Neither Sacred nor Profane, but Somewhere In Between: Caravaggio's Depictions of Saint John the Baptist in Relation to the Council of Trent
Date
2017-05-08
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Abstract
Originally, the focus of my research was reception theory and Caravaggio’s patrons. My interest lay in his patrons’ desires and their subsequent commissions that Caravaggio fulfilled. Did they knowingly commission paintings from an artist whose altarpieces were often rejected due to their profane content? Were his works considered as risqué and alluring during the Counter Reformation in Italy as they are today? Having already written a paper on the homoerotic qualities of some of the works in Cardinal del Monte’s collection, I decided to investigate a topic that Caravaggio returned to at least six times during his short career: his sensuous, corporeal depictions of the adolescent Saint John the Baptist. I then decided to rule out the disputed works and those paintings with an unclear provenance, resulting in the present study that examines the following three works: the 1602 version at the Capitoline Museum in Rome; the 1604-1605 depiction in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri; and the 1608-1610 version in the Borghese Gallery in Rome.
Description
Thesis completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Alfred University Honors Program.
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Thesis
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Honors thesis, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, John the Baptist, Council of Trent