The topicality of Caravaggioʼs work
Michelangelo Merisi (Milà, 1571 - Porto Ercole, 1610), more popularly known as Caravaggio, is one of the most important and controversial figures of the history of art and one of the most popular painters. He held a radical artistic conception and led naturalism against mannerism, a style that dominated 16th century artistic scene. Four hundred years later, naturalism, ambiguity and eroticism of his works continue arousing great interest. Caravaggio, 400 anys després (Publicacions i Edicions of the University of Barcelona, 2013) stresses the essential aspects of his work and its influence on some contemporary art disciplines, such as photography and cinema. The book, which provides five studies developed by prestigious experts who propose new research lines on Caravaggio, has been edited by Rosa M. Subirana and Joan R. Triadó, researchers of the project ACAF-ART and lecturers at the Department of Art History of the UB, and the researcher Anna Vallugera.
Michelangelo Merisi (Milà, 1571 - Porto Ercole, 1610), more popularly known as Caravaggio, is one of the most important and controversial figures of the history of art and one of the most popular painters. He held a radical artistic conception and led naturalism against mannerism, a style that dominated 16th century artistic scene. Four hundred years later, naturalism, ambiguity and eroticism of his works continue arousing great interest. Caravaggio, 400 anys després (Publicacions i Edicions of the University of Barcelona, 2013) stresses the essential aspects of his work and its influence on some contemporary art disciplines, such as photography and cinema. The book, which provides five studies developed by prestigious experts who propose new research lines on Caravaggio, has been edited by Rosa M. Subirana and Joan R. Triadó, researchers of the project ACAF-ART and lecturers at the Department of Art History of the UB, and the researcher Anna Vallugera.
The book is presented by the authors on 15 November, at midday, at the headquarters of the Italian Cultural Institute Barcelona (IICB). The event is chaired by Roberta Ferrazza, director of IICB, and Rosa Vodret, superintendent of Polo Museale Romano, also participates in it. The session is closed by the vice-rector for Institutional Relations and Culture of the UB, Lourdes Cirlot.
Caravaggioʼs transgressive personal life —his tragic death cannot be obviated— and work prefigured the strong personalities that later were demanded by Romantic artists, in which life and work are mixed up into a torrential and creative magma. Caravaggio revolutionized 16th century European art, and later was destined for oblivion until 1951, when Roberto Longhi organised an exhibition in Milan.
Professor Rosa M. Subirana researches the complexity of social, cultural and ideological panorama of his paintings in order to bring his creative process to light and elucidate the reasons for that secular ostracism. Subirana states that “besides his unquestionable technical abilities, he was so intelligent and he had a really strong personality, both characteristics exude from all his paintings”.