An Update from Rome: Caravaggio and Commercial Ancient Rome

I recently bopped over to Rome for 3 days to indulge in some culture and see some lesser-known sites, trying to avoid the hordes of people already doing the Spanish Steps, Colosseum, and Forum. I usually try to avoid European capitals in the summer, but here the motivation was a once-in-a-lifetime exhibit of paintings of Caravaggio, aka Michelangelo Merisi di Caravaggio (1571-1610), one of my top 5 artists. He was hugely influential in his short lifetime, revered by popes and the public alike, despite a tendency to drinking, whoring, consorting with gay criminals, and general criminal and sociopathic behavior. The exhibit united 25 paintings from all over the world, most never before seen together. When combined with his famous paintings in Roman churches and a couple I saw this spring in London, it allowed me to view about 75% of his work, a wonderful experience. 

Born seven years after the death of Michelangelo, Caravaggio took painting to new heights of drama. He had a knack of telling a story with one painting, usually distilling the emotional apex of the event via a carefully composed grouping of characters. He was also famed for dramatic, innovative use of light and shadow. In about 20 years, he completely changed what a painting could do, akin to artists moving from photography to motion pictures in the early 20th century. Look at The Calling of St Matthew. 

Christ (far right) identifies the somewhat reluctant Matthew (far left, slumped at table) as his next disciple, but neither protagonist is very prominent. The drama is instead heightened by the expressions of the observers, the pointing arms, and by the intense light shining in on the targeted man. It's as if Caravaggio is saying that the observers are what makes an event really memorable. This reminds me of the song from Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures "Someone in a Tree", in which Perry's signing of the US trade pact with Japan is told not from the perspective of the signers, but instead from that of a small boy observing from a tree. 

The intensely lit central, well dressed young man seen above also reflects Caravaggio's taste for cherubic young guys (n.b. he liked street toughs as well---eg the model for Christ was likely one of his dubious partners). Compare this young guy to another in a very early painting showing a naive young guy (left) being cheated in The Card Sharps. Even at 23, Caravaggio was already telling stories in a single shot.

The exhibit was interesting in showing some lesser known works, some from US collections in Kansas City and Dallas. These were not necessarily the best of the painter's works but allowed for intriguing comparisons. For example, here is the exhibit's 1600 Conversion of St. Paul from a private collection, followed by the more famous Conversion of St. Paul on the Road to Damascus painted the following year in for the Cerasi Chapel in Rome. Both depict the moment when Paul sees a vision on the road to Damascus, falls from his horse, and is converted to Christianity. 

In the earlier painting at top, the action is intense and chaotic, the drama lies with the angels (upper right), but we barely see Paul's face. The later painting is more focused, yet still really wild--now the dominant image is the massive rear end of the horse, and now we see the rapture of Paul in dramatic foreshortening, as if we just stumbled on this scene as a bystander. 

It was also fascinating to see works of this master that I did not know so well. For example, several portraits of his monied patrons were highly expressive, anticipating the individual, realistic portraiture of Rembrandt that would come about 30 years later. All in all, this was a wonderful pilgrimage to see these works together and better understand how influential Caravaggio was. 

The other theme of my short Roman visit was seeing evidence of what a modern commercial nation that Rome was. Out west, near the airport, there are lots of excavations going on to unearth the ancient ports (eg Ostia Antica, Ports of Claudius and Trajan) that allowed shipping to funnel from the port of Rome up the Tiber River (reconstruction shown below).

Claudius' innovative hexagonal port (which increased the usable area to create docks) is now a forested lake, but the excavations are steadily revealing its details, as well as modern-looking warehouses and port facilities.

Check out this area (best by rental car) when you are next there. It's a fascinating walk and makes you feel like an archeologist. Also check out the new tours of Nero's Domus Aureum (Golden Palace) near the Colosseum. This palace was long buried, but now is being unearthed to show titanic vaults, fountains, and still-existing mosaics. The site makes all this easier to visualize by means of some creative use of Virtual Reality glasses, showing you how the current underground structures would have appeared when lit and open to the outside. Remember to reserve it 2 months in advance though. For that  matter, throughout Europe, increasing tourism is making it much less viable to be spontaneous in your travel.  Online reservations to famous sites, while sometimes tedious, prevent lots of standing in hot or rainy plazas. Often you can't get in without them these days.