Scipione Borghese – Puppetmaster of Caravaggio

Caravaggio, Ottavio Leoni, 1621

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) created a world of darkness and light through his paintings.  What may appear as just another expression of art to the casual viewer is in actuality a true reproduction of his world.  I have returned to the well of Caravaggio for another story from the artist’s short life, the influence of his patron, Cardinal Scipione Borghese (1577-1633).  Drawing from Andrew Graham-Dixon’s book, Caravaggio, A Life Sacred and Profane, and M, the Man who became Caravaggio by Peter Robb, a portrait of sorts has appeared, detailing the obsession of the Cardinal and his ruthless collecting of the artist’s works.  No accidents of fate can be attributed to their relationship, only a hot- headed painter and one of the many who manipulated him to their own rewards.

Scipione Borghese, Ottavio Leoni, 1610

Scipione Borghese, the nephew of Pope John V, is someone fit to be called the Cardinal Nephew, willing to bend all opportunities to his desired machinations in the name of the papacy.  Scipione built three major private estates: Palazzo Pallavcini Rospigliosi, the Villa Borghese and Palazzo Borghese.  The Villa Borghese art collection is a testimony of Scipione’s drive to establish the Borghese legacy with other ancient Roman families such as Colonna and Orsini.  Tireless and ruthless in his quest for art, the Cardinal considered extortion and outright theft to be tools of acquisition to complete his gallery.

The meeting of these men occurred in the Antechamber of Quirinale Palace, where Borghese was the papal representative of judicial administration.  Caravaggio was caught up in the net of his own violent arrogance, having assaulted the notary Mariano Pasqualone, who brought charges against him.  A settlement was the required agreement, and for this consideration, Caravaggio showed his gratitude to the Cardinal with a gift, Saint Jerome Writing.  The deal was private enough that no record of a commission or payment survives, but the painting does appear in the possession of Scipione Borghese following this interesting event.

Saint Jerome Writing, 1605

Camillo Borghese, Pope Paul V, 1552-1621, Caravaggio, 1605-6

Soon after, Caravaggio found himself the latest flavor in the Roman carnival of fame.  Commissions came his way from several sources, including a portrait of Pope John V, and a commission for the Basilica of Saint Peter; The Madonna and Child with St. Anne, 1605-06; for the altar of the Archconfraternity of the Papal Grooms.  The dream of his fellow artists to be enshrined in this cathedral with the greatest names of the day was within his grasp, for two days.

Madonna of the Grooms, 1605-6

“In this painting there are but vulgarity, sacrilege, impiousness and disgust… One would say it is a work made by a painter that can paint well, but of a dark spirit, and who has been for a lot of time far from God, from His adoration and from any good thought…” note from a Cardinal’s secretary of the time.

This was not the first of Caravaggio’s paintings considered unacceptable, but it was rejected by the College of Cardinals, from Saint Peter’s.  Displayed from April 14 thru April 16, the painting was removed and purchased at a remarkably reduced price by Scipione Borghese.  Recent archival research has revealed that the Cardinal was involved in obtaining the painting at a very early stage of the commission.  Borghese was stepping up his collection of the temperamental artist, by fair means or foul.

Death of the Virgin, 1606

The Death of the Virgin, commissioned by Laerzio Alberti for his chapel in the Carmelite Chuch of Santa Maria della Scala, was ultimately rejected by the Carmelites.  The public reason is the portrayal of the Holy Mother is considered too secular, showing her bare legs.  Accused by his contemporaries of using a local prostitute in the portrayal of Mary, sacrilege for the time, the church deemed it unacceptable, giving another wound to Caravaggio’s pride.  The painting was immediately purchased by the Duke of Mantua, on the recommendation of Peter Paul Ruebens, who called it Caravaggio’s “best work.”

The next masterpieces came to the Borghese collection in 1607, through the settlement of a tax bill.   Giuseppe Cesari, former teacher of Caravaggio, found himself an impediment to Cardinal Borghese’s obsession.  Cesari had a considerable stock of paintings from various apprentices, with two by Caravaggio; Borghese made an insulting offer, which Cesari had the temerity to refuse.  That mistake saw him arrested on false charges with a possible death sentence hanging over him; the payment came in the form of 107 paintings.  The Pope gave them all to Scipione including Sick Bacchus, and Boy with a Basket of Fruit, advancing the Borghese family collection further.

Boy with a Basket of Fruit, 1593

Sick Bacchus, self portrait, 1593

I leave the story of Caravaggio for the moment, as he struggles between the love and hate of Rome, his ego filled with righteous indignation and praise.  The events of his life are ready to collide with the murder of Ranuccio Tommassoni and the artist’s life on the run from papal justice.  Scipione Borghese is not finished with Caravaggio, becoming a crucial figure in his final days.

Has Caravaggio influenced your view of art?  Is his story typical of the tortured artist or are his actions compounded by the puppetmasters of the time?  I would love to chat with you about this artist!

