Letizia Treves, global head of research & expertise, Old Masters, Christie’s, London
Caravaggio (1571–1610) is an artist who enjoys a sort of cult status, and his strikingly original paintings had a profound impact on European art. Their intense naturalism and dramatic use of light (known as "chiaroscuro") were emulated by painters both during Caravaggio’s lifetime and in the decades immediately following his death. A number of leading “Caravaggesque” painters emerged in his wake, such as Bartolomeo Manfredi, Valentin de Boulogne, and Artemisia Gentileschi. In this talk, Letizia Treves will explore why Caravaggio’s art was regarded as revolutionary and look at the influence his paintings exerted on European artists in the first half of the seventeenth century.
