Caravaggio Paintings Discovered? If This Is True--What a Find!
Friday, July 6, 2012 at 11:18AM 
Caravaggio, St Catherine of Alexandria, c. 1598, Oil on canvas, 173 x 133 cm, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid (click photo for larger image)A brief article in “The Telegraph” has announced that “Italian art historians 'find 100 Caravaggio paintings'.” If true, this is an amazing find! Caravaggio was an Italian proto-Baroque painter (not Renaissance, as stated in the article) who developed a technique known as “tenebrism” from the Italian word tenebroso (meaning dark, gloomy and/or somber). Tenebrism refers to the illumination of specific areas in a painting, that emerge from the darkness into the light. It’s a technique that heavily influenced the artists of the Baroque era. The discovery is said to be works from Caravaggio’s earlier works. “The historians apparently managed to keep their research a secret for two years, but on Friday [July 6, 2012) their findings will be published in a lavish, two-volume, 600-page e-book in four languages.” I’d like to believe this is real. You just can’t get too much of Caravaggio!
Reader Comments (2)
What do you make of the fingers on St. Catherine? The overly-slender, elongated look of Mannerism is not typical of Carravagio's exquisite anatomical renderings, are they? Can we find another example of a known Carravagio where such exaggeration is found?
Good observation. If you look at some of the color choices (on skin and such) in some of his works--and at some of his compositional choices--you will find influences of Mannerism there, too. I think his development of tenebrism, and his insistence on a degree of realism not typical of painting at the time, are outgrowths of Mannerist ideas--if not directly Mannerist in style.