Art-Caravaggio-Abraham and Isaac TB02

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This is one of a series of travel bugs made to recognize art seen and admired by the bug owner. A digital copy of this work was downloaded from the internet. The copy was reduced in size and proportions cropped to accommodate the laminating materials available to the owner. Regrettably these processes diminish the effort of the artist. One truly must see the original in person to fully appreciate the work. The text below is a mixture of my own observations and material gleaned from the internet (mostly Wikipedia and Web Gallery).

Caravaggio, byname of Michelangelo Merisi, was Italian painter whose revolutionary technique of tenebrism, or dramatic, selective illumination of form out of deep shadow, became a hallmark of Baroque painting. Scorning the traditional idealized interpretation of religious subjects, he took his models from the streets and painted them realistically.

In 1595 Caravaggio's talent caught the eye of cardinal Francesco Del Monte, who subsequently becomes his first patron. His three paintings on the life of St Matthew cause a sensation. After this success, Caravaggio took all his subjects from the New Testament.

Caravaggio's life was as turbulent as his personality. He has many run-ins with the law and is arrested on several occasions. In 1606 a bet over a game of tennis led to an argument, at which point Caravaggio brandished his sword and killed his opponent. He fled to Naples, intending to take the long way home via Malta and Sicily to Rome (where friends are lobbying for his pardon). During this wanderings he produced several masterpieces. He died (at age 37) before reaching Rome, probably of pneumonia. Several days after his death word arrives of papal absolution.

In this painting, old Abraham is intercepted in the act of sacrificing his son by an admonishing angel who, with his right hand prevents the murder, and with his left, points to the substitute victim. We originally saw this painting in the Uffizi, in Florence, then again in 2011 at the Kimball in Fort Worth.