I’ve always admired Caravaggio’s passionate paintings, style, and dark sense of humor. His pioneering Baroque style, rich colors, and really dark shadows always strike a chord in my brain/heart. Caravaggio was a controversial figure, known for his volatile lifestyle, and gritty, realistic style of portraying sacred subjects. On the subject of self portraits, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio stands out. Like many artists, Caravaggio inserted his own likeness into paintings, whether they were for personal study or commissions. The following are a few of Caravaggio’s paintings that I consider self portraits in likeness and portrayal of persona or state of being.
Young Sick Bacchus (1593)
Caravaggio painted the Young Sick Bacchus in his first years in Rome. Caravaggio became ill for about six months in Rome with a possible type of malaria and liver problem–thus, the jaundiced skin color and eye aberration in the painting. It’s appealing to me because of the way he portrays personal experience, feelings, and struggles into a formal presentation (a portrait with functional purpose). He possibly used this painting as a way to promote himself as an artist. It depicts skill in portraiture, classical figures and still life painting, as well as his style and gritty naturalism.
I think it’s very personal and perhaps self-aware that Caravaggio portrays himself as the god, Bacchus, who represented wine harvest, ritual madness, fertility, and religious ecstasy, and was associated with drunkenness and indulgence. Caravaggio lived a short, tumultuous life of indulgence, and I think it’s interesting that he painted the irony of himself as a ill, indulgent man-boy of a god.
The Musicians (1595)
It’s said that the boy to the right in the shadows is a possible self portrait from Caravaggio. However, the two boys in the center look very much alike. You might also say that the boys on either end whose faces aren’t as clear might also be self portraits, but that might be stretching it.
The lighting illuminates each figure, bringing attention to the face. Although this is a painting for Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte who hosted concerts and housed musicians and artists in his palace (including Caravaggio), Caravaggio might have integrated a self-study into this portrayal of musician boys. Music, wine, and love intertwine in the portrait and might’ve reflected his own personal style of sensual and sensory fulfillment, as well as a comfortable state of mind at the time.
The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula (1610)
This is considered Caravaggio’s last or one of his last paintings before his death. He had been commissioned to paint the Saint Ursula subject by a nobleman, Marcantonio Doria, when Caravaggio was attacked by four men and rumors spread that he might have died or was disfigured. However, the painting is almost like an “I’m still here” statement as Caravaggio himself stands with his face up, behind the discolored, ill-fated Urusula, who has just been shot with an arrow. Caravaggio’s places himself in such a way that he is a the witness to the death, and also a resurrecting figure from the attack. Perhaps a response to the rumors?
The lighting once again cuts across the image, illuminating the faces, placing emphasis on the main subject, Ursula. I consider it a self portrait because Caravaggio makes his face clearly lit with an expression that fits the scene and the situation happening in his own life.
