CARAVAGGIO

Michelangelo Merisi o Amerighi da Caravaggio (29 September 1571? – 18 July? 1610) was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1592 (1595?) and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque school of painting. In his fist works we can find beautiful detail of still life but we have only one complete composition of this artist  “La canestra di frutta”  The fruit represented by Merisi has a perfect synchrony with the characters. The dried leaves, with their state of strong ripening, give us the idea  of a particular atmosphere of autumnal decadence. Traditionally, allegorical meaning were linked to still life and, in this case,  the drying of fruit and vegetables seems to talk about the cohabitation between life and death.

                       Caravaggio combines in his works

a)    A fantastic observation of human state

b)    A partial observation of human state

c)    A realistic observation of human state with the use of lighting

d)    A realistic observation of human state with the use of dark colour

                               Caravaggio leaved

a)    A lot of still lives

b)    A lot of landscapes

c)    Only a complete portrait

d)    Only a complete still life

                            In Caravaggio’s still life there is

a)    The relationship between life and death

b)    The relationship between day and night

c)    The simple representation of fruit

d)    The simple representation of a basket