Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane

Also by Andrew Graham-Dixon

Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel

In the Picture: The Year through Art

Howard Hodgkin

A History of British Art

Renaissance

Paper Museum

Andrew Graham-Dixon

Caravaggio

A Life Sacred and Profane

W. W. Norton & Company
new york
•
london

To the memory of my mother, Sue, who first awoke
my love of reading, writing and looking at art

Contents

List of Illustrations and Illustration Acknowledgements

Maps: Milan, c. 1590; Rome, c. 1600;
Valletta,
c. 1607; Naples, c. 1610;
Italy, c. 1610

Preface and Acknowledgements

Part One: Milan, 1571–92

Part Two: Rome, 1592–5

Part Three: Rome, 1595–9

Part Four: Rome, 1599–1606

Part Five: The Alban Hills, Naples, Malta,
Sicily, Naples, Porto Ercole, 1606–10

Epilogue

Notes

Further Reading

Index

List of Illustrations

All works are by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610), unless otherwise stated.

1
.
Portrait of Caravaggio
by Ottavio Leoni (1578–1630),
c
. 1621
–
5 but clearly based on a life drawing originally done in
c.
1595
–
1606, Biblioteca Marucelliana, Florence, Italy. Photo: Scala, Florence. Drawing: black chalk heightened with white on blue paper, 9.2 x 6.4 in. (23.4 x 16.3 cm).

2
. The
sacro monte
at Varallo, Italy. Copyright
©
Sabine Tilly.

3
. The
sacro monte
at Varallo, Italy. Copyright
©
Sabine Tilly.

4
.
The Lamentation
by Guido Mazzoni (1450
–
1518), 1492, Church of Sant’Anna dei Lombardi, Naples, Italy. akg-images/De Agostini Picture Library. Terracotta.

5
.
Mary Magdalen
by Donatello (
c.
1386
–
1466), 1453
–
5, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Florence, Italy/The Bridgeman Art Library. Gilt wood, height 74 in. (188 cm).

6
.
Portrait of Carlo Borromeo
by Carlo Dolci (1616
–
86), Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas (octagonal), 36.8 x 30.3 in. (93.5 x 77 cm).

7
.
The Adoration of the Shepherds
by Simone Peterzano (1540
–
96), 1578
–
82, Charterhouse of Garegnano, Milan, Italy/Alinari/The Bridgeman Art Library. Fresco.

8
.
Venus and Anchises
, The Farnese Gallery (detail) by Annibale Carracci (1560
–
1609), begun 1597, Palazzo Farnese, Rome, Italy/The Bridgeman Art Library. Fresco.

9
.
Perseus and Andromeda
by Giuseppe Cesari (1568
–
1640), 1602, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on Canvas, 20.4 x 15 in. (51.8 x 38.2 cm).

10
.
Boy Peeling a Fruit
,
c.
1592
–
3, The Royal Collection © 2009, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Oil on canvas, 24 x 19 in. (61 x 48.3 cm).

11
.
Boy with a Basket of Fruit
,
c.
1593
–
4. Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy/ Alinari/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on Canvas, 27.6 x 26.4 in. (70 x 67 cm).

12
.
Boy Bitten by a Lizard
,
c.
1595, National Gallery, London, UK. © The National Gallery, 2010. Oil on canvas, 26 x 19.5 in. (66 x 49.5 cm).

13
.
Boy Bitten by a Crayfish
by Sofonisba Anguissola (1532
–
1625),
c.
1554, Museo di Capodimonte, Gabinetto dei Disegni, inv. 1030, Naples, Italy. Photo: Scala, Florence, courtesy of the Ministero Beni e Att. Culturali. Drawing.

14
.
Self-Portrait as Bacchus
,
c.
1593
–
4, Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy/Lauros/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on Canvas, 26.4 x 20.9 in. (67 x 53 cm).

15
.
Bacchus and Ariadne
by Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) (
c.
1488
–
1576),
1520
–
23, National Gallery, London, UK. © The National Gallery,
2010. Oil on canvas, 69.5 x 75.2 in. (176.5 x 191 cm).

16
.
The Cardsharps
, 1595, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas, USA/Art Resource, NY/Scala, Florence. Oil on canvas, 37
1
⁄
8
x 51
5
⁄
8
in. (94.2 x 30.9 cm).

