I wonder if he often used the same person to sit for his paintings? Many of the faces you've shown in this video look very, very similar, from the soft lines of the face, to the rounded nose, from the full lips, to the cleft in the chin.
Yes, he did use sometimes use similar models. One thing I did not discuss here is that some people actually think that this is a self-portrait of Caravaggio, and that he painted it using a mirror. It would explain why Bacchus somewhat awkwardly holds the glass of wine in his left hand, instead of his right which would be more natural. But there is no consensus on whether this really is a self-portrait, so I left it out here.
It a wonderful painting. If I remember correctly it is all the way at the end of the Uffizi, when I was too overwhelmed by all the other art to give it proper attention. Thanks for this insightful discussion.
That's a good point. The three Caravaggio paintings in the Uffizi are indeed all the way at the end. And his Medusa painted on a shield probably gets most of the attention there.
Love your channel. Im very new at this and was wondering if you had any book recommendations on the history of art or about art in general, especially of this time period. thank u
There are many great books about art. Andrew Graham-Dixon has a nice book about Caravaggio. I can also recommend the books by Ross King. Hope that helps you on your way a bit...
I noticed that there are two leaves of figs flipped ( The fig leaf is not facing where it receives the sun but on the backside ) with one grape leaf on the plate, and they are healthy as the grapes and figs in the painting. On the other hand, the apples, pears as their leaves were spoiled. The pomegranate is strangely so tiny. Your videos are always intriguing thank you very much for sharing.
Thanks. Interesting observations! I had not noticed the details on the fig leaves, but it makes me wonder if that has a specific meaning as well. You actually see a similar pattern with the leaves in his wreath. With regards to the pomegranates, I think that we have just learned over time to grow bigger ones ;-)
@@AmuzeArt I noticed the wreath but thought it was a natural movement for the leaves to alternate because they are connected and weaved. In the bowl, we have just the fig leaves. Option one placed flipped unintentionally ( both ). The position doesn't favor gravity and anatomy. Option two the fig leaves were placed intentionally in this position because the artist liked to draw the back of the leaf more to get a prettier visual, or because of the symbol?
That sounds all very logical. I am not sure what his intention was, but my feeling is that it was intentional. The whole composition seems carefully staged, so both your suggestions in option two make sense here. But apart from a detailed botanical analysis of the fruits and leaves in this painting, I could not find any convincing explanation for this choice.
@@AmuzeArt I am thinking option three is using a mirror, thus seeing the back of the fig leaves. Yet, again Caravaggio will be modeling while looking at himself in the mirror and seeing 2 fruit plates, the one in the mirror with the flipped leaves and the actual plate. As fig leaves in biblical, Adam and Eve desier for modesty after the sin first thing to cross my mind.
