The earliest known painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio is a fairly sedate portrait of a boy peeling fruit.
Created some time between 1592 and 1593 (when the artist himself would have only been 21 or 22 years old) - it is a work which, with all due respect, is not quite on the level of his later masterpieces.
Yet still, it set the precedence for a theme that Caravaggio would return to repeatedly throughout his dramatic, and tragically short lived, career.
Now, please don’t misunderstand me from what I said above. . . there is no denying this is still a very impressive painting for someone so young.
We can see here how Caravaggio was already working with his unique “Chiaroscuro” painting style - using deep shadows in direct contrast with intensified light, in order to give a greater sense of drama.
And of course, all this early potential would soon lead our man to innovating a whole new kind of art which had frankly never even been seen before! Thus, I really do not mean to throw any shade on this work by saying it is “not among his best”
The truth is; for a large majority of artists, a portrait like would likely be among the finest in their entire career.
But it is testament to Caravaggio’s unbelievable talent that, when he next returned to the idea of painting a portrait of a young man with fruit . . . he created two works of such quality, his first attempt seems pale in comparison.
Remarkably, these two piece may well have been painted only a few months after our “Boy peeling fruit”.
Yet, in terms of their painterly skill, sense of realism, mastery of light, underlying sensuality, and pretty much every other possible metric we could mention here . . . there is a world of difference.
In our first painting - we see the work of a talented young man.
In these two - we see the skill of a fully fledged master in his own right.
And indeed; there is a case to be made that the last time any artist showed anything like this level of genius at such a young age, it was Caravaggio’s own namesake Michelangelo Buonarotti - who, just under a century ago in the 1490s, had sculpted his famous “Pieta” at 21 years old too.
But of course, the man from Milan was still far from finished with this motif.
Three years later - while still only in his mid twenties, but widely regarded as “the greatest painter in Rome” - he strays towards this theme again.
First, in his “Boy bitten by a lizard” - where we notice a gloriously painted arrangement of fruit on the table at the bottom. (An addition which is sometimes slightly overlooked, due to our attention being so captivated by the young boy’s face & the lizard biting his finger!)
But then - as if that was still not enough - Caravaggio follows soon after with his truly sublime portrait “Bacchus”.
And here, we see this combination of “fruit and figure” reaching a height of artistry which, only four years earlier, would surely have seemed unimaginable even to the artist himself.
With these works alone (not to mention all the others high profile commissions which helped secure his fame!) - this brash, troublesome and highly self confident 26 year old secured and cemented his place in the pantheon of artistic greats.
But sadly, this meteoric rise was soon to take a terrible turn.
Of course, the next decade would see Caravaggio create many more sensational masterpieces . . . but they were also be years which would bring him from countless disputes, criminal activity and petty street fights - to eventually killing a man, and subsequently being forced to live the rest of his life on the run; fearing both legal prosecution, and “non-legal” retribution from those he had crossed.
_
He died in 1610, at only 38 years of age - with the memory of all that sweet fruit of youth now nothing but a distant dream.
Bonus Image
There is one more Fruit painting which did not fit in with the portrait theme today - but without a doubt deserves to be included here too.
So, as a little bonus piece for you all- I give you Caravaggio’s stunning foray into the genre of “Still life”.
As I’m sure you can imagine, it takes a great deal of time and effort to keep this newsletter going as a solo writer. So any support is immensely appreciated. And if you would prefer to make a single donation or help to buy me a bowl of fruit today instead, please use this link instead where you can choose your own price.
(I know we usually frame this as “Buy me a Coffee”. But incidentally, I actually never drink coffee . . . so to be honest, a bit of fruit is always far more of my kind of thing! :) )
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That earliest painting has a distinct mood of innocence about it. The boy's eyes are downcast, absorbed in his handiwork, as might be the eyes of a young artist. With the exception of the lizard bite, the other images feature direct eye contact along with a diminution of anything you might call innocent. And, as masterful as they are, it's hard to overlook their inherent kitsch. True, it's a rather diseased or decaying appreciation of kitsch, but kitsch all the same -- presumably in response to the tastes of certain patrons or contractors. Still, nostalgia is a powerful driver in art as well as everyday life, especially nostalgia for innocence. The "Boy Peeling Fruit" must be at the heart of all of the works show here.
I recall wandering around Rome in 2006 with my wife when we ran across what looked like a small museum (The Borghese Gallery) and deciding to give it a try. I stumbled upon Caravaggio’s “David with the Head of Goliath” and was bowled over.
I trace my path to your Substack through that encounter. Thanks for all you do here! And thanks for the Caravaggio!