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Showing posts with the label Giovanni Bellini

Supper with Caravaggio at the Brera

Supper at Emmaus,  Michaelangelo Meresi Da Caravaggio, 1606 One of two paintings created by Caravaggio, this painting from 1606 was completed around the time the artist fled from Rome after he killed Ranuccio Tomassoni, a pimp, in a dispute over a tennis match. Other  reports suggest that the rivalry between the two over a prostitute, Fellide Melandroni, was  the underlying reason for the brawl. This painting is far more somber than an earlier (1601) work now hanging in the National Gallery in London.  Notice the dark background and how light floods the scene  to illuminate the faces of Jesus and his companions. This stark  contrast between light and dark is called chiaroscuro and the application of a dark background or shadow is referred to as  tenebrism. Chiaroscuro   adds depth to the composition and creates a dramatic effect. Feel how the painting pulls the viewer to the open space in front of Jesus and to that moment when He blesses the food on the table. Crucifixion, Gentile da F