Caravaggio's Entombment Considered in Situ Author(s): Georgia Wright Source: The Art Bulletin, Vol. 60, No. 1 (Mar.

, 1978), pp. 35-42 Published by: College Art Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3049742 . Accessed: 11/10/2011 15:41
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in Entombment Considered Situ* Caravaggio's

Georgia Wright
works Manyof Caravaggio's dependfortheireffectuponlocal conditionsof lightingor viewpointso that they oughtto be of is seenin situ,butnowhere thismorecriticalto the meaning As the workthan in the caseof the Entombment. the original viewthe copyin nowhangsin the Vatican one Gallery, should the Chapel of the Chiesa Nuova (S. Mariain Vallicella) duringthe celebrationof Mass (Fig. 1). The painting is a until the to dramatic adjunct the Mass,its actionincomplete to standsready receivethe bodythat is beinglowered to priest him. Afterthe words, "Thisis myverybody," whenthe priest of Host for the adoration the elevatesthe newlyconsecrated Host and body, even the worshippers, perfectlyjuxtaposing of mostsimplecommunicant mightsee that the celebration reenactment of the unbloody sacrifice the Massis a mysterious is Whereas of the original,perfectsacrifice. Disputa Raphael's of Transubstantiation, to a visualcounterpart scholastic proofs has the work during Mass the Caravaggio's as it is experienced forceof revelation. how it Tomyknowledge hasnot so farbeenremarked much the Entombment owe to Pontormo's altarpiecefor the may in S. Felicitain Florence,paintedin 1525 CapponiChapel in (Figs.2 and3). Firsttherearesimilarities the designs,the the verticalformwith a compressed grouping, bodyof Christ in the frontplane, the isolatedhand of the fully displayed Virgin over the head of Christ. Recently Shearmanhas the that actually represented Entombment, proposed Pontormo Entombment 1507but substitutof as a modelRaphael's using ing for the lateral processiontowardthe tomb a forward of movement toward altar.'The pitifulgesture the Virgin the as Christ's hand is removedfrom hers and she falls back in that is expressed the emphasizes finalityof the separation betweenthe two groups.If one the diagonalfissure opening followedthe gazeof the bearers to the dome, one found, up now God the Father fourpatriarchs, and to according Vasari, as identified depicting covered a lowerdome.The drawing by God showshim seatedon a parapet, probably abovethe just and across from the altar, as Shearman supportingring his toward son.2 The out suggests, reaching compassionately of the altarpiece domealongwith the Evangelists and figures in the pendentiveswereall bound togetherby glance and of sacrifice. and gesture by theirrolesin the mystery perpetual this Entombment not a historical action in an is Indeed, identifiable for place, represented a viewerstandingin one at One couldnot haveseen God andthe altarpiece the spot. of exist sametime.The figures andact in an idealspaceoutside time.3 has Leo Steinberg takenexceptionto Shearman's interprebecausethey tationof the action,believingthat the bearers, the rather lookup, cannotbe aboutto lower bodyto the altar; areangelswho have takenChristfromthe Virgin's lap they and areaboutto fly acrossthe Chapelto placehim in God's a mightrepresent transitional lap.4The ideathatan altarpiece both of momentbetweena Pietaand a Trinity composition, defies expectations. all whichmustbe painfully reconstructed, Nonetheless, Steinberg is justifiedin finding Shearman's of description a loweringaction less than convincing.The action in the left cornerof the paintingis actuallyarrested. forward support to Christ's headand who reaches The woman the the woman whoholdshis lefthandandlooksbackreduce in The formovement anydirection. crouching youth potential carriesChrist'slegs overhis far shoulderso that he cannot onto the altar.Neitherdoes lower bodyout of the picture the albeit to rise.The bodyis in effectdisplayed, he appear ready in a lessstaticfashionthanwouldbe the casein a half-length PietA Bellinior in the LastFarewell (Uffizi)by Rogiervan by derWeyden.The threefigures elevatingthe bodygazeup to our attentionfromthe terriblehumanloss Heaven,shifting of of on expressed the rightsideto the mystery God'ssacrifice in recounted the his son as predicted the Old Testament, by reenactedin the liturgy.The Evangelists,and perpetually Eucharistic meaning that Shearman emphasizedis not of contingentupona lowering the bodyto the altar,but it is in the elevation the bodyoverthe altarin the sight of implied the of God andbefore celebrant. of of One shouldalwaysbe suspicious interpretations one of workthat dependupon interpretations another.I do not mean to suggest that it was the liturgicalsignificanceof Pontormo's paintingthat influenced Caravaggio. Longbefore the Entombment commissionedhe would have been was in the interested the action and the gazesdirectedoutward, in the pendentives, the exciting protrudinghalf-figures across spaceof the chapel.When, years the of interplay figures an he wascharged with painting Entombment, might he later, this painting, with the body of Christ have remembered the from poignantseparation broughtwell forward, Virgin's the spaceof the her son, andthe bearers' gazesencompassing chapel. The action of Caravaggio's Entombment much less is

