Devil & Genius – Caravaggio in Rome, Naples & Malta - DELETEDPAGES - Art History Abroad - Art History Abroad
- Primary Navigation
- Secondary Navigation [section related information]
- Main Site Content
- Footer with further Navigational links
- View Sitemap
"AHA courses are much better than A level History of Art as a preparation for university work. Exposure to real paintings, sculpture and buildings develops visual alertness. Seeing art in the cities where it was made reveals how it was shaped by its cultural context. Students from AHA have been made aware of many of the problems and excitements of academic Art History before they begin their BA."
Professor John Onians
The School of World Art Studies, University of East Anglia
Devil & Genius – Caravaggio in Rome, Naples & Malta
Rarely do we have the chance to study one artist, to truly delve into their life, mind and works. What artist more intricate, fascinatingly dark, and intensely moving than Caravaggio and what better opportunity than the 400th anniversary of his mysterious death?
The genius of Caravaggio is apparent in all his work; the intense beauty, the unflinching realism and the dramatic lighting. The devil in him was also omnipresent; reams of court script, assault, libel and murder. Yet was it this turbulent temper that fuelled the passion so evident in his painting?
We will study all that is behind Caravaggio; his childhood, his patrons, the Church, politics and life at the turn of the sixteenth century. We will look at how his radical painting technique and composition thrust their way into the Roman art scene and how his influence outlived his turbulent reputation. We will study his contemporaries and followers including Rubens, the Caracci brothers, Artemisia Gentilesschi and Bernini.
The course will start in Rome where we will visit all Caravaggio's well known paintings and several less accessible but no less remarkable works. We will follow the artist's flight to Naples where again we have a viewing of a work in a private collection. We will then fly on to Sicily to admire Saint Lucy. The last stop is Malta where Caravaggio took refuge. His work here was so celebrated that he was made a Knight of Malta but we will then go on to discover how soon after he was expelled as a "foul and rotten member".
We will spend four nights in Rome, one in Naples, one in Sicily and two in Malta. Those unable to make the whole trip may join the course for the Rome or Malta leg only, with the option of adding on Naples or Sicily.
