Caravaggio
We continue our special month with the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza collection with this amazing Caravaggio, which is a true Baroque masterpiece! Enjoy!
This painting was almost certainly commissioned in Rome by Caravaggio’s first patron, Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte. Captured in a strikingly natural pose, the figure of St Catherine has been identified as Fillide Melandroni, a celebrated courtesan of the time. She's wearing rich garments and gazes out at the viewer surrounded by the attributes of her martyrdom. The dramatic lighting of the scene creates a chiaroscuro effect characteristic of Caravaggio, whose approach to light and volume—evident in this canvas—was to have considerable impact both in Italy and throughout Europe.
Saint Catherine, richly dressed in robes befitting a princess, and kneeling on a cushion, seems to be looking directly at the viewer. The color range used for her garments, which combines blues and violets, is typical of northern Italian painting. The saint can be identified by her traditional attributes of the broken, spiked wheel, the sword with which she was beheaded, and the palm of martyrdom. The interplay of oblique lines established between the instruments of her torture, the slanting position of her body, the direction of her gaze and the ray of light that illuminates her figure create a highly successful composition in visual terms, to which the strong modelling created by the chiaroscuro undoubtedly contributes.
It has been noted that the light source falls in this work from the right, which is unusual in Caravaggio’s oeuvre. This detail has led to the suggestion that the painting was designed for a specific location, to which the artist adapted the composition, as in other paintings.
- Mar Borobia
P.S. Do you know how Caravaggio died? The answer is not easy, check it here.
P.P.S. Don't forget about our printed Weekly and Desk DailyArt Calendars for 2021, which you can buy in our Shop. We ship worldwide! : ) Check them out here: shop.dailyartmagazine.com.