San Marino · 450th birthday of Caravaggio

Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, was born in Milan and received his artist’s name from the Lombard town of Caravaggio, where his family originated. In the 1590s, he settled in Rome. There he developed a style of painting that depicted religious and mythological figures not in idealized form, but with individual facial features, contemporary clothing and physical presence. Strong contrasts of light and dark and deliberate lighting are also characteristic, causing individual people and gestures to emerge from a dark pictorial space.

His life was marked by conflicts with authorities and rivals. After a fatal altercation, he had to leave Rome. In the following years, he worked in Naples, Malta and Sicily, among other places. Despite his early death, his visual language spread rapidly. Numerous painters in Italy and other parts of Europe adopted his realism and dramatic lighting; they are often referred to as Caravaggists.

The Mary Magdalene (Maria Magdalena) depicted does not appear with the customary narrative or supernatural accompanying motifs. Caravaggio shows a young woman sitting alone on a low chair with her head bowed. Discarded pieces of jewelry lie beside her; a vessel refers to the traditional association of Magdalene with anointing oil. A tear and her restrained posture indicate her inner repentance. The contemporary clothing initially makes the scene appear to be an everyday situation. Only the attributes and the title of the painting make the religious context unambiguous. This connection between ordinary life and a Christian subject was a defining element of Caravaggio’s art.

San Marino also regularly uses its commemorative coins for artists and works from Italian cultural history. Choosing a detail from a painting makes it possible not only to commemorate the painter, but also to take up a specific example of his quiet, psychologically concentrated treatment of figures. No further special connection between Caravaggio and San Marino is known.