* The ultimate inspiration for this paper was an undergraduatelecture by Hedley Rhys. I am indebted to Loren Partridgefor measuringthe altarpiece in situ and to David Wright for measurementsand for photographs. 1 John Shearman, Pontormo's Altarpiecein S. Felicita(Charlton Lectureson Art), Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1971, 10-14.

Ibid,17-18andfig. 9. Ibid,24. 4 Leo Steinberg,"Pontormo's CapponiChapel,"Art Bulletin,LvI,1974, 385-398(esp. 387f.)

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ambiguous than Pontormo's, yet it too has been misinterpreted, or, when it has been understood,the implicationshave been missed because of its present unsympathetic setting.5 Whereas in Pontormo'saltarpiecethe circularconfigurationof the group adds to the uncertainty of the movementDeposition or Elevation-in Caravaggio'swork the step-like of progression the forms allows of no misreading.The woman with arms raised begins a carefully planned, open-ended

the of movement through bent figures the Virgin descending forms andweeping woman,the doubled-over of SaintJohnand the Nicodemus, sagging bodyof Christ,andfinallythe stone into thatprojects the spaceoverthe altar. In the Caravaggio,two men carrythe body of Christ, by diagonalto the pictureplane. Saint John, identified his the red and youthful appearance striking cloak,supports torso of Christuponhis right knee with his rightarm,the other overthe torso,he gazes underthe hips, andbending evidently the body into the space before the picture.6 beyond Nicodemus,his feet plantedclose to the edge of the slab, graspsthe knees in his left arm, bendingwell over while to us turningtoward as he prepares lowerthe bodyoverthe the in the direction his glance.Already legsof Christ of edge hasstruck delicate a the toward observer. Caravaggio protrude for the body balancebetweena stableanddignified position for movement the bearers. and a shiftingand transitory Just her in behindSaintJohn,the Virgin, a nun'shabitthatframes while opening her armswide, face brightly,leans forward behindJohn's abruptly palmsdown;her right hand appears visiblebetweenthe othertwo women. her left is barely head, that it seemslikelyto havebeen is So disjunctive this gesture to late conceived in the courseof paintingin order bringthe it natural forward. Nonetheless is a perfectly expression Virgin motionas the an of maternal solicitude, involuntary steadying bodyis aboutto be lowered. The two mourningwomen act as a chorus and are not The Eithermightbe the Magdalene. identified. distinctively is so with her face buriedin her handkerchief usually woman moreelaborate identified because herloosehairandslightly of in characteristic her but dress, the secondraises arms a gesture of the Magdalene. The costume of the first is found in the (Doria-Pamphily); Repentant Magdalene Caravaggio's
second with her cast eye and oddly bent fingerlooks more like the model for the Conversion the Magdalene(Detroit). The of fanning arms, however,are as much a compositionaldevice as an attribute, opening the composition at the top while movement. Nicodemus is the pivotal beginning the downward his elbow jabbingoutward,his eyes, located on the axis figure, of the painting, fixing the recipient of the body.

