Neither Sacred nor Profane, but Somewhere In Between: Caravaggio's Depictions of Saint John the Baptist in Relation to the Council of Trent

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Loop_Alexandra_V_2017__BS_Thesis.pdf (509.1 KB)

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2017-05

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Abstract

Having already painted a number of both secular and religious works, there is one subject that Caravaggio would return to throughout the entirety of his short, turbulent career: Saint John the Baptist. Caravaggio painted at least six different versions of John the Baptist. All of the paintings but one are intimate, full-length portrayals of an isolated, scantily clad youth draped in a sumptuous red cloth. This thesis explores how Caravaggio continues the Florentine tradition of depicting Saint John the Baptist as a youth; however, due to Caravaggio’s stylistic use of light and shadow, his emphasis on corporeality, and his rejection of the saint’s traditional iconography, the artist’s depictions of the Baptist were recognized by seventeenth-century viewers as both sacred and profane.

Description

Thesis completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Art History and Theory degree in the School of Art and Design at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred, NY.

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Art History and Theory thesis, Saint John the Baptist, Council of Trent, Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da

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http://hdl.handle.net/10829/23514

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Art History and Theory Bachelor of Science Thesis