Emotions, gestures, their ratio

and density in the paintings

by Michelangelo Merisi
da Caravaggio.

Introduction:

A gesture is always, to some extent, an act of resistance.

Gravity pulls the body down, and how the body moves is how it handles it.
You can do it with effort or with ease, and when it comes to painting, you can hide the fact of
gravity (for example, with floating drapery) or expose it (for example, with a lowered back
and arms).

In contrast to the art of the Renaissance, meek, lulled in perspective grids, the Baroque is
characterized by protruded limbs and inconceivable curves, plexus of bodies and extreme
manifestations of emotions. Indeed, Bernini in his sculptures brings emotion and gesture
together, and Rubens' paintings are relentless performances, but not all heroes of baroque
paintings are found in the highest degree of exaltation.

The environment, pressure, gravity of the paintings by Michelangelo Merisi and Caravaggio
are not homogeneous, and in this sense, it seems to me, it is of interest for research.
A lot has been written about Caravaggio, in particular, about the effect of presence, about the
tangibility of the flesh, the persuasiveness of the characters, and without a detailed analysis of
the sources it is difficult to avoid repetition, so the potential value of this work will not be in
making a great discovery, but in the possible identification of some patterns.

Selection principle:
This work will include only those pictures about which I have something to say, although, I
admit, there was a theory in my head from the beginning and I involuntarily avoided those
pictures that refute it. However, I do not consider myself a particularly sophisticated viewer,
and usually the paintings that were most often reproduced and mentioned in basic texts on art
history seem to me the most powerful and interesting, and it is to these paintings that the
generalizations that will inevitably follow are quite applicable.
I will start with the picture that led me to this idea (the idea of the distribution of the density
and range of emotions and their relationship with gestures), and then I will go in an order that
violates logic, but partially preserves the intuitive harmony of reasoning.

The Entombment of Christ (1603–1604)

Speaking about this picture, people like to mention the diagonal of emotions, stretched from
the pathetically raised hands of Mary of Clopas to the silent John and Nicodemus.
I see it differently.
My gaze is drawn to the place where St. Nicodemus embraces the knees of Christ. This is the
point of highest density (I will explain why) and from it to the edges of the picture this force
dissipates, gestures become more volatile (imagine gas), they work less for the moment and
more for themselves and the composition.
Our brain is able to “copy” the movements we see (mirror neurons. While watching football
matches, athletics competitions, etc., the neurons that are involved in reproducing the real
movement turn on. For ballerinas, for example, the response of these neurons was stronger
when they watched the ballet)
The movement of Nicodemus to the brain, the body seems more natural, in the sense that
looking at him, we feel where the muscles and ligaments are stretched, where tension arises,
how the weight is distributed over the legs and, most importantly, what it is like to hold the
legs of Christ in our hands, his heaviness .
It would be possible to feel the movement of John, but his body is not visible in its entirety.
he is in the shadows, besides, a hand sticks out from behind his head, which knocks the
impression. All other movements are graceful, beautiful but very formal. They represent
emotion. This is good, without them there would be no such gradation, there would be no
concentration of energy in the hands of Nicodemus.
Christ, although he is dead, is also very theatrical (representative). Although there is
something in his posture that my body can feel: a finger that touches a stone. The stone must
be cold, and this reminds me that Christ is also cold.
Thus, the most restrained gestures in this picture are the most significant.

The Supper at Emmaus (1601)

A similar situation is observed here. People around Christ actively gesticulate, he is calm, his
face is peaceful, his gesture is majestic. This time, the point of attraction (Christ) is also
theatrical (unlike Nicodemus in the previous picture), but he exists in a time-slowed
dimension , relative to Luke and Cleopas (like Nicodemus)

The Taking of Christ (1602)

Here the moment stopped completely. We are deafened by the noise (gesticulation,
movement), but if we enter the circle to Jesus and Judas, we will hear a ringing silence. The
hands of Christ are in the zone of noise and are not perceived at all as part of his body.

The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula (1610)

Again. There is turmoil around, Ursula is dying, but she is calm, her figure is closed. An
angel warned her.

The Inspiration of Saint Matthew (1602)

I would like to include in this series the later painting with St. Matthew. Despite the fact that
it contradicts, it would seem, the original idea of Caravaggio, he retains its small grain.
We see an angel in a whirlwind of draperies and curved fingers, we also see an elegantly
draped Matthew, proud and inspired, but ... First of all, he turns his back to the angel, as if he
is trying to shield himself from this baroque cloud, to maintain immediacy. Secondly, his
hands remain rather constrained, calmed down, almost frightened. Of course, Matthew
himself is also constrained, but luxurious drapery prevents us from understanding this, it
remains to look at his hands, to feel them with our brain and body. And I again consider them
the main event of the picture, at least during the viewing, because after it we, perhaps, will
better remember the silhouette of the angel, his fingers. This does not mean that the angel is
more important, it means that for our consciousness it is more informative, causes more
discomfort.