comes In her articleon the Entombment Ann Graeve Mary to conclusionsverydifferentfrommy own, basedupon her of interpretations the action,the stone, andthe setting.7She that the altarpiece,designedto aid privateprayer, proposes on a combines Pietaanda LastFarewell the Stoneof Unction. in of She is quitecorrect pointingout the derivation the body Piet& of ChristfromMichelangelo's (Fig.4), but she ventures will that too far in presuming the observer imaginewalking the in to the around paintedgroup order reconstruct imageof Christacrossthe lap of the Virgin,8the kind of effortthat Caravaggio's Steinbergwouldinsist upon in the Pontormo. Christis comparable to reference Michelangelo's undisguised to his adaptationof Michelangelo'sVictoryin his Amor Frisco" in Victorious (Berlin)or a SistineIgnudo his "Pastor In Museum).9 the latter cases he satirizedthe (Capitoline In he heroicmodelsin his erotictransformations. the former of of challengesthe idealism the modelwith the realism his into curveis translated a painful angle. graceful corpse.Every this Christis comfortably Whereas supported, Michelangelo's and bodysagsheavilybetweenthe bearers, the headand legs jut out stiffly.Whereasthe carvedhand is cradledin a soft second fold, the paintedhandin the identicalconfiguration, overthe stoneslab.In the mostbrutal hangs finger projecting, the veiled hand supporting the of transformations, Virgin's torso is replacedby Saint John'snakedhand inadvertently opening the wound. Caravaggio's competition with facet but is Michelangelo an intriguing little-understood of his He workand his personality. does not borrow casuallyfrom their this masteras he wouldfromother artists,plundering with a the works ideasor motifs,buthe approaches models for or wittyinsolence a proud challenge. are Graevebelievesthat the bearers aboutto set the body to downon the Stoneof Unctionin order anointit, butmany this Nicodemus's contradict reading. pose is precisely things and movement. to calculated indicatean outward downward His leftfoot is at the veryedgeof the slabso thathis elbowand Christ'slegs already hang overthe void. Christ'shand slips of the overthe edgeso as to establish spatialrelation bodyto lacks the attributes slab.10The stone itself conspicuously as to essential its identification the Stone of Unction:the red of colorwithwhitestreaks the relicandthe rectangular of plan Even moredecisive is the absenceof pictorialtradition.11 it ointmentjars.Evidently wasthe sharp,precise angleof the
slab that inspired the speculation upon its iconographic was remindedof a cornerstoneas it significance. Friedlaender is associatedwith Christ in Matthew 21:42, "the stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the Such a literarymetaphorappearsvery much out of corner."'12

Rome, 1973,84, comesclosestto my own s ValerioMariani,Caravaggio, come of la imagina sua'Deposizione' reading the action."Costii Caravaggio da vista del bassoe, pia precisamente, chi fossenel vano del sepolcronel qualeverricalatoii pallidocorpodel Cristo.. ." 6 The hand restingon the torsomustbe Christ'sif Caravaggio thought throughthe bearing action. His alla primaapproachnot infrequently this resultedin confusingpassages.Compare with the two handson the to both of whichappear belongto the tablein the Calling Saint Matthew, of youngman. Paintingfor SMaryAnn Graeve,"The Stone of Unction in Caravaggio's Art the ChiesaNuova," Bulletin, 1958,223-238. XL,

8 Ibid.,225.

Princeton,1955,89-94. Studies, Friedlaender, Caravaggio 9 Walter 10Graeve,"TheStone of Unction,"225, "Were action to be Nicodemus' kneesand half John's up completed,Christwouldlie half propped against on reclining the stone." that she 11 Ibid.,228 andsee herfigs.6, 7, 8, and12.Evidently wasunaware streaks. stone Caravaggio's is darkgraywith brown 12 Friedlaender, 127f. Studies, Caravaggio

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1 Copy of Caravaggio's Entombment in situ in now in Rome,S. Maria Vallicella, Chapelof the Pieta

2 Pontormo,Altarpiece, 1525. Florence,S. Felicita, Capponi Chapel

3 Caravaggio, 1601-03.Rome,Vatican Entombment, Gallery (photo:MuseiVaticani)

St. 4 Michelangelo, 1498. Piet&i, Rome, Peter's (photo: GFN)

