Painting - La Méduse de Caravage, expliquée. (Analyse) Flashcards
Who was Medusa defeated by, and how was her defeat accomplished in mythology?
Perseus defeated Medusa by using a reflective shield provided by Athena to avoid her gaze and behead her.
Fill in the blank: Caravaggio’s ‘Medusa’ was commissioned by _____ as a gift for the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinand I.
Cardinal Del Monte
True or False: Medusa was often used as a protective symbol to ward off evil in ancient cultures.
True
What artistic technique did Caravaggio use to make the ‘Medusa’ appear as a flat painting rather than a three-dimensional shield?
Caravaggio used trompe-l’œil, manipulating light and shadow to create the illusion of flatness.
Describe how Caravaggio’s artistic style evolved in terms of emotional intensity and expression.
Caravaggio shifted from formal, controlled poses to raw, instinctive emotional displays, seen in works like ‘Boy Bitten by a Lizard,’ to increase expressive power.
How does the ‘Medusa’ represent Caravaggio’s rebellion against Renaissance ideals of beauty?
‘Medusa’ rejects idealized beauty for shocking realism, countering Renaissance norms that art should inspire virtue through beauty.
True or False: Caravaggio’s ‘Medusa’ functions as a self-portrait blending the figures of Medusa and Perseus.
True
What message does Caravaggio’s depiction of Medusa on a shield convey about Cardinal Del Monte’s character?
The depiction emphasizes Cardinal Del Monte’s strength, authority, intelligence, and strategic skill.
Fill in the blank: Caravaggio’s ‘Medusa’ influenced the _____ art movement, which embraced intense emotional expression and contrast.
Baroque
How did critics of Caravaggio’s time react to his realistic style, and why?
Critics saw his unembellished realism as lacking ‘dignity’ and felt he painted ‘vulgar’ subjects, contrasting with the Renaissance focus on idealized beauty.
Why might Caravaggio’s focus on minimalistic storytelling, as seen in ‘Medusa,’ be considered a modern approach?
By focusing only on essential elements, he enhances viewer engagement through intense simplicity, a break from the symbol-heavy Renaissance tradition.
Describe the visual and auditory contrasts Caravaggio achieves in ‘Medusa.’
The painting contrasts life and death visually and suggests sound through Medusa’s silent scream and the hissing serpents.
How did Caravaggio’s work in ‘Medusa’ and similar paintings influence future artists?
Caravaggio’s use of raw emotion, contrast, and minimalism inspired a generation of European Baroque artists to adopt his realistic style.
Fill in the blank: Caravaggio’s ‘Medusa’ served as a form of _____ to the Renaissance codes of art and beauty.
provocation
Which Caravaggio painting marks his shift from formal poses to capturing raw emotions in response to stimuli?
‘Boy Bitten by a Lizard’
