More on Caravaggio
Caravaggio based a lot of his compositions on work by Michelangelo and the German printmaker Durer. I suspect he also studied some of the sculptures, perhaps the Dying Gaul. His influence is supposedly noted in the work of Rubens although I cannot see it. Rubens was a French painter of the court and specialized in elaborate portraiture of assorted moneyed people. He uses a lot of fat cherubs and ribbons and flowers and curlycues with a sweetness about his paintings that is certainly not present in Caravaggio’s work.
Rembrandt’s somber self-portraits are more in keeping with Caravaggio’s work with the darkened backgrounds, light focused on the face, and sumptuous clothing.
Unfortunately no photographs were allowed in this exhibit—and even if they had, all I would have had would have been backs of people’s heads.