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place. Actually, the problem is not an iconographic but a technical one, that of choosing a form that will produce a convincing illusion of projection through the picture plane. Unpredictableformswill not workso effectivelyas right angles (or as foreshortened figures). The angled slab and the void beneath it are more evocative of a precipitous incline than either an irregularbase or sheer wall would be. The slab, finally, serves to identify with precision the horizon or eye level, about five and a half feet above the altar step or the approximately eye level of the priest. Graeve concludes that the scene precedes entombment because she supposes that the action occurs in front of the tomb. An eighteenth-centuryline engravingof the altarpiece shows a large doorwayon the left and plants growingout of a bank overhead.13Even in the brightly lit Vatican the plants are all but invisible and the doorwayis a smudgeof light. The tomb entrance, of course, does not preclude the likelihood that the setting is the interior of the tomb. Rubens's free adaptation of the painting is instructive because, in representingSaint John stepping down into the grave, the painter was obviously inspired by Caravaggio's loweringaction and sought to make it more explicit (Fig. 5). Rubens'sfigureof Saint John, however,bracketsChrist'shead and shouldersratherthan standingbehind his torsoso that the action of proffering the body is destroyed. Similarly, in rearrangingthe figures in an ample circle, Rubens made a contained composition out of an open-ended one, even though he clearly understood the forward and downward movement. Generally, I have attempted to explain the meaning of the Entombment througha basic readingof the images, choosing to see the painting as a narrative and compositional problem rather than a symbolic puzzle. This approachruns counter to the tendency to find layers of allusions in Caravaggio's religious worksand poetic and moral meanings in his secular works, for such interpretations,I think, frequentlyignore the immediate impact that Caravaggio strove so assiduously to produce. If the Virgin is dressedas a nun, I believe the artist thought firstof drawingher face forwardfrom the background and so he settled upon the white wimple as a solution. Her dress was consonant with the unhistorical costuming he generallyused. Her gesture, too, may have been conceived in orderto drawher forward,but it is also an appropriate response to the separationand especially to the motion of lowering. If one interpets the Virgin as Ecclesia blessing the Sacrament,

ca. on variation Caravaggio's 5 Rubens, Entombment,1617? National National Ottawa, Gallery) (courtesy Gallery
14 the of narrative. If one diminishes importance the dramatic in the substitution of to one attempts finda liturgical meaning Saint Johnfor Josephof Arimathea,one missesan obvious to reasonfor it, that Saint John'sproximity Christ is more the Indeed borrowed redcloak,the hair, poignant. Caravaggio and the facial type from the Saint John of Pulzone's in to Crucifixion the next chapel,givingsomecontinuity the the dramaunfoldingin the twelve altarpieces representing in whichthe Virgin Mysteries appears."15 and of The dramatic immediacy the verisimilitude Caravagto the priest makethe offering Christ's of body gio'spainting both boldandshocking.The homelytearsandsupplications, the tenderinvoluntary of gesture the Virgin,and the intense

"TheStoneof Unction,"225 andfig. 4. Graeve takesGuattani's '3 Graeve, Actually,the engravingas a good replicaof a bright, clean Caravaggio. paintinghas been cleanedand it is clearthat Guattanihad addeddetails like a groundplane below the slab in orderto makea morereasonable outline composition.The engravingmediumwas most inappropriate for a transcribing chiaroscuro painting. 14 See Graeve,"TheStone of Unction,"236f, "TheMadonna ... is His the of Her acolytein fulfilling mystery the Redemption. appearance bears out her priestlike role. Her outstretchedarmssuggestbenediction or in of Misericordia " protection a manner recalling figures the Madonna .. Furtherallusionsare suggestedby MaurizioMarini, lo Michelangelo da Caravaggio,Rome, 1974, 399, who sees Communion, Baptism, the cornerstone-pietra-Peter-Church. in '~ SydneyFreedberg, Painting Italy,1500 to 1600, Baltimore,1975,pl.

299. The program established Saint Philiphimself, according was to by PietroBacci,TheLifeof St. Philip 2 Neri,trans.Frederick Antrobus, vols., London, 1902, I, 154; "When the altarswerebeing erectedin the new he that of should painted eachof be on church, ordered a mystery ourSavior in shouldappear the mystery." "The them, andthat the Madonna Graeve, Stoneof Unction,"233-38,interpreted passage meanthat a cycleof to this was betweenthose and the RosaryMysteries intended,but the disparity is on of altarpieces clearlyexplainedby Neri'semphasis the presence the in Madonna. Annunciation, Rosary Mysteries represented the altarpieces: Visitation, Nativity, Circumcision,Crucifixion,Ascension, Pentecost, Assumption,Coronation.RosaryMysteriesomitted:Christ amongthe with Doctors,Agonyin the Garden, Scourging, Crowning Thorns,Wayto Calvary, Resurrection.Altarpieces not numberedamong the Rosary of Presentation the Virgin, Adoration the Magi,Entombment. of Mysteries:

