Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane (3 page)

13.
Boy Bitten by a Crayfish
by Sofonisba Anguissola.

14.
Self-Portrait as Bacchus.
‘The picture has a sorceror’s apprentice feel to it, with hints of illicit goings on . . .’

15.
Bacchus and Ariadne
by Titian.

16.
The Cardsharps.
A young aristocrat is cheated by two feral and predatory conmen.

17.
The Gypsy Fortune-Teller.
‘A sweet siren, she enchants with smooth incantations.’

18.
Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte
by Ottavio Leoni. Friend to writers, musicians, artists and scientists, del Monte was Caravaggio’s first patron.

19. The Palazzo Madama in Rome, where Caravaggio lived for several years under del Monte’s protection.

20.
Medusa.
‘Whomsoever she looks at, she freezes. From the flux of life she takes a moment and makes it last for all time. That is what Caravaggio does too. Her magic is his magic, a petrifying art.’

21.
The Musicians.
By painting a rehearsal instead of an actual performance, Caravaggio went behind the scenes of the traditional concert picture.

22.
Le Concert Champêtre
by Titian. Music in the pastoral mode.

23.
Concert
by Callisto Piazza. Music as erotic stimulus.

24.
The Lute Player.
This may be Pedro Montoya, a castrato favoured by del Monte. His swollen cheeks are consistent with the hormonal effects of castration.

25.
Basket of Fruit.
Caravaggio’s only surviving pure still life painting.