Caravaggio and Baroque
Stuck in Beauty
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During the Renaissance many people and scholars became intrigued with Greek philosophy, arts, and stories. When the Baroque era followed the Renaissance, interest in Greek works had not dimmed among the curious. One of these interests had to do with mythology. Although the Baroque era was full of discovered scientific knowledge. Such as gossip of the world being round, the discovery of bacteria, and the beginning of understanding astronomy! This didn’t stop art from portraying very theatrical stories and myths. In fact a very popular art technique was created in the Baroque Era called Tenebrism. This style accentuates light & dark in a painting, creating a very dramatic feeling and directing the eye to the subject of drama. In the Baroque era you can see this style being used in paintings of bible stories, still life, and portraits. But, today I am going to focus on a painting by Caravaggio named the “Narcissus” housed in the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica in Rome (that’s a mouthful). This painting displays beautiful tenebrism and a story based on Greek mythology. Caravaggio painted the story of “Narcissus” between 1597 and 1599 during the end of the Renaissance, leading artists into the Baroque Era with his mastering of tenebrism.
The Story
The story of Narcissus displayed is a very dramatic and sad one. Narcissus was a beautiful demigod in his youth who couldn’t seem to find anyone to compare to his beauty, so he couldn’t love anyone besides himself. He was the eye of all maidens and creatures around. One day a nymph named Echo fell deeply in love with Narcissus and followed him. When Narcissus noticed her, Echo reached out to hug him, but he pushed her away disgusted with her gesture of love. Broken hearted by Narcissus' rejection, Echo wandered the woods until her existence crumbled and all that was left was her echo.
When Nemesis the god of retribution and revenge heard of Narcissus’ cold heart towards Echo, she brought him to a pool of water. Narcissus enamored by his beauty could not look away from his reflection. He attempted to kiss his own reflection but the ripples disrupted the water and scared his reflection away. So Narcissus refrained from touching the water but couldn't leave it. Entranced by himself, Narcissus died of thirst and starvation for he couldnt leave his reflection behind or drink the water and scare his reflection away.
The Elements
What caught my eye first in this painting was Narcissus' knee. I couldn't tell what it was at my first glance because of the way Caravaggio used his lighting and tenebrism in the piece. I don’t know if I like the way that he has one knee exposed and one knee covered by his pant leg. It made it confusing to try and understand what was going on. But, I think had he left the other knee uncovered it would've looked wrong and if he covered both, the color of the pants would've taken away from the contrast that tenebrism brought to the piece. I was also confused at the posture that Narcissus was in and his reflection. But, I wouldn't change it because although at the first glance I didn’t know what I was looking at. It caught my attention and asked my brain to put together what was happening. Then it asked me to figure out the story behind the piece. These are two questions that I think every piece of art work should ask their audience. I am stunned by his use of shadows and highlights in the reflection that is displayed in the water. It is faint but it is strong. I can’t deny Caravaggio’s geniusness in tenebrism and mannerism. Caravaggio’s very Renaissance and Baroque style of art can be seen in many of his pieces throughout his lifetime. He truly was a pioneer in the arts of his generation. But, by far Narcissus is my favorite. This piece strayed away from the biblical stories that were being commissioned by the Council of Trent, it didn’t display some scientific discovery, or a still life painting of a bowl of fruit. It told a myth in a very theatrical way, it gave me a window to the moment that Narcissus was stuck in time, stuck in his beauty.
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I was also really confused by this painting at first. I see that the knee being uncovered adds artistic appeal, but I wonder if there is more to the story. Maybe he ripped it during the journey? I have heard of this story before and I did not know that there was a painting to go along with it, very interesting!
ReplyDeleteWow you made an awesome post, I learned a lot from this! I gave this painting a good look before reading your write up and I have to agree with you that for some reason the knee was one of the first things I noticed. I think this is a unique body position that the artist really thought out and did a great job executing. The reflection is the second thing I noticed. I don’t think the piece could be the same without it and the artist did a great job showing depth and contrast with the chosen color tones.
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