Beginning life as a flower painter, Caravaggio soon turned his skill to subjects often reflecting his dissolute lifestyle and circle including gamblers, card sharps and fortune tellers, creating dramatic scenes with theatrical lighting effects that some scholars claim used darkroom techniques 200 years before the camera was invented. In 1600 he began public commissions and soon painters from France, Spain and the Low Countries were flocking to Rome to see his extraordinary works. Seduced by the power of his paintings, many great imitators sprang up. Caravaggio died at the age of 36 in mysterious circumstances. An anonymous comment on his life which describes him ‘swaggering about with a sword ever ready to engage in a fight or argument’ suggests his death was not accidental. Caravaggio’s greatest legacy is the power of his storytelling but for 300 years after his death, his reputation and fame were eclipsed. Beyond Caravaggio is the first major exhibition in the UK to explore his work and influence on contemporaries. It gives the National Gallery a chance to put its three much loved Caravaggios including Boy Bitten by a Lizard in the context of his extensive following. Visitors have a chance to see rarely exhibited works from many British collections including a masterpiece by French Caravaggesque painter, Georges de la Tour, The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs.
Until January 15th, 2017 at The National Gallery, London
www.nationalgallery.org.uk
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio Boy bitten by a Lizard, c.1594-5
