How are you?
Currently, I am introducing the stories about various artists and their
paintings with the title “Interesting Art Stories”.
The 80th story is the “Young Sick Bacchus” by Caravaggio.
The “Young Sick Bacchus” is an early self-portrait by the Baroque
artist Caravaggio, painted between 1593 and 1594, which is now in the
collection of the Galleria Borghese in Rome. According to Giovanni Baglione,
Caravaggio's first biographer, it was a cabinet piece by the artist using a
mirror.
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| Portrait of Caravaggio, Ottavio Leoni (c. 1621) |
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| Galleria Borghese |
Caravaggio created this painting after arriving in Rome from his
hometown of Milan in mid-1592. According to a 2009 article in the American
medical publication "Clinical Infectious Diseases", since the figure
shows jaundice in his skin and the eyes, which are indications of some active
hepatic disease that causes high levels of bilirubin, the artist’s physical
disease likely involved malaria. The “Young Sick Bacchus” was one of the
collections of Giuseppe Cesari, one of Caravaggio's early employers, and in
1607, the art collector Cardinal Scipione Borghese acquired the painting,
together with the artist’s “Boy peeling fruit” and “Boy with a basket of
fruit.”
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| Boy Peeling Fruit, Caravaggio (c. 1592 –1593) |
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| Boy with a Basket of Fruit, Caravaggio (c.1593) |
It is also likely that this painting was used by Caravaggio to promote
himself, demonstrating his virtuosity in painting genres such as still life and
portraits and alluding to his ability to paint classical figures of antiquity,
but what stands out in the painting is the grimace, tilt of the head, and a
realistic expression of the pain the artist felt.
The still life in the painting can be compared with that included in
slightly later works such as the “Boy with a basket of fruit” and the “Boy
bitten by a lizard”, where the fruits are in a much better condition,
reflecting the artist’s improved physical and mental condition.
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| Boy Bitten by a Lizard, Caravaggio (1593 –1594) |
The painting also shows the influence of his teacher Simone Peterzano,
in the utilization of the tensed musculature depiction, and of the Lombard
school style in its attention to realistic details.
Cindy Sherman, the American artist, created a self-portrait titled
“Untitled # 224”, a parody of the “Young Sick Bacchus,” as part of her “History
Portrait” series.
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| Untitled #224, Cindy Sherman, MoMA (1990) |
Thank you.
Seungyong Chang’s Culture and Art Stories (Naver Premium Contents Studio)