17
.
The Gypsy Fortune-Teller
, 1595, Pinacoteca Capitolina, Palazzo Conservatori, Rome, Italy/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 59.5 x 45.7 in. (151.2 x 116 cm).

18
.
Portrait of Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte
by Ottavio Leoni (1578
–
1603), 1616, Museum Purchase, Collection of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, The State Art Museum of Florida, a division of Florida State University, USA. Drawing: black chalk heightened with white on blue paper, 9 x 6½ in. (22.9 x 16.5 cm).

19
.
The Palazzo Madama
by Giuseppe Vasi (1710
–
82). Engraving.

20
.
Medusa
,
c.
1598, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy. Photo: Scala, Florence, courtesy of the Ministero Beni e Att. Culturali. Oil on canvas attached to wood, diameter 22 in (55.5 cm).

21
.
The Musicians
,
c.
1595
–
6, Metropolitan Museum of Art/Art Resource/Scala, Florence, Italy. Oil on canvas, 36¼ x 46
5
⁄
8
in. (92.1 x 118.4 cm).

22
.
Le Concert Champêtre
by Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) (
c.
1488
–
1576)
,
c.
1510, Louvre, Paris, France/Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 41.3 x 53.9 in. (105 x 137 cm).

23
.
Concert
by Callisto Piazza (1500
–
1561), 1520, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA/Art Resource/Scala, Florence. John G. Johnson Collection, 1917. Oil on panel 35
5
⁄
8
x 35¾ in (90.5 x 90.8 cm).

24
.
The Lute Player
,
c.
1596, Hermitage, St Petersburg, Russia/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 37 x 46.9 in. (94 x 119 cm).

25
.
Basket of Fruit
,
c.
1596
–
8, Ambrosiana, Milan, Italy/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 12.2 x 18.5 in. (31 x 47 cm).

26
.
The Penitent Magdalen
,
c.
1595
–
6, Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome, Italy/Alinari/ The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 48.2 x 38.8 in. (122.5 x 98.5 cm).

27
.
St Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy
,
c.
1596, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, USA/Art Resource NY/Scala, Florence. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1943.222. Oil on canvas, 36
5
⁄
8
x 50¼ in. (92.5 x 127.8 cm).

28
.
The Rest on the Flight to Egypt
,
c.
1595
–
6, Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome, Italy/ Alinari/ The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 53.3 x 65.6 in. (135.5 x 166.5 cm).

29
.
The Judgement of Hercules
by Annibale Carracci (1560
–
1609),
c.
1595
–
6, Museo e Gallerie Nazionali di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas 65.7 x 93.3 in. (167 x 237 cm).

30
.
Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto
,
c.
1598
–
9, Casino dell’Aurora, Villa Boncompagni Ludovisi, Rome, Italy/akg-images/Andrea Jemolo. Ceiling painting in oil, 124.4 x 59.8 in. (316 x 152 cm).

31
.
Bacchus
,
c.
1597
–
8, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy/Alinari/ The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 36.6 x 33.5 in. (93 x 85 cm).

32
.
Martha and Mary Magdalen
,
c.
1598, Detroit Institute of Arts, USA/Gift of the Kresge Foundation and Mrs Edsel B. Ford/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil and tempera on canvas, 38.5 x 52.2 in. (97.8 x 132.7 cm).

33
.
St Catherine
, 1599, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. Photo: Scala, Florence. Oil on canvas, 68.1 x 52.4 in. (173 x 133 cm).

34
.
Portrait of Fillide Melandroni
,
c.
1598, Gemäldegalerie des Kaiser-Friedrich Museum, Berlin, Germany, inv. 356 (destroyed in 1945). Photo: Scala, Florence/BPK, Bildagentur für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, Berlin, Germany. Oil on canvas, 26 x 20.9 in. (66 x 53 cm).

35
.
Judith and Holofernes
, 1598
–
9, Palazzo Barberini, Rome, Italy/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 57.1 x 76.8 in. (145 x 195 cm).

36
.
The Entombment
, 1604, Vatican Museums and Galleries, Vatican City, Italy/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 118.1 x 79.9 in. (300 x 203 cm).

37
.
Pietà
by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475
–
1564), 1499, Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican, Rome, Italy/The Bridgeman Art Library. Marble, 68.5 x 79.8 in. (174 x 195 cm).

