At 25:10 you mention that Caravaggio tried to return to Rome in 1618, which appears to be an error. I couldnt find a correction on screen, so I though I would give an heads-up. @Kaz Rowe
Now that I've built proper suspense: my man is a bug eyed, somehow horsey siamese named Wyrm who plays fetch and always walks crouched. If you've seen Charles Cornell trying to hold in a cough, that is my lads resting expression , his namesake is because he likes to steal sparkly dice and various things to hide in his caves, but also because the first time he got pets he wiggled out from his den on his back. He enjoys vigorous almost violent pat pats despite being an absolute scaredy cat, and sits there looking at you like he has something to say but is too awkward to interrupt.
I'd like to note he wasn't just related to any old nobility - he was related to the Sforza, who you may remember from the Horrible histories song about the Borgias. His extended relatives were just as bad as he was.
My favorite Sforza is Bona Sforza, who became archduchess of the Polish-Lithuanian empire and became the biggest landowner and a political snake in no time, as well as introducing the north to tomatoes!
@@laurendeland7403 you're right. He wasn't. But when you start thinking about one dramatic painter, the rest tend to follow. You know, like how humans think.
@@LynnHermione exactly, It kind of reminds me of the story of when Hans Christian Andersen came to England and stayed with Charles Dickens and his family (I really hope that I have that right). HCA sounded like a total nightmare to have around for any length of time, let alone staying (and staying) in your home. I think there’s a “Horrible Histories” sketch about that visit.
Caravaggio certainly is one of those artists where you're stuck between "Fuck that guy!" and "We have no choice but to stan". There is so much history surrounding him and so, S O much sociopolitical historical context one needs to grasp before starting to judge his character and or his art - and I love that. I really, really do. It's one of the reasons I became an art historian and even though my first love is and will always be religious medieval art, Italian renaissance is a close second. What can I say, I live for religious drama, crazy art and artists and the absolute pettiness and subtext of it all. (And even though I am the first person to latch onto queer themes in art, the Bacchus portrait is *chefs kiss* pure excellence on so many levels, I should write something about it tbh) In conclusion: I love your video and if you're at all interested in the life of Italian Renaissance painters/painterpoets - there are some good books out there and let me tell you, there's so much renaissance gay culture surrounding artists, it's beyond amazing :D
I personally recommend Deborah Parkers book Bronzino: Renaissance Painter as Poet, she cites a whole lot of literature surrounding queer topics especially (I can't remember any of those titles, but I promise it's worth a deep dive! :D)
This makes me mad for some reason. Is it because I’m made I didn’t think of it first? Probably. Is it because this feels like simultaneously the epitome of the dad joke and the epitome of the inversion of the dad joke? Probably.
Kaz Rowe you have GOT to stop putting out so many thoughtfully well written and creative videos that CLEARLY take so much time and effort and EXTREME talent to produce. It's getting too much for us.
Literally my new fave channel/content creator! We are literally the same person when it comes to interests and Kaz condenses them down into vids that my aadhd can deal with. Finding the "gay cowboy/cow people" vid made my week!
As an Italian, it's so mind blowing to hear another perspective on the character of Carlo Borromeo, since in Italy is often regarded as a benevolent figure who assisted the poor during the plague and even went to visit sick people in person to give them comfort. I think that our skewed perspective on the guy is probably due to the fact that he has been canonised as a saint by the Catholic church and that he is depicted in an extremely positive light in Alessandro Manzoni's extremely influential novel "I promessi sposi" (The soon-to-be wed)
@@falconeshieldbecause it was Published at the end of newspapers one page a week. So to Read it all in one sit is Like watching all tv Shows meant to be Seen a week apart on Netflix all in one sitting. The plot seem to Never go on
I think it is important to remember lead poisoning in regards to madmen of a bygone era. Their actions are their responsibility, same as someone with a head injury or uncontrolled mental illness, but there are external factors that humanize their actions. People with brain injuries have issues with impulse control. I imagine it's similar for lead poisoning. This doesn't make their actions okay but it does make them more of a tragedy
@@carolkindle2662 I was watching something about colors we don't use anymore and what they're made from and I believe it was vermillion that is beautiful and really common to be able to be found its gemstone but it just free releases massive amounts of Mercury and whenever we used to mine it it would actually give the life expectancy of those miners 3 years
@@dismurrart6648 I hate the notion that leftists/liberals have with "oh the mentally ill need to take control of their actions", dude you have no idea what you're talking about being so judgmental.