If you want to learn more about the artist Caravaggio, there are similar facets to his story posted here:

Caravaggio, before Fame and Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

Detail, Boy with a Basket of Fruit, 1593

Picture Links

Caravaggio, by Octavio Leoni

Scipione Borghese, by Octavio Leoni

Saint Jerome Writing, by Caravaggio

Pope Paul V, by Caravaggio

Madonna of the Grooms, by Caravaggio

Death of the Virgin, by Caravaggio

Boy with a Basket of Fruit, by Caravaggio

Sick Bacchus, by Caravaggio

Research Links

Andrew Graham-Dixon, Caravaggio, A Life Sacred and Profane

Peter Robb, M, the Man who Became Caravaggio

Art Insitute of Chicago on Museum Monday

Welcome to Museum Monday, where I showcase some of the great events going on at museums and the interactive museum experience.  This week I am pleased to share the latest news from the Art Institute of Chicago and their involvement in the Google Art Project.

Chai Lee, Associate Director of Public Affairs, was kind enough to take time from his busy schedule to discuss the addition of the Art Institute in the expansion of the Art Project.  “Google came to us after going around the world approaching different museums.  They captured 50 percent of the medium base, and the results were spectacular.”

Impressionism, Post Impressionism, Asian art, and African art galleries are all represented on the Google Gallery views.  This ‘street view’ of the various collections was accomplished during December and January over five evenings, photographing the galleries to give the world access to what is available at the Art Institute.  The masterpieces featured combine contributions from all 34 curators who chose from the Institute’s 300,000 objects.  The 550 choices were reduced to a final count of 155 pieces of art by 125 artists that can be viewed individually or in their gallery setting.

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Georges Seurat, 1884

For the mega pixel image, the museum chose the famous “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte”, by Georges Seurat, 1884.   An icon of Chicago and the Art Institute, this popular painting of immense proportion commands a majority of its gallery location.  A detailed study of the finite brush strokes is difficult to surmount without the technology offered by the Google Art Project.  Taken off the wall, the painting was put into the conservation lab, and special photographers worked in the dark detailing this spectacular painting.  On display, viewing this work up close is not possible, due to its popularity and size.  But thanks to Google, every bit of action captured in this painting can be studied and scrutinized.

Mega Pixel detail Google Art Project

I have chosen to highlight some of my personal favorites from the Art Institute, interspersed with my own photographs.  The history of these objects on the details page was a bonus to my own museum experience.

Bust of a Youth, 1630/40, Francesco Mochi

This marble statue is believed to be a bust of St. John the Baptist, and instantly commands attention upon entering the gallery where it is displayed.  The technical prowess of the sculptor Mochi is shown by the sharp turn of the youth’s head, the distant gaze, and the parted lips.

The provenance of this piece proves interesting; originally from the collection of Federico Gentili di Giuseppe (d. 1940), and the estate sale at the Hotel Drouot, Paris, 1941.  This curatorial auction was declared void by the French court; sold at the Arcole auction house in 1988 to the Anthony Roth of London, and subsequently sold to the Art Institute that same year.

Room View, Author’s Own

Federico di Giuseppe, an Italian of Jewish descent, amassed a large collection of art that he displayed at his home in Paris.  He died of natural causes in the weeks prior to the Nazi invasion of France in 1940, which forced many of his family members to flee the country.  The French Vichy government auctioned many objects from his collection in 1941.  The Art Institute reached an agreement with the heirs of di Giuseppe in 2000, through a purchase and donation agreement that allowed the museum to keep this beautiful sculpture.

Saint George Killing the Dragon, 1434/35, Bernat Martorell

This vivid painting once formed the center of an altarpiece in the chapel of the Catalan government palace in Barcelona.   Saint George was the patron Saint of Catalonia, and Martorell was the leading painter of Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia in northeastern Spain.  The image was flanked by smaller, narrative panels, now at the Musee du Louvre in Paris, that illustrate the martyrdom of the Saint in typical gothic style and gruesome detail.

To the left of the St. George picture in the museum view is an interesting room that I wish the Google Art Project had been able to share.  Several religious reliquaries and icons are displayed in a tightly controlled atmosphere, the darkened room only adding to the mystic of these unusual items.

Room of Religious Icons and Reliquaries

Reliquary at the Chicago Art Institute

The Resurrection, 1619/20,Francesco Buoneri, called Cecco del Caravaggio

The only documented painting by Buoneri, commissioned in 1619 by the Tuscan ambassador to Rome, Piero Guicciardini.  Originally rejected by the patron, it was subsequently sold to another collector.  Buoneri is considered one of Caravaggio’s closest followers, and may have been the “boy Francesco” who assisted the painter during his last years in Rome.  This personal connection is suggested by his nickname, Cecco del Caravaggio.  References to this artist can be found in Andrew Graham Dixon’s “Caravaggio, A Life Sacred and Profane”, as the model for the artist’s ‘Cupid’, and the assistant who prepared his paints and canvases.

Detail of The Resurrection

Minute details of The Resurrection

My thanks to Chai Lee at the Art Institute of Chicago, for sharing his experiences with the Google Art Project and the help of Robby Sexton at the Institute for supporting my blog with great information.  My next Museum Monday will continue the latest from Chicago with the current exhibition of Roy Lichtenstein.  And just for fun, here is the scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off featuring the Art Institute of Chicago.

Author and Trusted Museum Companion

Resources:

Federico Gentili di Giuseppe, Artnet.com

The Flagellation of Saint George, Louvre

Saint George Dragged Through the City, Louvre

The Proconsul Dacian Sentencing Saint George, Louvre

The Beheading of Saint George, Louvre

Graham-Dixon, Andrew, “Caravaggio, A Life Sacred and Profane“, WW Norton & Company, New York, London, 2011, pages 247, 248.