38
.
The Calling of St Matthew
, 1599
–
1600, Contarelli Chapel (left-hand-side wall), San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, Italy/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on panel, 126.8 x 133.9 in. (322 x 340 cm).

39
.
The Creation of Adam
(detail, post-restoration) by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475
–
1564), 1511
–
12, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Italy. Fresco, 110.2 x 224.4 in. (280 x 570 cm).

40
.
The Martyrdom of St Matthew
, 1599
–
1600, Contarelli Chapel (right-hand-side wall), San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, Italy/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 127.2 x 135 in. (323 x 343 cm).

41
.
The Conversion of St Paul
(first version), 1600
–
1601, Palazzo Odescalchi, Collection of Principessa Nicoletta Odescalchi, Rome, Italy. Photo: Scala, Florence. Oil on cypress, 90.6 x 68.9 in. (230 x 175 cm).

42
.
The Crucifixion of St Peter
, 1600
–
1601, Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, Italy/Alinari/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 90.6 x 68.9 in. (230 x 175 cm).

43
. The Cerasi Chapel (front view), Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, Italy.
©
Archivo Fotografico, Soprintendenza Speciale per il Patrimonio Storico Artistico ed Etnoantropologico e per il Polo Museale della Citt
à
di Roma.

44
.
The Conversion of St Paul
(second version), 1600
–
1601, Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, Italy/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 90.6 x 68.9 in. (230 x 175 cm).

45
.
The Supper at Emmaus
, 1601, National Gallery, London, UK. © The National Gallery, 2010. Oil on tempera on canvas, 55.5 x 77.4 in. (141 x 196.2 cm).

46
.
St
John the Baptist
, 1602, Musei Capitolini, Rome, Italy. Photo: Scala, Florence. Oil on canvas, 50.8 x 37.4 in. (129 x 95 cm).

47
.
Ignudo
(detail, post-restoration) by Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475
–
1564), 1511
–
12, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Italy/Bridgeman Art Library. Fresco.

48
.
The Betrayal of Christ
, 1602, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. With kind permission of the Jesuit community, who acknowledge the generosity of Dr Marie Lee Wilson. Oil on canvas, 52.6 x 66.7 in. (133.5 x 169.5 cm).

49
.
Street Scene
by Francesco Villamena (1564
–
1624), 1601, British Museum, London, UK. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Engraving, 13.6 x 19.5 in. (34.5 x 49.5 cm).

50
.
St Matthew and the Angel
(first version), 1602, Gemäldegalerie des Kaiser-Friedrich Museum, Berlin, Germany, inv. 365 (destroyed in 1945). Photo: Scala, Florence/BPK, Bildagentur für Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, Berlin, Germany. Oil on canvas, 87.8 x 72 in. (223 x 183 cm).

51
.
St Matthew and the Angel
(second version), 1602, Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, Italy/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 116 x 76 ¾ in. (295 x 195 cm).

52
.
The Death of the Virgin
, 1606, Louvre, Paris, France/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 145¼ x 96½ in. (369 x 245 cm).

53
.
The Death of the Virgin
by Carlo Saraceni (1579
–
1620), 1610, Church of Santa Maria della Scala, Rome, Italy. Photo: Scala, Florence/Fondo Edifici di Culto- Min. dell’Interno. Oil on canvas, 180.7 x 107.5 in. (459 x 273 cm).

54
.
Doubting Thomas
,
c.
1603, Schloss Sanssouci, Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany/Alinari/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 42.1 x 57.5 in. (107 x 146 cm).

55
.
The Sacrifice of Isaac
, 1603, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy/Alinari/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 40.9 x 53.1 in. (104 x 135 cm).

56
.
Omnia vincit amor
, 1602, Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, Germany/Alinari/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 61.4 x 44.5 in. (156 x 113 cm).

57
.
Divine Love
by Giovanni Baglione (1566
–
1644), 1602, Palazzo Barberini, Rome, Italy/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 94.5 x 56.3 in. (240 x 143 cm).

58
. Study for
The Resurrection
by Giovanni Baglione (1566
–
1644),
c.
1602
–
3, Louvre, Paris, France/Lauros/Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas, 33.8 x 22.2 in. (86 x 56.5 cm).