Caravaggio’s Biblical Artworks as a Part of Baroque Movement

This piece was created by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, better known as ‘Caravaggio’. Caravaggio was born on the 29th of September 1571 in Milan, Duchy of Milan which at the time was ruled by the Spanish Empire. He was an Italian painter, who spent most of his time painting in Rome until the final years of his life where he travelled around until his death on the 18th of July 1610, when he died at the age of 38 years old in Porto Ercole. Caravaggio was famous for illustrating paintings of the scriptures of the Bible which were often seen as bloody scenes. In many of Caravaggio pieces we see him put emphasis on the mistreatment of Christ and his followers including the disciples and Saints, by making their dirty feet and clothes more prominent in his paintings, In order to catch our attention and help us emphasize and improve our understanding of the Bible stories more clearly . Early influences also helped to shape Caravaggio as a painter, including the influence of Borromeo and his master; Simone Peterzano. Caravaggio’s work show a various range of styles, from portraits to self portraits and historical to biblical themes. ‘His paintings combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, which had a formative influence on Baroque painting’. Caravaggio is best known for his paintings of The calling of St Matthew, Judith Beheading Holofernes and The Entombment of Christ.

The Entombment of Christ is considered to be one of Caravaggio’s most famous paintings. ‘Caravaggio created one of his most admired altar pieces , The Entombment of Christ in 1603-1604’. His painting of The Entombment of Christ measured in the format of 300 cm x 203 cm. Caravaggio originally painted The Entombment of Christ as an altar piece for the St Philips Neri’s church in Rome. This painting emphasizes the human sorrow which could also act as a reminder of the religious symbol of everlasting life. Caravaggio created this painting intentionally with no background or landscape as a clever ploy in order to draw your attention into the main scene by using an almost spotlight effect. ‘Caravaggios style of painting is easily recognizable for its realism and the emphasis on the co-extensive space.’ In terms of structure and composition , Caravaggio used this aspect cleverly in his piece to ensure that The Christ’s limp body was at the centre in the painting , in turn drawing the viewers eyes to his suffering. Here we see the moment that Jesus Christ is being lowered into his tomb .Caravaggio positioned a group of mourners slightly diagonally over the Christ’s body on a slab of stone. ‘We see that the figures form a diagonal line – another very common feature of Baroque art. In the high renaissance, we saw diagnonals’. The painting shows five people , ‘That included Nicodemus, Saint John , Mary Magdalene the virgin Mary and another woman however it is not clear who it is’.

Caravaggio created this beautiful painting in the medium of an oil painting onto a canvas. This style of medium has been around since the 7th century and was very popular during this era and was used by many other artists at the time including artists like, Leonardo da Vinci and Picasso. Oil paintings are still used persistently as time goes on. One of the main reasons why they are used so often is due to the fact that they allow a smoother blend especially when it comes to mixing colours to allow you to achieve the desired shade. Typically oil paints are known to have more pigment in them which allows for the colours to be more vibrant , this in turn may be why Caravaggio chose this as his preferred medium as we see that most of his paintings include these vivid colours. In terms of colour, we see that Caravaggio used this to his advantage in order to draw the eye to his painting. At first glance i am immediately drawn towards the vibrant red , of what looks to be a cloak. Red is known as one of the boldest colours in the spectrum , which is often used to signal danger or love. Hence why Caravaggio may have used it as it reflects Jesus’ love for us during his sacrifice. ‘ Arguably, the most important colour symbol in the Bible is red. Red is the colour of blood. In the New Testament, Jesus's sacrifice, often employs the imagery of blood. The flash of colour from this painting nearly jumps off the canvas as they stand out from the darker tones of the rest of the piece. Caravaggio also plays with the tone of this piece by adding shadows and highlights to again add to the realism effect. While examining the piece closely you can see how Caravaggio paid attention to detail by using small but discreet brushstrokes with curved lines throughout the individuals faces in order to achieve a more realistic look.

This painting reflects the moments before Jesus is placed into his tomb which comes from the scriptures of the bible .From observing this famous painting by Caravaggio i noticed that the body of Jesus Christ was clean from blood, however, you can see a wound on his side. Caravaggio may have highlighted this wound in order for us to identify the suffering that Jesus went through for us. Moreover, while examining the figures we can see the raw emotion on their faces that reflect sorrow. The artist may have intended on this , in order for us to relate to his work more. Once again this only adds to the realism effect of this painting.

My first impression when i saw this artwork, was that it was a very eye catching and realsitic piece. The vibrant colours immediately grasped hold of my attention, making me more intrigued to examine it more. The artist does well to show the figures emotion in his piece which in turn attracts the observe and leaves a lasting impression. I also feel that Caravaggio does this cleverly as a way to experience the feeling of sorrow through how realistic the piece is. As a Christian I feel as though I can relate to this painting as it helps me to remember the suffering that our Lord went through for us.

To conclude, I find the whole concept of Baroque art very interesting, especially how Caravaggio used it in the concept to make the observer physically feel what the characters experienced which allows you to connect with the piece. Caravaggio’s biblical paintings help to illustrate scenes from the bible which also help to deepen our understanding of past historical events which therefore help to make his pieces more interesting. Moreover, His paintings also reflects the hard work and dedication that he spent creating these beautiful pieces.