[4], When Tiberio Cerasi died on 3 May 1601 Caravaggio was still working on the paintings as attested by an avviso dated 5 May mentioned that the chapel was being decorated by the hand of the "famosissimo Pittore", Michelangelo da Caravaggio. (Conversione di San Paolo) illustrates the scene - described in Acts of ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ART EDUCATION Although Saul gets the most light, the attention is given to him in a strange way. Christopher L. C. E. Witcombe, Two "Avvisi", Caravaggio, and Giulio Mancini, in: Source: Notes in the History of Art, Vol. skewbald horse, which occupies more of the picture than anything else, Loggy and Alex’s friendship in Miami’s redeveloping Liberty Square is threatened when Loggy learns that Alex is being relocated to another community. Nevertheless, most scholars are satisfied that this is the first version of the Conversion of Paul. our educational articles: The usual landscape background was dismissed entirely and replaced with an intense concentration on the three figures who compose the scene. The two lateral paintings of the Cerasi Chapel were commissioned in September 1600 by Monsignor Tiberio Cerasi, Treasurer-General to Pope Clement VIII who purchased the chapel from the Augustinian friars on 8 July 1600 and entrusted Carlo Maderno to rebuild the small edifice in Baroque style. paintings were regarded as the most exciting in Rome. Although some details and motifs may have been borrowed or inspired by these artworks, it is important to note that the pared-down composition and the intense spiritual drama of the Cerasi Conversion was a novelty without any direct iconographic precedent at the time. (1571-1610) The principal actor lies in a dramatic Unfortunately his violent temperament led to a self-imposed [28] It gives an entirely secular reading of the painting, devoid of anything sacred, interpreting it as "the defeat of a yearning for the Absolute which is inevitably denied to man [...], as a sort of defeated Faust. The deviations from the traditional iconography all made the painting "bereft of action" in his eyes: the prominence of the horse instead of the biblical hero; the absence of Jesus; and the focusing upon an insignificant moment in the story after the fall of Saul instead of its real climax, the divine epiphany. The contract gave a free hand to the painter to choose the figures, persons and ornaments depicted in the way as he saw fit, "to the satisfaction however of his Lordship", and he was also obliged to submit preparatory studies before the execution of the paintings. Carracci (1560-1609). He also suggested that the inspiration for the horse was Albrecht Dürer's most famous print, The Large Horse (1505), whose main subject has the same bulky, powerful hindquarters and the rest of its body is seen from a similar oblique angle.[13]. He was on his way from Jerusalem to Damascus to arrest the Christians of the city. • For an explanation of other Baroque first versions had been rejected. The horse is passing over him led by an old groom, who points his finger at the ground. pictures from the Baroque era, see: Famous Paintings and outshone even the classicism of Annibale On the altar between the two is the Assumption of the Virgin Mary by Annibale Carracci. His masterpieces space), with his arms outstretched in shock. [12] Raphael's version was part of his series of tapestries created for the Sistine Chapel in 1515–16. The Conversion of Saint Paul (or Conversion of Saul), by the Italian painter Caravaggio, is housed in the Odescalchi Balbi Collection of Rome. Prima versione ad olio su tavola di cipresso e misura cm.237 x 189, situata presso la Villa Odescalchi a Roma- Collezione Privata Odescalchi. 1, 1988, p. 145. The main contribution of the [...] Were it not for the fact that the painting was placed on a side wall, we might wonder how Caravaggio could have had it put on public exhibition without encountering severe criticism, or even an outright rejection. The Conversion on the Way to Damascus (Conversione di San Paolo) is a work by Caravaggio, painted in 1601 for the Cerasi Chapel of the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, in Rome.Across the chapel is a second Caravaggio depicting the Crucifixion of Saint Peter.On the altar between the two is the Assumption of the Virgin Mary by Annibale Carracci - with only a horse, groom and the fallen Paul present - and Caravaggio The dimensions specified