Lived and Created in Different

¶ … lived and created in different periods and although their styles and creations are as different as any can request, Hieronymus Bosch and Caravaggio have one thing in common: the revolutionary creations and approach to painting they have brought to life through their work.

Born in a family of artists and studying painting since an early age, Caravaggio would become renowned for the innovations he has brought in the art of painting, innovations which would become a clear border between the "before" and "after" period, not only in Italy, but in the entire continent. The artists following Caravaggio's style would become known as the "tenebrosi" because of the combination of lightness and darkness they began to used, under the influence of Caravaggio's paintings, in their own creation.

Indeed, Caravaggio would historically be known for the way he used light in his paintings. As we shall see below from an examination of some of his paintings, light is always a contributory element in the artist's work. In almost all cases, it has a certain supernatural source and we cannot help having a feeling of awe when faced with it. This is the case with the "Calling of St. Matthew," for example. In this creation, we may expect the only source of light in a room that is otherwise in the dark to be the only window which we see in the painting. However, the light does not come from there and the way the painter is projecting light from the left side of the painting, joint to the pointed finger of one of the persons at the table, leads us to believe that the source of light is not from this world.

Light and shadow was only one of the strong characteristics of Caravaggio's works. We should also mention the vast array of figures and personalities he has used in most of his paintings. Generally borrowed from the peasantry, shocking in some of the poses the painter manages to find these characters, Caravaggio's figures are always explicit in making a point or in creating the sensation that they pass on a message or a feeling. This is the case, for example, in his work "Supper at Emmaus," where the sensation that the characters are real is obvious for the viewer. Indeed, the way Christ is blessing the bread and the shock with which the apostles receive the miracle could be any other casual, real event, with some laborers gathering around the supper table.

The story itself has a biblical background, from the gospel according to Luke. Christ is not the figure we are normally used to from most representations. Instead, he takes the form of a youth and, as mentioned before, it is one of the youth we would expect to find in the countryside or as a laborer.

The contrast between the entire revelation, with the shock of the apostles as they recognize Christ, and "the tranquility of his still life on the table" is emphasized by the way Caravaggio uses light and shadow in his painting. The light surrounding Christ "captures the climax of the story" and the shadow around the character contributes, in my opinion, a great deal to capture Christ's personality: on one side, the Son of God and into the light, but on the other, having a human shadow.

The role of the light is most clear in "The Calling of St. Matthew." I have already mentioned how the light comes from a different source than we find in the painting. This is what leads us to believe that that is the "calling" we find in the title of the painting. Further more, the subject has been also treated with Christ shown outside of the building and calling on St. Matthew who is inside. Some sources were keen to claim that the window in the painting has the role of lighting the group formed from Levi (St. Matthew) and his assistants. In my opinion, this is not necessarily the case. The role of the window does not exist or ate least not in the sense we would expect it to exist. The only people who are actually lit up are those lying on the external light's path.

The incredible figure of Christ in this painting is somewhat similar to the one we have discovered in "Supper at Emmaus," in the sense that it is again a representation of Christ we are not used to and do not normally see in paintings of the time. It is a regular person, perhaps a noble or middle class man of the 17th century and the only sense of Divinity derives from the light halo he has around his head. However, in my opinion, his gesture invokes God's entire force and there is no rejection possible to such a strong willed gesture.

The painting draws the observer's attention again towards the incredible sense of detail that Caravaggio has. In the "Madonna of Loreto," the beggars' feet are described with the most vivid attention. Here, in the lower left hand - side corner of the painting, Christ's feet are depicted already turned towards the door, which reinforces the sense of "static medium" that the entire painting is keen to suggest.

The same sense of detail and his obsession with the description of ordinary feet Caravaggio had appears in "The Crucifixion of St. Peter." One of the person participating in the execution appears with his back to the audience and his feet are carefully painted.

The use of light is again revelatory for his style. In this painting, almost half of the entire creation is almost imperceptible in a dark manner and only St. Peter can be deemed to be accurately distinguishable as a character from the painting.

Caravaggio has no intention, here as in most of his other paintings, including "Supper at Emmaus," to paint something heroic. His painting can represent the crucifixion of one of the apostles, but also and more likely "a wretched and humiliating execution." St. Peter is not the future bearer of the key, but "old man suffering pain and in fear of death." He is one of the many human and realistic characters and figures that populate Caravaggio's paintings.

If we follow these brief descriptions of some of the most important works by Caravaggio, we will be able to resume some of the characteristics of his painting which will help us compare it to some of Bosch's creations. First of all, Caravaggio is above all a realistic painter. He does not need and does not want to create heroic, biblical or mythological figures to represent Christ, the apostles or any other character from the Bible. For him, these figures can be inspired from the regular Roman walking around the city in the 17th century.

Second of all, and this goes hand in hand with the realism perspective I have mentioned, Caravaggio has an extraordinary sense of detail which makes him paint almost every single detail he can find useful for the expression of his characters.

Third of all, we need to mention the use of light, which has several roles in Caravaggio's painting. Indeed, it can be used to point out to characters among others or it can be used to single them out, but, most important, it is used to emphasize contrasts and to practice the chiaroscuro.

Bosch's work, on the other hand, is a significant and impetuous combination of realism and, especially, surrealism. Bosch's work is grotesque, burlesque and intriguing, but we cannot help noticing many Flemish elements from the 15th century in his work, including peasantry figures. On the other hand, and I need to mention this again and again as we speak of Bosch's figures, that they are almost always grotesque. Thin and strangely colored, the individuals in Bosch's paintings appear always to be the same archetype. How far we are here from Caravaggio's keen and realistic observations and descriptions!

In "The Haywain," many have seen "a progression of sin from Eden to hell," with Eden in the left-side panel and Hell in the right-side panel. The most representative, however, is the middle panel, with the actual haywain. There is a saying in Flemish which states, more or less, that "the world is a haywain, everybody takes as much as one can." In many ways, this is the message of the painting, with the people in the second plane nipping away at the haywain.

One of the characteristics of Bosch's works is related to the numerous geometrical planes he uses in his painting, each describing part of the story and correlated to the center subject. Here, we can count as many as three or four: the lower one, differentiated with a darker color, a second one, painted in yellow, a third one, comprising the haywain and a fourth one, on top of the haywain. This is somewhat different from the unitary works we have discussed when referring to Caravaggio's paintings, where the horizontal planes from Bosch's paintings are rather replaced by vertical geometrical groups.

For example, in "The Calling of St. Matthew," we may be able to identify two such groups: there is a horizontal rectangle formed by St. Matthew and his assistants and a vertical prism, with Jesus and St. Peter.

A significant difference between the two painters and one to which we will return further on is related to the use of color and lighting. There is no chiaroscuro in Bosch's works. Instead, it is replaced by a vivid coloration. It is sometimes comical, sometimes it suggests a joke, but it is also grotesque and horrid at times. Compared to Caravaggio's classical colors, we may arrive at the conclusion that while Caravaggio prefers the contrast between lightness and darkness in his painting to underline different effects, Bosch relies more on his coloring to draw the viewer's attention.

The painting of the haywain cannot be left aside without emphasizing Bosch's trademark: grotesque, surrealistic and devilish figures. In this painting, they are pulling at the haywain. The large array of figures included here give some idea on the painter's imagination, but deeply contrast with Caravaggio's sense of reality and his obsession with portraying ordinary people.

On the other hand, the attention to small details can be seen in Bosch's painting as well. If only we look at the incredible amount of characters he takes on portraying. In "The Haywain," the central panel contains at least fifty such different characters, although constructed on the same archetype.