Caravaggio’s Early Works: Paintings from 1594-1596
The Fortune Teller
(1594-1595)
The version in the Louvre, created after the one in the Capitoline Museum, is considered to be a companion piece to The Cardsharps. The gypsy is richly dressed. The first version has a more mischievous expression, while the second portrays a more beautiful subject. Both figures smile gently, as if accepting their fate. The lighting is more carefully rendered than in the Louvre version, with the focus consistently on the figures. We can see how this gentleman is richly dressed in velvet.
The Lute Player
(1595)
The theme of music developed while Caravaggio was living with Cardinal del Monte. The first image was made for the Marquis Justiniani Vicencio. Several music-related pictures, often with themes of love, were created to decorate the Cardinal’s room. The musical scores that appear are authentic and were used in the Cardinal’s house. They belonged to musicians and poets of the 16th century. These pictures combine music with still life, vanitas, and the passage of time, a theme that obsessed Caravaggio since his early works. This beautiful girl is as gorgeous as the fruits that are aging; the passage of time was a constant theme in the Baroque period. We see an influence of still life. The youth represented are from the time of castration; effeminate young men were sought after by the courts for their special voices. The figure appears behind the table, referencing music in general. The objects are meticulously crafted, including the cello, violin, and flowers, along with the central figure. These figures appear foreshortened, with robes reminiscent of the Roman world. This timeless clothing contributes to the illusionistic quality of the scene. The characters are repeated, suggesting that they were people who lived with him and whom he portrayed. Their eyebrows are similar, and they look at the viewer, but with a slightly lost gaze.
The Musicians (also known as Concert of Youths)
(1596)
Also painted for Cardinal del Monte. A figure in the background is believed to be a self-portrait, resembling the Young Man Bitten by a Lizard and similar in pose to the Sick Bacchus, with a bare shoulder and bowed head. Music is represented by another young man in the center, with another shirt in front of him. In the corner, a young man holds a book of sheet music. Behind this central figure is a young man representing Eros, with arrows and wings that are lost in the black background. Light reflections are visible on the wings, representing the child Eros or love. A bunch of grapes is also included, reflecting pleasure in these gatherings (and the pleasure of food). Everything is cut in the foreground, and the artist plays with the young man in the center’s knee, creating depth, especially as the young man leads us back to the center and Eros. Light marks a diagonal that crosses the hand with the musical instrument and Caravaggio’s head, creating a set of diagonals in a symmetrical composition. Color is practically non-existent, apart from the red flesh of the young and sensual figures, their nakedness emphasized by the white robes surrounding them. The music stands out with a huge red mantle, derived from the red cloaks of Titian in the Venetian school.
Precedents
From the beginning of the Italian Renaissance, Ghiberti, especially in the Sacrifice of Isaac (1402), used accompanying servants at the foot of the table to create space. If all the figures were in the front, everything would remain on a single plane. This technique is also seen in the door of the Baptistery, in the scene of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, with figures in the background in the foreground.
Religious Themes
Caravaggio’s early religious works were not made for public places but for collectors. As such, they initially resembled genre paintings but gradually shifted to a more dramatic treatment, a “grand manner” with larger figures. He abandoned the everyday and anecdotal, seeking figurative realism coupled with a refined technique. He interpreted religious themes according to his own concept, which led to controversy, with many of his works being rejected or sold for huge sums.
The Penitent Magdalene
(1596)
This depicts a woman who has retreated to the desert as a sinner but still wears worldly clothes. She might be a prostitute or a girl from the underworld.