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in to are efforts the bearers calculated moveus to participate of the the scene,to raiseourhandsto receive body,andto renew in of oursenseof mystery the presence the Host.The painting the represents event to which the liturgybearsa symbolic illusion links through relationship. Caravaggio the twoworlds andnot through of of symbols the one laidoverthe drama the other. is The documentary historyof the Entombmentbrief.It was commissioned the Oratorian for Chiesa Nuovaand for the Chapel of the Pieta, which had been endowed by an influentialfollowerof Philip Neri, PietroVittrice.16 Pietro died in 160017and perhapsas a memorial, his nephew a Francesco Vittriceordered new paintingto replacethe old On 9 January1602 work on the painting or its Pietca.18 architectural transferto framenecessitatedthe temporary anotheraltarof the privilegeattachedto Vittrice'saltar.19 Thus the painting may have been begun by mid-1601.A terminus quemfor its installationis 6 September1604 ante and the whenFrancesco asked andreceived oldpainting its for was framewhich wereno longerneeded.20 The Entombment in to removed Parisin 1797and returned 1815when it was hungin the Vatican Galleryanda copymadeforthe chapel. The Oratorywas a suitablesetting for this bold, almost dramatization Transubstantiation. associatethe of We vulgar and with Oratorians simplediscourses, preaching, the lack lay andareaptto forget thatone of PhilipNeri's of monastic rule, mostimportant contributions the reform the Church to of lay in his vigorousinsistence upon frequentCommunionand Confession.21 TwentyMassesper day were offeredin the but by Oratory,22 those celebrated Philip wereparticularly moving,convertingmanyby virtueof their sweetness.The

in that canonization process wasbeingcompleted 1602records testimonyof the presenceof blood in Philip'schalice and of the describes often-witnessed phenomenon Philiplevitating In duringMass.23 the last yearsbeforehis death in 1595he at Massin his roomandwouldremain it forhours, celebrated non at arrested the "Domine sumdignus."24 Whenhe wasill to was andthe Sacrament brought his bedside,he said,"Give musthavecolored me my Lovequickly."25This simplefervor the Massesin the Oratoryin the periodso soon afterhis death. It remainsnow to examine the worksthat Caravaggio In the paintedin the periodaround datesof the Entombment. his firstcommission a church,the lateralpanelsfor the for the ContarelliChapel in S. Luigidei Francesi representing of Callingand Martyrdom SaintMatthew(1599-1600), he provedhis ability to modifyhis easel style to suit the new the matter.26He reduced subject settingandthe moreserious and the the detailand increased scale, darkened background in wouldemerge so the strengthened shadows that the figures the dimchapelas if pickedout by the lightfromthe window. These adjustmentswere made toward one end, that of of the heightening illusionof the actuality the event. in All of these characteristics intensified the Crucifixwere ionofSaint Peter the Conversion Saul,of 1600-01,in the and of Cerasi Chapel in S. Maria del Popolo, and in addition introduced compositions (Figs.6 and 7). diagonal Caravaggio of are As Steinberg pointedout, the figures SaulandPeter has but to the foreshortened arearranged not arbitrarily parallel in line of sightof a spectator bay standing the entrance of the obliquely.27 chapelfromwhencehe wouldview the paintings low The unusually viewpointin the paintingsis as nearlyas that of the observer. The directionof the internal possible is determinedby the strongestexternal source, the light

