Caravaggio - Salome Receives the Head of Saint John the Baptist [1607-10]

Caravaggio - Salome Receives the Head of Saint John the Baptist [1607-10], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

The subject is from the New Testament. Salome had danced so well for King Herod that he swore he would grant her any request. Her mother, Herodias, who sought revenge on John the Baptist, persuaded Salome to ask for his head. The old woman behind Salome may be Herodias. This is a late work by the artist, painted in the last three years of his life, perhaps in Naples where he resided from 1609 to 1610. No longer concerned with the incidentals of the narrative, Caravaggio focuses on the essential human tragedy of the story.

Born Michelangelo Merisi, Caravaggio (1571-1610) is the name of the artist's home town in Lombardy in northern Italy. In 1592 at the age of 21 he moved to Rome, Italy's artistic centre and an irresistible magnet for young artists keen to study its classical buildings and famous works of art. The first few years were a struggle. He specialised in still lifes of fruits and flowers, and later, half length figures which he sold on the street. In 1595, his luck changed. An eminent Cardinal, Francesco del Monte, recognised the young painter's talent and took Caravaggio into his household. Through the cardinal's circle of acquaintance, Caravaggio received his first public commissions which were so compelling and so innovative that he became a celebrity almost overnight.

[Oil on canvas, 91.5 x 106.7 cm]

Caravaggio - Medusa [1595-98]

Caravaggio - Medusa [1595-98], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

In 1598 Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte gave this painting to the Grand Duke Ferdinando I. It was put in the Armory of the Uffizi without any attribution; in 1631 it was registered as a work by Caravaggio and was displayed as part of a suit of Persian Armor worn by a mannequin seated on a wooden horse. The Medusa is painted on canvas applied to a wooden shield. The subject is mythological referring to the shield from Athena which was cunningly used to exploit the the Medusa's power to petrify people. This iconography was often used by the Medici to represent their military power. Rather than use ancient sculpture for inspiration, the painter captures the expression on the Medusa's face, deformed as it is in horror at having been beheaded while even the mane of serpents writhes in all directions; it is the passing moment between life and death.

[Oil on canvas, diametre 55 cm]

Caravaggio - The Supper at Emmaus [1601]

Caravaggio - The Supper at Emmaus [1601], originally uploaded by Gandalf's Gallery.

Two of Jesus' disciples were walking to Emmaus after the Crucifixion when the resurrected Jesus himself drew near and went with them, but they did not recognise him. At supper that evening in Emmaus '... he took bread, and blessed it, and brake and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.' Christ is shown at the moment of blessing the bread and revealing his true identity to the two disciples. 

Caravaggio's innovative treatment of the subject makes this one of his most powerful works. The depiction of Christ is unusual in that he is beardless and great emphasis is given to the still life on the table. The intensity of the emotions of Christ's disciples is conveyed by their gestures and expression. The viewer too is made to feel a participant in the event. The picture was commissioned by the Roman nobleman Ciriaco Mattei in 1601. Caravaggio painted a second, more subdued version of The Supper at Emmaus about five years after this work.

[Oil and tempera on canvas, 141 x 196.2 cm]