2024-04-16
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571 - 1610) is one of the most recognizable Italian flowers in the history of painting by art audiences, whose work fell during the mysterious Baroque era. The profundity and transcendentalism of his works were closely linked to his light-shadowed violent life. An example of such work by the painter, is the painting ,,David with the head of Goliath".
'David with the Head of Goliath' is now in Rome in the Borghese Gallery. It is a unique buckle, closing the sad story of the great artist's life. What better time of the year, then, to contemplate the last letter or even the last will and testament of such an eminent figure, than the winter bathed in rain and mud?
However, one's familiarity with this portrait should begin with the biographical context. As I mentioned above, Caravaggio's life and conduct were not the most exemplary or exemplary. However, this is nothing exceptional in view of the panorama of everyday life of the period, and especially in view of the actions of artists who were sensitive to the surrounding reality. For a long time he was protected from the consequences of his antics by the protection of his patrons, but one spring day Caravaggio probably committed one crime too many, which put his future life in question and forced him to flee Rome.
On 29 May 1906, the Italian painter is said to have accidentally murdered Ranuccia Tomassoni. He was found guilty, so in order to keep his head, he decided to flee the Eternal City as quickly as possible. His trail of exile took him to Naples, Sicily and Malta, among other places. During his wandering, he hid with the Collon family, stayed in a convent of the Order of St John of Malta and was the victim of an assassination attempt, from which he luckily emerged unscathed. It was during this personal odyssey that Caravaggio (c.1609) created one of his last paintings, depicting David just after his victory over the Philistine giant. The work was sent to Cardinal Scipio Borghese, in the hope that the artist's repentance contained in it would secure his pardon and safe return to Rome. This long-awaited decision saw the light of day, but the accused himself never managed to return to the capital.
As enigmatic as Caravaggio's art was, the circumstances of his death are shrouded in mystery. According to one version, after many perturbations during the boat trip (he was taken prisoner during the stopover, the boat sailed away, and he probably bought himself out of jail) and an attempt to reach Rome on his own two feet, the artist died for an entirely unknown reason (according to some scientists, the cause of death could have been sunstroke, syphilis or staphylococcus), not far from his final destination. Instead of the artist, only his painting, 'David with the Head of Goliath', reached the city.
Moving on to an analysis of the work itself, this is the perfect time for an important correction. Earlier, when describing the painting, I used the term 'portrait', but in this case it is more appropriate to say that Caravaggio's work is a 'self-portrait', because the artist has very deliberately placed his own likeness on it. Of course, the practice of artists immortalising their own image in paintings was and is nothing new (even for Caravaggio himself, who had used this procedure in previous works). In this case, the Italian artist presented his face in the severed head of the old Goliath. This fact, which personally gives me chills, opens up a completely new avenue of interpretation, which is to find the truth about the transformation taking place in the life of the exile.
However, let us delve deeper into the very scene that Caravaggio immortalized on the canvas. It depicts the moment of victory. We are aware of this because of our common knowledge of the biblical story. However, the longer we reflect on the painted situation, the sooner we feel a kind of dissonance. The artist is making a very personal reinterpretation of this moment. The young David is not surrounded by a crowd chanting his name, there is no sound of fanfares, fluttering flags or victorious songs coming from the painting. The only sound the painting seems to make is the sound of silence. In this silence stands David, whose posture and facial expression reveal no joy at his triumph. On the contrary. He is immersed in compassion and thoughtfulness. He holds in his hand the head of an old Caravaggio, whose lifeless face shows the devastation of life. In the other hand, David still holds a sword, decorated with the inscription: ,,H-AS OS", which stands for the Latin proverb ,,Humilitas occidit superbiam" (,,Humility kills pride"). Such a seemingly simple image, devoid of numerous details, suddenly charges us with an enormous amount of information. Of course, this is not a disadvantage, quite the contrary, as it allows us to feel the dense atmosphere of the captured moment.
Reflecting on the personal dimension of this work can lead to an interesting conclusion about the metamorphosis that took place at the end of the artist's life. Well, if Caravaggio placed his likeness in Goliath's head, by depicting David, he may also have endowed him with a new face, the face of the young Caravaggio. The new, humble and repentant man kills and thus erases from his life the old artist, damaged by his boisterous lifestyle. This image cannot be better described as a kind of confession and immortalisation of the affliction of grief, but also as a hope that from the lifeless ashes of the old man, a pure and vital young man has been born. The question remains, however, as to what actually caused Caravaggio's transformation. Was it genuine reflection and repentance, was it fear for the sentence hanging over his head, or was it another prank and a way of avoiding the consequences of a baroque hooligan? We are unlikely to find out now.
"Humility kills pride" is one of the most beautiful proverbs that puts a full stop to Caravaggio's tragic fate and mystical oeuvre, while at the same time leaving a clue for future generations, especially future generations of artists. Spending time interpreting the works of this Italian painter and discovering his fate at the same time can certainly be considered a technique of meditation on human nature and its dynamism, which I wholeheartedly recommend, especially on quiet, light-shrouded winter evenings.