of '6 Pietro Vittrice, guardarobba Pope GregoryXIII, and an intimate of (penitente) PhilipNeri's,was the firstpersonto obtain a chapel in the to originalchurch(June1577);it wasdedicated the Pieth.See L. Ponnelle and L. Bordet,SanFilippo Neri . . ., Florence,1931,351: "Ottenevaper quella della Pieth, da lui domandata,il favoredell'altareprivilegiato, date nel di convenendosi 1580di unadotazione millescudi." (The mistaken for "1571" the chapel,foundin Friedlaender, 187, Caravaggio, is basedon a London,1937,416). misprintin the Englishedition of Ponnelle-Bordet, when the churchwaswidenedin the These earlychapelsweredestroyed mid-1580's: old linesof chapelsweremadeinto narrow the aisles,anda new alla set of chapelswas built out fromthere (see JacobHess, "Contributi storiadellaChiesaNuova," Studien, Kunstgeschichtliche Rome,1967,I, 357). I am grateful Howard to Hibbard this information, forwhatfollows for and in notes 17-19. death was firstpublished Hess in 1954 17 The date of PietroVittrice's by in v, I, Studien, Appendix 188;cf. MiaCinotti (reprinted Kunstgeschichtliche e in G. A. dell'Acqua,Il Caravaggio le sue grandi opereda San Luigidei of deathreads Francesi, Milan,1971,118and176,n. 65). The report Pietro's as follows: "1600.26. marzo+ I1signorPietroVittricioche fu guardarobba XIII.abitavaalla Lungara il di PapaGregorio passato portonedi S. Spirito Vat. citation in Sassia."(Biblioteca Vaticana, lat. 7875,fol. 4; a following mentionsthat he wasburiedin the Vallicella.) 18 Friedlaender, 187, attributedthe commissionto Pietro Caravaggio, and the himself, althoughhe transcribed translated correctinformation givenby Lopresti (L'Arte, 1922,116).Of the 1000scudigivenby Pietro xxI, in 1580 (note 16 above), 700 werein cash and 300 wereto be givenat his death. This money which was probablyused to pay for Caravaggio's altarpiece,was thus availablein 1600. An archivalnote of 6 September states:"Sidiaal nepotedel sig. PietroVittrici 1604,discovered Lopresti, by di havendo di con il quadro dellaPietA il suoornamento legno,che dimanda

sua cortesia fatto fare il quadro nuovo del Caravaggio al quale non serve il sop. detto ornamento di legno." Whether the nephew in question was actually Francesco is not known, since Hess printed documents showing that he died on 19 November 1636, aged 48. (An Alessandro Vittrice, who FortuneTeller,died on 6 October 1650, aged 54 may have owned Caravaggio's or 57-hence he was probably not the first owner and could hardly have been the nephew mentioned in 1604-Hess, Kunstgeschichtliche Studien, I, 288.) Still, it seems possible that someone in the family already owned a painting by Caravaggio in 1600; and after the success of the Contarelli and Cerasi Chapels (the latter finished in May 1601) Caravaggio was famous. 19 Lopresti, 116;her document is taken from Generoso Calenzio, La vitae gli scrittidel cardinale CesareBaronio..., Rome, 1907, 630 (Lopresti cited the wrong page and has errorsof transcription). Calenzio'scitation, from "Libro IV,pag. 15" of the Oratorian Decrees, reads as follows: "9 Gennaio 1602. tratti col Sig. CardinalBaronioche N. S. ne Che il P. Prometheo (Peregrini) dia licentia di dir la messa a un'altro altare, sin che s'accomoda il privilegiato." 20 Note 18 above. 21 Ponnelle and Bordet, St. PhilipNeri, 182ff.
22 23

Ibid.,388.
Bacci, The Life of St. PhilipNeri, I, 150, 342ff.

24

Ibid.,I, 146.

25 Ibid., II, 93. 26 Herwarth R6ttgen, "Die Stellung der Contarelli-Kapelle in Caravaggios Werk,"Zeitschrift Kunstgeschichte, fiir xxviiI, 1965, 47-68 (esp. 47-50). 27 Leo Steinberg, "Observations in the Cerasi Chapel," Art Bulletin, XLI, 1959, 183-190 (esp. 186).

