Drawing "After Caravaggio"

A huge part of last week's trip through Rome centered on tracking Caravaggio paintings  throughout the city. One highlight (there were many) of our adventure was visiting the Caravaggio exhibit, in honor of 400 years since the painter's death, at the Scuderie del Quirinale. There we saw "The Deposition", on loan from the Musei Vaticani. My drawing is of Mary Magdalene as she is depicted in the painting as witness of the Passion and Death of Christ. I drew this on the ... long ... plane ride home from Rome on Monday. I will say that it seemed less long because I got to do what I love best despite the altitude. It beats sleeping.

The Caravaggio exhibit in Rome runs from February 20-June 13, 2010. If you happen to get near Rome during those dates, don't miss it. One Caravaggio painting is overwhelming. Imagine twenty-two to twenty-four of them together in one building. Amazing.

It's tough, too, to say that you love one of his paintings. Some are shocking. Horrific. Violent. Irreverent. Inhuman at times. Sounds great, right? The guy wasn't someone you'd want to meet. He murdered two people. Couldn't wrap his arms around religious art themes. He wasn't a happy or restful soul.

Still... we'd walk into a church or museum or gallery full of other beautiful works and the only thing you'd see was the Caravaggio. He holds the power to make you look at his work, puts you right in the thick of the action, and then makes the action impossible to bear. He offered beauty too ... like the Mary Magdalene I chose to draw.

My thoughts about him came from me as an artist. According to the experts, he would paint in spurts ... efficiently, quickly ... so he could get back to the carousing that was his passion. Then he'd paint again, perhaps when he needed to. Why wasn't he passionate about painting? Why didn't the extraordinary power of what he could create overrule his demons? I stop painting for a day and I have to get my painting muscles back. He managed to paint masterpieces despite horrible habits. That's a little disturbing, too. Eventually ... that lack of commitment did catch up to him. His later pieces, when he was on the run from the law saw his powers greatly diminished. Still. He was an amazing, groundbreaking painter.

I plan on copying one of his paintings as a learning tool for myself this year. I'm toying with which one. Randy's favorite was "The Cardsharps" -- which I like ... but I'm still undecided.

Why ... despite his personal failings ... I admire Caravaggio:

He's honest. Nothing is sugar-coated in his world.  I deeply value honesty. I do see the world differently. Each of us presents the world just as we see it.

The power of his paintings. His use of light and shadow. Simplicity and focus.

His courageously unique take on everything.  After writing this, I feel a little sheepish saying I'm going to copy one of his paintings. Hmmm.  But, I'm not trying to be another Caravaggio. There's an element of what he does that I need to figure out.

By the way, it seems like there are plenty of each of his paintings to go around. He copied himself often. (Or somebody else did.)

Different Note: Come to the Art Show and Sale this weekend at the Colvin Run Historic Schoolhouse, 10201 Colvin Run Road, Great Falls, VA between 10am and 5pm Saturday and Sunday.

Plus I updated my web site this morning with new drawing gallery pages and new home page info. Check it out. There's even a Drawings from Italy page.

See Caravaggio's work online at www.artrenewal.org and www.scalaarchives.it
Another great site passed on to me from fellow artist Terry O'Day is www.caravaggio.rai.it/eng/demo.htm : The Impossible Caravaggio Museum. That site will probably be the source for whatever copy I eventually create.

"After Caravaggio", ink and graphite wash, copyright Jill Banks 2010.
"The Deposition", Caravaggio, Vatican Museums (from Art Renewal Center) ... isn't this incredible? This painting is alternatively called "The Entombment of Christ" in a couple of my sources (including Art Renewal Center) ... But "The Deposition" at the Vatican Museum and the Scurinale exhibit.

Web: www.jillbanks.com
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