Caravaggio - Punk Baroque

I don't know much about either punk rock or art history - but based on what little I know about Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (not to be confused with Michelangelo of Sistine Chapel fame), the guy sounds pretty punk rock. A brilliant wild man breaking with convention and shedding light on the dark side of human nature (forgive the mixed metaphor).

Yesterday I went to a lecture given by one of the teachers at our language school. "Lecture" sounds so dry, but really - it is a kind of theater when Paolo is speaking. He's got such charisma and passion for art history - his enthusiasm is contagious (I never thought I'd write a post about art history!)

One thing I really like about Paolo is his willingness to dive into the intrigue and juicy details behind the art and the artist (mind you, this is all in Italian, but he takes care to annunciate very clearly so is easy to understand). Anyway, it seems as though our Caravaggio was a rather dark character - given to fights, women/men, and drinking to excess. But once introduced to his story and his work, its clear to see that his passions fueled his art.

Unfortunately I can't relay the power of his paintings or the contributions he made as an artist to you because 1) this is a blog and not a classroom in the center of Rome 2) I'm no art historian and 3) I'm not a charming Italian thespian with acres of knowledge and a wicked sense of humor.

But, if you happen to find yourself eager to learn about what is probably one of the more intriguing chapters of human history (political, religious, artistic...) read up on Caravaggio.