@@jeffm3283 well Jeff, I do actually. I have adhd, cptsd, abandonment issues, and anger issues. The way my life has turned out I cope by eating which has caused obesity, I have an addictive personality, and could very easily have destroyed my life. I've seen traumatized children r**e other children. I've seen people physically attack people because of head trauma. Most serial killers have fucked up tragic childhoods and major trauma. Most abusers are continuing the cycle. For me, not becoming an abuser was an active choice. So no. Unfortunately those of us who are mentally ill fairly often have to do a lot of work and it's unfair and sucks. My lover doesn't deserve me abusing them because I was abused. My loved ones don't deserve me intentionally harming them because of disregulation in my brain. I don't deserve the life of misery that comes with not treating my trauma and illness. In fact, I'm a good person and deserve the endorphin rush from rock climbing and not the pain of seeing the hurt in my victims eyes. So instead I do therapy and hard work to heal and everyone around me is better for it and I have a chance at a good life
Pleased to know that working in customer service has always been the same. Having a guest throw a dish at you and pointing a weapon at you is simply peak essential worker experience.
We studied his art briefly at university and somehow we never touched his horrible behavior. Thank you so much for the informational and great video ❤️
"now god is punching everyone for party rocking" i know you probably said punishing but i can't resist because it's funnier the way i heard it the first time
Honestly, the OSP video on Bacchus as an early pre Mycenaean Greek cthonic god of madness and death was one of the most interesting videos I've ever watched.
You remind me of once reading the autobiography of Benevenuto Cellini. Another Renaissance artist with a violent career which involved several murders. This one was a goldsmith, and I didn't have to read far to realize he was seriously insane. At one point, as he was bragging about the skills he was renowned for, he talked about his skill at making foils. A foil is a metallic coating applied to the back of a gem to make it reflect light and make it glitter. Today we mostly see foils mostly on the back of rhinestones. The thing is that, to make a foil back then, he dissolved gold or silver in mercury, painted the mixture on the back of the gem, then placed it in an oven to evaporate the mercury. The side effect of this was that the walls, floor, ceiling, and every surface in the shop became saturated with mercury, which slowly but surely would have turned his brain to mush.
I loved seeing the notification pop up for this video! In my school, we finally got the chance to research and have a project on Caravaggio and holy heck does he have an... interesting life... ! Super excited to watch this vid in full and compare what I know to what you talk about!
As someone from Malta who recently discovered your channel I was excited to see a name of person linked to my (tiny) country's history for once. 😂 However I am afraid I do have to correct you on one point. Caravaggio was actually in Malta for over a year - he painted several paintings during that time, some of which are still exhibited here. Also fun fact: although The Knights of St John were a military order - they were also a religious order (equivalent to the Knights Templar) which means Caravaggio would have had to take monastic vows of chastity, poverty and obedience to join (not that any of the Knights gave much of a **** about their vows, but that's another story).
Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane is a favorite book of mine! Thank you for making a video on it! Makes it easy to share the essentials with my peers. My favorite sequence worth mentioning is that he allegedly left anonymous bawdy poems dissing his contemporaries in the town square. Sounds a lot like twitter or rap beefs to me. Reminds me how little has changed over the course of human history.
I included it in high school and college art history courses. Seemed that, for especially high school students, the more about an artist’s crazy, depraved, odd , etc. behavior, the better they remembered those and other aspects of the artist’s work.
I love historical accounts of men who were objectively terrible as human beings but also SO talented at that ONE thing that nobody could actually ignore them. It's weirdly hilarious. The same energy as how the Unabomber also happened to be extremely good at specific math theories.