for the panels are virtually the same as the size of the existing canvasses. (1601) and Conversion on the way to Damascus (1601) for the church A few faint rays on the right evoke Jesus' epiphany but these are not the real source of the lighting, and the groom remains seemingly oblivious to the presence of the divine. some of it was considered too vulgar by the more conservative church authorities, Lying on the ground, he is much smaller than the horse, which is also at the center of the painting. This is conveyed solely by the ingenious use of the light because Caravaggio eschewed any but the slightest movements. The painting depicts this moment recounted in the Acts of the Apostles, when Saul fell off his horse on the road to Damascus, seeing a blinding light and hearing the voice of Jesus. and other artists. According to Caravaggio's early biographer Giovanni Baglione, both paintings were rejected by Cerasi, and replaced by the second versions which hang in the chapel today. Martyrdom of St Matthew (1599-1600) Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi. The art historian Jacob Burckhardt in his traveller's guide to painting in Italy (1855) instanced the Conversion on how "coarse" the compositions of Caravaggio were "when he did not care for expression", criticising that "the horse nearly fills the whole of the picture".[22]. But this had little effect on his reputation and any rejected How to Appreciate Paintings. Artist: Caravaggio of Christians who had participated in the stoning of Saint Stephen - was style should have been well suited to the needs of Catholic This is how Taddeo Zuccari, one of the most renowned painters in Caravaggio's Rome, portrayed the scene on a large altarpiece in the Church of San Marcello al Corso around 1560. "[24], Opinions changed again fundamentally in the middle of the 20th century when Caravaggio was recognized as one of the greatest painters in the history of Western art. "[26], This appreciation found a literary expression in a poem by Thom Gunn, a young English poet who was highly regarded by British critics in the 1950s. The other painting It is one of at least two paintings by Caravaggio of the same subject, the Conversion of Paul. Caravaggio's painting captures this moment, just after on Paul's moment of religious ecstasy. He can understand and share their experiences: the awakening of faith, and the martyrdom of faith. like The Crucifixion of St Peter Several modern commentators (including John Gash and Peter Robb) have questioned whether the rejection of the first versions of Caravaggio's two paintings was quite so straightforward as the record makes it seem, and speculate that Cardinal Sannessio may have seized the opportunity of Cerasi's unexpected death on 3 May 1601 to, in effect, seize the paintings. Caravaggio gained the Cerasi commission right after his celebrated works in the Contarelli Chapel had been finished, and Carracci was busy creating his great fresco cycle in the Palazzo Farnese. was the Crucifixion of Saint Peter. "The original design of man and horse is not without merit, despite the triviality of observation and insistence on details for their illusive effect, but the whole design comes to pieces when St. Paul is thus wilfully pushed into the scene and the parts have no longer any significance in relation to the whole. Interpretation of Baroque Biblical Conversion on the way to Damascus (1601) works were invariably snapped by art collectors By Caravaggio. Sloan, Grietje. 26-27, Catherine R. Puglisi: Caravaggio, Phaidon Press, 2000, p. 221. "[20], This is a more scathing criticism than it sounds because Bellori claimed that "painting is nothing but the imitation of human action"; thus a painting completely without action was a non-painting for him. A second avviso dated 2 June proves that Caravaggio was still at work on the paintings a month later. The first versions of the paintings were obviously acquired by Giacomo Sannesio, secretary of the Sacra Consulta and an avid collector of art. Baroque artists, including Artemisia Saul has been flung off off his horse. [5] The total compensation for the paintings was reduced to 300 scudi for unknown reasons. Explanation Explanation of Other Paintings by Caravaggio, Classicism Caravaggio received 50 scudi as advance payment from the banker Vincenzo Giustiniani with the rest earmarked to be paid on completion. • Amor shading used to lend volume to figures - as well as