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view 6 Caravaggio, of Crucifixion SaintPeter,1600-01, of lit. artificially Rome,S. Mariadel Popolo,CerasiChapel (photo:GFN)

Conversion Saul,natural 7 Caravaggio, of light. Cerasi Chapel

windowof the west wall of the transept.28These clerestory devices drawthe spectatorinto the emotional life of the In eliminated protagonists. the Conversion SaulCaravaggio of the subsidiary of Christand the angel, which he had figures used in the Balbi-Odescalchi version,so that the spectator in mustempathize with Saul's and gesture expression orderto understand paintingandnot be confused the threatenthe by ing bulkof the horse.Saulis not in painnordoeshe fendoff the hoofbuthe listensto an innervoice.The lighthe blindly is embraces the externalmanifestation the innervoiceand of the efficient causeof the action.Whenon summer afternoons the sunrakes paintingat exactlythe angleof the internal the light, the effectis that of a revelation (Fig. 7). In the Crucifixion Saint Peter the opposite on wall, poorly of illuminatedat best, light playsno such centralrole. Saint reminiscent of his Peter raises torsoin a purposeful movement, but in SaintPeter the Cappella Paolina, rather Michelangelo's he than turning fierce his gazeuponthe spectator, looksdown has at the crosson the altar. Caravaggio exploitedto the view.Not only doesthe of utmostthe possibilities the oblique observer penetratethe picturespacequiteeasily,but he can withoutturning,something see the objectof Peter's thoughts

Pontormo's chapelwouldnot permit.Thusin the sameyearin extendedthe which he beganthe Entombment, Caravaggio the to world the painting include space,objects,andlightof of the chapel.Morefullythan before,he depended upona few the of actionsto reveal significance the story. physical The firstaltarpiece the Contarelli for Chapelwascommis1602 and thus may have been painted sioned in February was shortlyafterthe Entombment begun.29As well as we may fromphotographs the destroyed of work,the firstSaint judge and fits and into Matthew theAngel stylistically compositionally the time of the Vittrice Altarpiece (Fig. 8). If we accept hypothesisthat the paintinghas been R6ttgen'sreasonable and trimmed that once it waslargeenoughto fit the severely altarframeof the secondversion,we mayconcludethat the In effectmusthavebeen overwhelming. Raittgen's sculptural the reconstruction angel'swing wouldnot havebeen cut by the frameand thus wouldnot have been lockedwithin the foot pictorialspace. The Evangelist's wouldhave projected cast rightoverthe altar,liftedout by the shadow by the high stronglight.30This shockingintrusion helps to explainwhy the "feetcrudely to exposed the people"is citedby Bellorias one of the reasonswhy the painting was rejectedby the

28 Steinberg suggests that the light comes from the dome or areaof Heaven, ibid., 185, but Caravaggio makes no adjustment that would suggest that source. 29 R5ttgen, "Die Stellung der Contarelli-Kapelle," 54.

der Miinchener Jahrbuch bildenden 30 H. Rdttgen,"Caravaggio-Probleme," Kunst, 1969,143-170 xx, (esp. 150andfigs.5 and6.)

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9 Eastwall of nave with southwindow the Chapel of of the Pieth, S. Mariain Vallicelliana

8 Caravaggio, Matthew theAngel,1602.Formerly Saint and Kaiser-Friedrichs Berlin Staatliche Museum, (courtesy Museen, Berlin) Fathers S. Luigi.31 doubtthe questionable of No relationship betweenMatthewand the angel musthave been even more offensive. The first Matthew may always defy profound because moresophisticated the these become, interpretations the less appropriate seem. But for the purposes this of they the wedge-shaped introduced deserves here study, composition attention.Heretoo the figure impinges uponthe spacebefore the picture,whereas Cerasipanels,obliquely the sited, invite the viewerto enterthe picture via diagonals voids. and space In the secondSaintMatthew, for in September 1602, of paid had to relinquish close-knitgrouping, he the but Caravaggio still stressed Matthewrestshis knee upona stool projection. that teetersoverthe edgeof the paintedplatform substituted for the lowerpartof the frame.The tableand the angelare a foreshortened, fact that is almostobscured the sharply by enveloping darkness. Caravaggioattempted to use the of and diagonals the Cerasipanelsand the projection raking of the firstMatthew and the Entombment orderto in light createa forceful illusion. becauseof the greaternumberof actors in the Perhaps