I did a project on this man for an AP class. Oh my goodness he is hands down one of my favorite artists, he messed up a lot but he is entertaining, and his work is engaging and beautiful. He’s definitely a favorite of mine!
And he was only 38 when he died, I'm kinda curious of what he would've done next lmao btw I think you would love "I Promessi Sposi", an historical novel by Manzoni, I think in English is "The Betrothed", set in Italy in the 17th century^^
I'm Italian, and an art enthusiast, so THANK YOU. I modeled for some Caravaggio recreations as an art project of a friend (Caravaggio Reloaded, check it out it's amazing), and I always loved the wild stories that surround his art.
my art history teacher taught us about caravaggio and everything he got up to in such an iconic way. i’ve never been so invested in a course, and might have shed a tear or two whenever i finally got to see some of his works in florence. litterally screamed when i saw that you had made a video about him!! today is a good day.
Ah man, I'm so glad you covered this story! When I first heard about Caravaggio's life of crime, I thought: this would be the perfect historical drama- and of course the aesthetic would mirror his art style, etc... it's like made for an arthouse/crime drama film haha
Can I just say, your style of videos is so unlike any other youtuber I’ve seen! You make history interesting and discuss things I never even knew! Thanks for dedicating yourself to being entertaining while being educating!!!
Very unusual and interesting perspective about Caravaggio’s dark side. However, his light side allowed him to SEE light in such a unique, personal and dramatic way that he stirs strong emotions in us still today, a fraction of what he felt. A genius. Full of unsolved personality problems, causing violence and murder. Still, a producer of eternal masterpieces ✨✨✨
I LOVE that film. Such a stunningly shot work of cinema - I really enjoy when films about an artist try to create a similar visual aesthetic as their body of work. It’s even more impressive when you consider the fact that Jarman was able to accomplish all that on a shoestring budget. Everyone is also so grimy yet hot lol, from a young Tilda Swinton and Sean Bean to the guy who played Caravaggio. Everyone is sexy in spite of (or is it **because** of) the fact that they’re literally filthy lol.
@@JaesadaSrisuk Yes, and Robbie Coltrane is in it too (you may know him as the actor who portrayed Hagrid). I watched the movie just about the time Coltrane's "Cracker" series was out. He portrayed Scipione Borghese, an Italian cardinal and a patron of Carravagio.
It's crazy to think you started posting only a year-two years ago! I can't think of my life without you! (In a non parasocial way) I just love watching and re-watching your videos, they're so entertaining yet calming and your voice is calming yet engaging too! What a perfect balance your channel is for me! Seriously so grateful!
holy hell it's so perfect for you to be covering this classic piece of work ps - is it me or is that blackwork ....actually... purplework? in any case, it's great. :)
I'm starting to suspect that these videos are partially a way for you to flex your incredible costuming skills while LARP and ren fairs are socially irresponsible.
Once again, amazingly informed and written video Kaz!! Thank you for blessing us today. Also I can’t stop staring at the black work on your blouse. So beautiful!
I really enjoyed this video, but while talking about badly behaved artist men of yore is very entertaining I wanted to suggest maybe to give the women a little more love? Especially in art, many female artists are being "rediscovered", though they were never really "gone". Artemisia Gentileschi being one of the more famous now, but also Jeanne Mammen (who lived through two World Wars, talk about bad luck). Just to reiterate, I appreciate and enjoy all your content!
I'd like to nominate Hildegarde von Bigen, Oracle Nun Composer of the German alps. She's one of the first known medieval composers to not be as afraid of writing larger musical intervals instead of the prayer sung like a "safe" drone. 🤩 Honestly, Queen.
I adore Gentileschi's Judith and Holofernes also! I do like Caravagio's, i'm a sucker for the subject & his is a gorgeous representation, but my absolute fave is Gentileschi's. (Kinda gauche to say but it's long been my phone's wall paper)! It's just magnificent, breathtaking and also it's hard not to feel the strong connection she had with that particular piece. Her second version especially, the blood is a more realistic in how it sprays and flows and Judith is depicted wearing a bracelet that represents Artemisia herself (a patron saint or something like that? can't exactly recall, sorry I'm pretty uneducated!). Sorry if I'm waffling, just wanted to agree with you :)
" it's hard to say why so many artists of this era we're so temperamentally volatile" she says so innocently as if Jackson Pollock and Toulouse-Lautrec never lived.