tenebrism, Counter-Reformation art - as laid down by the Council of Trent - but seem to notice Paul's spiritual awakening. He called these four works "the middle group" and stated that they belong to Caravaggio's mature period. and rejected. Caravaggio was a successful and celebrated artist at the time of the Cerasi commission but the unusual style and composition of the painting gave rise to criticism early on. style of naturalism, which Comparing the two paintings in the Cerasi Chapel, Mahon saw the Conversion of Saint Paul "much more animated than its companion". • Death All rights reserved. “The Transformation of Religious Conversion from the Renaissance to the Counter-Reformation: Petrarch and Caravaggio.” Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, vol. In 1672 he wrote in The lives of the modern painters, sculptors and architects about the Cerasi Chapel: "Caravaggio executed the two lateral paintings, the Crucifixion of Saint Peter and the Conversion of Saint Paul; whose history is completely bereft of action. • Explanation of Other Paintings by Caravaggio, Name: Conversion on the way to Damascus 13, Friedlaender: Caravaggio Studies, pp. history paintings, see: Homepage. the dramatic use of shadow and light to focus the viewer's attention on 302-303. Find more prominent pieces of religious painting at Wikiart.org – best visual art database. Because the skewbald horse is unsaddled, it is suggested that the scene takes place in a stable instead of an open landscape.[11]. A Critical Study, McFarland & Company, Jefferson and London, 2009, p. 83, Conversion of Saint Paul by Caravaggio (Rome), Portrait of a Courtesan (Fillide Melandroni), The Conversion of Saint Paul on the Road to Damascus, Madonna of Loreto (Madonna dei Pellegrini, Pilgrims' Madonna), Madonna and Child with St. Anne (Madonna de Palafrenieri), Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt and his Page, Nativity with St. Francis and St. Lawrence, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Conversion_on_the_Way_to_Damascus&oldid=971822821, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 8 August 2020, at 12:50. [15] Moretto was probably inspired by a similar Conversion attributed to Parmigianino (1527). painting L a Conversione di San Paolo è una delle opere più belle del Caravaggio. 237 x 189, situata presso la Villa Odescalchi a Roma- Collezione Privata Odescalchi) viene accantonata dal Caravaggio per motivi ancora ignoti, e il dipinto attualmente conservato presso la Basilica di Santa Maria del Popolo è la seconda versione. painting, - much more conventional than the second version. The first influential art critic who dismissed the painting was Giovanni Pietro Bellori. Art Evaluation and Roberto Longhi, who brought his name forward in the 1950s, wrote in 1952 that completely sweeping away the iconographical tradition of the time, Caravaggio offered for public view "what is perhaps the most revolutionary painting in the history of religious art. Surely more picaresque than holy. • The As always, Caravaggio demonstrates his Collection, was a brighter Mannerist [21], Bellori stands at the head of a long line of hostile commentary. This is a part of the Wikipedia article used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). • Supper He completed them sometime before 10 November when he received the final instalment from the heirs of Tiberio Cerasi, the Fathers of the Ospedale della Consolazione. lived on throughout the century, influencing some of the leading Italian INDEX. The first Conversion of Saint Paul ended up in the Odescalchi Balbi Collection. artists of all time, Caravaggio is famous for introducing a revolutionary La prima versione della “Conversione di San Paolo” realizzata tra il 1600 e il 1601, (dipinto ad olio su tavola di cipresso, cm. This scene consists only two figures: Saul and his horse, and the horse strangely dominates the painting. [23] Even in 1953 Bernard Berenson, probably the greatest authority on Italian Renaissance painting in the first half of the 20th century, called the painting a charade: "Nothing more incongruous than the importance given to horse over rider, to dumb beast over saint. Analyzed (1250-1800). He emphasized that both paintings of the Cerasi Chapel "were, in spite of their radically new and unaccustomed conceptions, perfectly fit objects for devotional meditation", because the scenes "are not remote spectacles, far separated from the spectator.