Rete Bibliotecaria Bergamasca

Abstract: This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant

Abstract: This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book

Abstract: Of books about the oeuvre of Caravaggio, there are apparently no end. A mercurial artist, who lived less than 40 years, his legacy too, is one of the volatile extremes. For better or worse, his uneven biography is in itself a work of art. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio painted a notoriously provocative religious and classical tableaux, yet left few traces (no letters, no table talks, no treatise) of his life beyond his art. Painting with an intensity of realism never equaled before, Caravaggio`s impact was immediate, profound and everlasting. He transmuted a realism in a variety of ways, making it both the climax and golden age of European art. But his realism was too close to life, too real to comfort. Bound to appreciate the supernatural mastery of Caravaggio`s chiaroscuro of moral turpitude and death as the must, this book also evaluates the artist`s personal motifs and state of mind in freezing the ecstatic foreshortening on a two-dimensional plate. By doing so, this book employs geometrical reasoning of the golden ratio, gnomonic growth and descend. In other words, this is not a "coffee-table art-book." It lands us on a port named 'geometry of emotions,' to admire Caravaggio`s meta-theaters and experience a third-degree intimidation from his style of dynamic symmetry between life and death, astute and simpleton, dignity and humiliation. Illustrating 20 masterpieces of countless others, this book runs a 'geometrical diagnostics' on three paintings: "Cardsharps," "The fortune teller," and "The Incredulity of Saint Thomas." A few canvases of Flemish and Venice artists, presenting absolutely different styles - yet incorporating root 3 and 5 golden ratios (1.618) with square root (1.272...) ( "Jiovanni Arnolfini and His Bride" by Van Eyck and or "Cupid and Psyche" by Canova), are used as controls in building the theory. Further, Caravaggio`s exemplary canvases "The lute player," "Narcissus," and "The Beheading of Saint John," come to explain the artist`s ambitions in contrasting extremely realistic figures with extremely artificial background of brown and black that pushes his subjects closer to the spectator. Lastly, this book presents some events in Caravaggio`s turbulent life, including his apprenticeship, womanizing, his vision of Christianity, and demise.