Your fully-loaded wild-eyed look when you briefly speculated on Archbishops being allowed to own private armies... well, it made my world seem brighter, if only for a few moments. More, please.
gives me the vibes of Giacomo Casanova (who I would love to see covered in something like this) ‘Lover’, moved place to place with really high and really low times in life, prison escapes, rags to riches then back to rags all over again
The thing about lead poisoning is interesting in modern times too because acute lead poisoning from the type of pollution in the mid-20th century has been linked to the boom in serial killers in the early second half of the 20th century. Also explains why boomers are so violent and reactionary
This is great. My Art History classes never went over any of this. And Caravaggio was one of my favorite artists. Thank you, Kaz, for filling in "the rest of the story."
not sure but it sure as fuck didn't help the "oh excuse then for being [violent /weird/ passionate/ unwell] - they're an artist" mentality we still drag around
@@lissaquon607as long as artists are monetarily forced to be the pets of wealthy people instead of being able to afford life in their own right by their work Never gonna happen
Thanks for making the video I was curious about about this topic and searched it. He's one of the master painters and also supposedly murdered at least one guy so yeah I'm strapped in
NIIICE!! Gaad i adore his paintings. A couple decades ago I read 2 books about C, one was a straightfwd bio, the other was whimsically a woulda-been diary by the artist. Appreciate your raw delivery
One of the first people that helped Carvaggio when he was espcaping from rome and also participated in the fight with ranuccio tomassoni was mario minniti, a painter and friend (possibly had relations too) with Caravaggio, he is the model in Bacchus,The Musicians, Boy with a basket of fruit, Lute player and the Calling of St. Mathew (it's the guy with curly black hair). When Caravaggio fled Rome, Mario wasn't his apprentice already because he got married and gave shelter to Caravaggio in his house.
I gotta say... I accidentally fell asleep while watching a playlist of your videos for god knows how long, and now you are everything that is recommended to me hahah
I am maltese or from Malta, it is known that the knights allowed caravaggio to join if he painter the main painting of the co-cathedral of malta. which was the beheading of john the baptist which is the only signed painting since the knights forced him to sign it.
Caravaggio is my favorite painter. I have read at least two biographies of his life and have also watched Simon Schama's The Power of Art which had an excellent episode focusing on Caravaggio. His paintings are brilliant and were used as inspiration for the R.E.M. video "Losing My Religion" and Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ (although I didn't see much of that influence in the film).
Ecer since i found your account I use it to get through work and find asleep at night it’s so interesting and soothing I love it so much thank you thank you thank you
i honestly hated my ren. art history class in uni so much because 80% of the anecdotes were just about how all the artists straight up abused their models and it was so difficult to sit through (it also didn't influence my decision to concentrate in 19th century art at aaaall /sarcasm)
My immediate response upon clicking was "aahhhhh yes. DESTROY the reasons why I love this art." To be fair, it's good to know. It's good to acknowledge the shitty behaviour, in order to further decide how much this art means to you.
This is such a well-written, witty and interesting video and I thoroughly enjoyed it but I couldn’t help but snort about your beautiful pronunciation of the name ✨Karél de Mander✨ because the original Dutch pronunciation is more like kaarol duh mandur (I’m Dutch lmao)
Can we all take a moment to appreciate the grammar school teacher who was wounded in the line of duty by noticing a creep and stalking his students and doing something about it? Hero
Use code KAZ to get 30% off your first month at Scentbird sbird.co/3iX7VOd
What's your favorite fragrance? Let me know below! :D
It is my season
Fresh Citrus scent FTW
Use Scentbird and you will smell better than that deranged shit rat Caravaggio.
