2023-2024 Academic Catalog

Nov 23, 2024

2023-2024 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

ARTH 230 - Caravaggio

Focuses on the work of one of the best known artists of any period, the painter Michelangelo Merisi or Caravaggio (1573-1610). Although he died a young man in 1610, he is often considered the most important painter of the 17th century. Explores Caravaggio’s intense naturalism and the controversy it caused, his sense of drama and supernatural light and the role of his personality in works of art. Surveys his life in Rome, Naples, Malta and Sicily, considering his religious paintings, genre scenes and still lifes. Considers the contradictory aspects of his character: his sexual ambivalence, his criminal violence and his intense spiritual devotion. Explores his artistic legacy in Italy and abroad with a strong emphasis on Artemisia Gentileschi. Readings include art-historical scholarship, history and original documents from the period. Field trips to area museums.

Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall 2010, Offered every other year