only for the righteous and the holy, but to every day people like you and me. This painting is simply awesome not only in its' beauty but in its message also.
Finally, we visited Santa Maria del Popolo where Caravaggio was commissioned for several wonderful pieces to appear in the Cerasi Chapel. This piece depicting the Conversion of St. Paul is remarkable. The horse doesn't even seem to notice St. Paul but we can tell he is in shock. Further, the characters seem to be coming into the viewer's space. Caravaggio wanted us to feel as if we're right there with St. Paul. Notice the muscle development on both the horse and Paul - it's truly incredible. There is no need for background detail. We can tell - from the 3 characters in this story exactly what is going on. This is a moment of spiritual ecstasy and Paul lies with hands open to what God is calling him to do.
The first centers on the theme of St. Matthew. It is located in the Church of St. Louis the French. Check out this amazing work! This church was located in a high class neighborhood that had many wealthy people. Cardinal Delmonte invested in young artists and knew that Carravagio had tremendous talent. This work was completed in 1599 just before the Holy Year of 1600. Rome was preparing to be a city filled with pilgrims and this church's job was to preach conversion. He takes an ordinary scene of men gathered and look how the light emanates from the right window. No other background detail is necessary to tell this story. Matthew sees the light and leaves everything to follow Christ. After this series depicting Matthew's call, conversion and martyrdom Caravaggio would never return to ordinary paintings again. This work invites us to follow the light. Notice how the young man is seated on the bench with his feet not on the ground. Literally, Christ, through Peter, mesmerizes and strikes Matthew in such a way that he is literally brought off his feet.
The second visit was to St. Augustine Church. It is where this fascinating work called, "Madonna de Loreto" appears. Notice the two ordinary people to whom the Blessed Mother appears. They are ordinary people, dirty feet and all! Caravaggio was known to use ordinary folks like you and me to depict those blessed by divine visits. He caught a lot of flack for using ordinary prostitutes, farmers, and other local folks but his message was that God appears not only for the righteous and the holy, but to every day people like you and me. This painting is simply awesome not only in its' beauty but in its message also.
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