Description of the painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio “Musicians”

Description of the painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio Musicians

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571 – 1610) – Italian artist. An innovator of European painting, a fan of realism and a lover of self-portraits harmoniously fit into their own paintings. It’s all about him, Caravaggio. The artist created his complex paintings on the canvas immediately, without a preliminary drawing or sketch. The whole creative way of Caravaggio in art was accompanied by the struggle of light and shadow, sharply contrasting them with each other (the so-called “kyarokuro” manner). The same thing we see in the picture “Musicians”.

Three young men, on whom bright daylight falls, in conditionally-theatrical costumes are busy preparing for a rehearsal.

A musician with a score sits with his back to the person who looks at the picture. The score can be seen the inscription, which can not be disassembled (favorite technique of the artist, who loved to sign small fragments

in his paintings). In the center, with a lute, sits a young man who tunes her strings. The third youth with a horn is Caravaggio himself, who portrayed one of the earliest self portraits. The fourth boy in the picture, Cupid or Cupid, with wings, a quiver of arrows and a bunch of grapes. Cupid’s eyes are wet with tears, apparently, the song, which will be performed by musicians, tells of the sorrows of love. Music is a popular theme in the days of Caravaggio, since the church strongly supported the revival and development of music.

The blooming youth of young people harmoniously merges with the music and art in the painting “Musicians”. The space of the picture is invisible, all four figures do not touch each other and exist as if by themselves and at the same time create a full-fledged composition on a dark background. In the elaborately draped clothes of the young men, one already invisibly guesses the nervousness and intense foreboding characteristic of the Baroque style, to which Caravaggio was addicted at the beginning of his career.


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Description of the painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio “Musicians”