Saint Matthew and the Angel (1602)

The first version is also impossible not to mention. People saw in this Matthew an insult, art
historians attributed everything to dirty feet, a stupid look, inept movements. But why do the
movements look clumsy? Let's look at the angel first. He is very baroque, as he will remain
later, and although his clothes and fingers do not yet curve dramatically, they are subject to a
common rhythm, they are harmonious, they sway on the same waves. And Matthew's legs are
two sticks set at a dissonant angle, his legs are arguing: Matthew concentrates with difficulty,
his hands are two tumors, unable to draw letters and themselves not obeying common lines.
And the most tense moment - again in the hands. The touch of a light angel to a heavy man,
the clash of baroque and naturalism.

Of course, mannerisms are not always just a cinch for the latter. Take, for example, "Judith
Beheading Holofernes" (1598-99/1602). Here, it would seem, the real baroque in the form in
which we usually understand it. All muscles are tense, stretched, emotions are at the limit,
disgust is read in seconds. But still. Look at the neck, look at Judith's back. This is a straight
line. Look at the face. She holds back her disgust, even though she's not good at it. She does
not live the emotion to the end, does not live it with her whole body, as it should be. And this
holds us. We, too, cannot live our feelings to the end and remain inside the picture.

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist (1608)

The squire has a beautiful, resilient body, again, very theatrically curved, but why? Because
he is a dragon, he is a horse, he is a screw-in nail, his advantage is in strength and movement,
and under him is St. John the Baptist. And he does not have this advantage, he is completely
limp. (the gestures of the other three figures, although expressive, are absolutely schematic
and exist more for illustration, explanation of what is happening than for anything else)

Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (1607/1610)

About what happened after the beheading. But this picture does not affect me. It seems that
Caravaggio has not quite decided what the characters feel, therefore their movements can
neither coincide with their emotions, nor contradict them.

Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (1609)

This picture is much better because Caravaggio depicted not his own lack of understanding of
their reactions, but their own lack of understanding of how they should react. Therefore,
almost the same postures suddenly acquire the fullness of meaning.

The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599-1600)

Here we see balanced, in general, bodies, but two dramatic, symmetrical hands (Christ and
Matthew) hold the whole composition on themselves (by the way, the hand of Christ does not
completely coincide with the beam of light. Apparently, Caravaggio avoids mannerisms and
excessive directness)

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (1602)

All the power of the gesture is concentrated in one single point. Again. but this time the point
is even smaller and even denser. The muscle of the index finger is the most tense. Naturally,
he points to this point (thуse words have different roots in Russian, I don’t know how to say
it otherwise), he plunges into it. The baroque twisted folds of the himation are also come
down to it.
Everything except the wound of Christ is reduced to rhythm. An excellent rhythm of heads,
necks, backs, arches, suggesting the way to the look.

Conclusion:
Not always the most important event in the picture is accompanied by the strongest muscle
tension. Sometimes attention is concentrated in quiet areas (usually this implies that such an
area is surrounded by tension), but this is not always the case. The main tool of Caravaggio -
contrast (and the conflict that goes hand in hand with it) - subjugates not only light and
shadow, but all levels of image, whether it be the body of an individual or the relationship of
the bodies, or else.
Contrasts are to somewhat characteristic of all artists, but here we see an almost cinematic
contribution to these contrasts (all the strings are taut in such a way that we know what
happened at least the moment before and what will happen the next moment after the one that
is presented to us (a certain action potential arises and, therefore, an attempt to predict this
action, an extension in time is created)

Gestures are rethought every time.

A gesture becomes expressive when it meets another that is opposite in quality. In any case,
there must be some contradiction. But the strength of Caravaggio is that even in paintings
with a lone figure this contradiction is present. And just then the thought that I so clumsily
tried to enter into the introduction comes up: it seems that gravity in the paintings of
Caravaggio is especially strong, because almost all the figures are covered by some kind of
general fatigue, weightiness (first of all, they are given out by the heaviness of the eyelids,
half-closed eyes) .
So the movement, which should be easy, requires effort, and if the movement is really easy
(for example, Mary's hands thrown up to the sky in the scene of entombment), then a feeling
of a change in physical dimensions is created.

I didn’t manage to bring everything under one line after all.

But perhaps there was no need.