Born as the Renaissance reached its conclusion in the late 16th century, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio created a place for himself in the artistic world through his highly emotional paintings and despite his apparently volatile behavior. (He was known to have an eccentric personality and spent the last four years of his life avoiding arrest for a murder committed during a street brawl in Rome.) His artistic legacy stems not only from the horrific, yet mesmerizing, face of Medusa, or the equally repulsive yet beautiful representation of the triumph of the fearless Judith over Holofernes, but from his exploration of a stylistic movement which changed the course of art history - chiaroscuro. Through this technique, using the contrasts between dark and light, shadow and color to express the emotions within his masterpieces, he produced impassioned and naturalistic works. In commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Caravaggio's death, Florence celebrates the artist's life achievements and the movement he created through three exhibits running concurrently at the Uffizi Gallery, at the Palatine Gallery at the Pitti Palace, and at the Villa Bardini. The exhibits run until October 17, 2010 and include examples of his most famous as well as more obscure works, alongside those of his followers, the caravaggeschi. The former include his Medusa and Bacchus, and the latter range from Bartolomeo Manfredi to the Dutch artists Gerard van Honthorst and Theodore Rombouts. As a 400 hundred-year-old mystery revolving around his final resting place at Porto Ercole draws to a close, an exhibition highlighting his masterpieces and his following is only fitting. For access to all three exhibits, the Caravaggio Card is available for 25 Euro.Written by Jessica Card
Art History Intern at The Florence Newspaper
Caravaggio e Caravaggeschi a Firenze
May 22 - October 10 2010
Uffizi Gallery and Palatine Gallery (Pitti Palace)
Tuesday - Sunday, 8:15 a.m - 6:50 p.m
Uffizi Gallery 10 Euro
Palatine Gallery 12 Euro
Caravaggio e la Modernita
I Dipinti della Fondazione Roberto Longhi
Villa Bardini (Costa San Giorgio 6)
May 22 - October 17 2010
Tuesday - Sunday, 10:00 a.m - 6:00 p.m
6 Euro
Original Article
www.florencenewspaper.it/vediarticolo.asp?news=b0.06.23.15.20
