Presenter: Alexander Coberly, School of the Arts, Art & Design
Authors: Alexander Coberly
Faculty Advisor: Steven Bule, School of the Arts, Art & Design
Institution: Utah Valley University
Caravaggio’s career is often defined by his unique handling of traditional subjects in art. His innovative approaches can even be seen during the artist’s formative years in the painting, Saint Francis in Ecstasy, now in the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum. The purpose of this paper is to analyze Caravaggio as an avant-garde artist who applied mystical themes towards the subject of St. Francis and who produced an original composition that had never been seen before. Various potential influences are considered to understand how Saint Francis in Ecstasy differed from previous renditions of the saint and what message Caravaggio is attempting to convey. Comparisons are made of preceding images of St. Francis to demonstrate the stylistic novelty of Caravaggio’s composition. Attention will be paid to Ottavio Costa, the painting’s initial owner, and contemporary thinkers such as Francis de Sales to explain the meaning of Caravaggio’s painting. Ideas of conversion, mysticism, and spiritual ecstasy were popular in the late-sixteenth century and contribute to how artists handled religious imagery. By exploring the ideas of artists, patrons, and theologians contemporary to Caravaggio, Saint Francis in Ecstasy can be studied within historical context of post-Tridentine Rome, thus allowing viewers to appreciate the significance of the painting, and of Caravaggio’s ingenuity.