there reduced huge size of the the Entombment, Caravaggio of to if figures the firstMatthew moremoderate still over-lifesizeproportions. bodyof Christ,approximately and The seven a half feet long, correctlydominatesthe priestratherthan seemingtoo smallwhenseen fromthe altarrail(Fig. 1). The internallight does not follow the dominantexternallight source,the southor rightwindowin the wall obliqueto the altar.In the Contarelli is Chapelthe window at a rightangle to the scenes, and its light is usedeffectivelyin the Calling. The directlightin the Cerasi the Chapelat timesstrengthens miraculous in the Conversion Saul.The lateral wallsof of light the Vallicellianachapels, however,are returnedfrom the continuous exterior so that the windows wall admitonly dim, diffused light (Fig. 9).32 Caravaggiocould arrangethe around citationof Michelangelo's the Piet& and composition it according the demands the diagonal to masswithout of light concernforthe dimexternal light. With the Entombment the firstSaint and Matthew, Caravaga of with gio climaxed longif episodic period experimentation illusion.The Ambrosiana Basket, Fruit in texture and exquisite frame playof light, extendsoverthe edgeof a paintedbrown that is so convincing that it is sometimestrimmedoff in This trompe-l'oeil effect is repeatedin the reproductions. secondMatthew. such earlypictures the BoyBitten a In as by the Musical Scene(Metropolitan or Lizard, Museum), Bacchus a utilized half-length format drawthe to (Uffizi),Caravaggio observer close to the picturewhile the subjects reachout to him with glance or gesture.Donald Posnerproposedthat Bacchus him solicitsthe observer underthe guiseof offering a of wine." Although the Entombment fromanother is glass world, Caravaggio again uses the directedglance and the to forcethe spectatorto assumea specific offeringgestures in The of role,thatof the assistant the grave. development the

178. Caravaggio, 3 Citedin Friedlaender, 32 Eugenie Nuova:S. Maria Vallicelliana, in Strong,La Chiesa Rome, 1923, of therewasno streeton this flank,but pl. Iv,engraving 1638. Originally thus the light in the chapelwouldhave been rather adjoiningbuildings;

fainterthen, andthe presence buildings thissidedictated unusual of on the fromwellsat the sides. lightingof the apsesof the chapels Art Homo-Erotic Works," Quarterly, Early "Caravaggio's xxDonaldPosner, xxxIV, 1971,301-324(esp. 302f.).

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THE ART BULLETIN

largerscale, the reductionof detail, the dense shadowand dark background combined with a more skillful foreshortening, enabled the artist to blend together the painted scene and dim chapel interior. The Vittrice Altarpiece is all too frequently cited as an example of a classic composition in Caravaggio'sotherwise more daring oeuvre. Historians have been led to this conclusion because of its popularity with copyists and biographers or because of its superficial resemblance to a pyramidalform.34 But surely a classic composition is closed and stable, whereas this one is open both at the top and through the front plane, while being too compressed to be stable. There is insufficient space for the figures, for which reasonC6zannemay have been attractedto copy it and further it compressit, whereasRubens, although attracted,rearranged more spaciously.The popularityof the altarpiecewith respect to the ContarelliChapel maybe readilyunderstood;it could be easily seen, whereasthe Matthewcycle was verydimly lit. The Cerasi panels may have failed to please because of the lack of heavenly hosts or because of some offense against decorum. Neither drastic foreshortening nor rude characterizationcan be found in the Entombment. Indeed Bellori, while praisingit, may have understood its revolutionary action: "Ben tra le migliore opere, che uscissero dal pennello di Michele si meritamente in istima la Depositione di Christo nella Chiesa Nuova . ..; situate le figuresopra una pietra nell'apertura del sepolcro. Vedesi in mezzoil sacrocorpo, lo reggeNicodemo da piedi, abbraciandolo sotto le ginocchia, e nell'abbassarsile coscie, escono in fuori le gambe."35 The worksfor the Cerasi Chapel and the experiment with the first Saint MatthewpreparedCaravaggioto improveupon Pontormo and to do what had never before been done, to produce a painting whose action is meaningful only in the context of the Masswhen the prieststandsreadyto receive the body and to place it in the form of the consecratedHost upon the altar tomb. Berkeley,California

34See forexample OttinodellaChiesa,L'Opera 97f. completa, Friedlaender, 240, translated249: "The figuresin the 35 Caravaggio, are In painting placedon a stonein the openingof the sepulcher. the center Nicodemus the it, supports Sacred Bodyunderthe knees,embracing andas the hipsarelowered, legsjut out." the