At 25:10 you mention that Caravaggio tried to return to Rome in 1618, which appears to be an error. I couldnt find a correction on screen, so I though I would give an heads-up. @Kaz Rowe
where do you shop PLS
Aside from every obvious bad thing he did, I'm very upset about the amount of artichokes wasted. Those things are pricey.
Outside Mediterranean climate, yes
much cheaper in Italy
"Time to chat about a weird little man again"- Me, about to ensnare a stranger in a talk about my cat again
Oh I love that for you
Oooh I wanna hear!
::swans in and waits attentively::
I love your weird little man already
Now that I've built proper suspense: my man is a bug eyed, somehow horsey siamese named Wyrm who plays fetch and always walks crouched. If you've seen Charles Cornell trying to hold in a cough, that is my lads resting expression , his namesake is because he likes to steal sparkly dice and various things to hide in his caves, but also because the first time he got pets he wiggled out from his den on his back. He enjoys vigorous almost violent pat pats despite being an absolute scaredy cat, and sits there looking at you like he has something to say but is too awkward to interrupt.
I'd like to note he wasn't just related to any old nobility - he was related to the Sforza, who you may remember from the Horrible histories song about the Borgias. His extended relatives were just as bad as he was.
My favorite Sforza is Bona Sforza, who became archduchess of the Polish-Lithuanian empire and became the biggest landowner and a political snake in no time, as well as introducing the north to tomatoes!
Her daughter in law, a woman of low birth her son secretly married, DID die under suspicious circumstances months after the marriage though
In my art history class, we spent half of the class period talking about how crazy this dude was, barely even about his art
He was part of every class for me. It's fun to compare Renaissance drama.
@@mcwjes You prolly should have learned he wasn't a Renaissance artist at some point.
@@laurendeland7403 you're right. He wasn't. But when you start thinking about one dramatic painter, the rest tend to follow. You know, like how humans think.
@@mcwjes I think most humans can conceptualize drama and chronology simultaneously but ok
We only focused on his art😭 I don't know which teacher was better though, yours or mine haha
I’m just surprised he managed to find a rich person to latch on to EVERYWHERE he went
I mean he still painted like Caravaggio. A good painting was worth having to chase him out two weeks later
@@LynnHermione exactly, It kind of reminds me of the story of when Hans Christian Andersen came to England and stayed with Charles Dickens and his family (I really hope that I have that right). HCA sounded like a total nightmare to have around for any length of time, let alone staying (and staying) in your home.
I think there’s a “Horrible Histories” sketch about that visit.
He was like a rock star of the time.
It's the same with them
I'm not. That my friend is a forgotten skill!
Great job explaining Caravaggio! Yes, he was a nut, but name any artist in any field who isn't! I very much enjoyed this.
Caravaggio certainly is one of those artists where you're stuck between "Fuck that guy!" and "We have no choice but to stan". There is so much history surrounding him and so, S O much sociopolitical historical context one needs to grasp before starting to judge his character and or his art - and I love that. I really, really do. It's one of the reasons I became an art historian and even though my first love is and will always be religious medieval art, Italian renaissance is a close second. What can I say, I live for religious drama, crazy art and artists and the absolute pettiness and subtext of it all. (And even though I am the first person to latch onto queer themes in art, the Bacchus portrait is *chefs kiss* pure excellence on so many levels, I should write something about it tbh)
In conclusion: I love your video and if you're at all interested in the life of Italian Renaissance painters/painterpoets - there are some good books out there and let me tell you, there's so much renaissance gay culture surrounding artists, it's beyond amazing :D
I personally recommend Deborah Parkers book Bronzino: Renaissance Painter as Poet, she cites a whole lot of literature surrounding queer topics especially (I can't remember any of those titles, but I promise it's worth a deep dive! :D)
Girl we both are art historians and love medieval religious art we share a brain 😭😭💙 I love it !! Everything you said was soo true
Sort of the Mick Jagger of his time?
“Stan”? Fuck, people who use that word are arguably worse .
Caravaggio isn't a Reainassance painter though (as he is considered probably the father of modern painting)
-Achievement unlocked: go a month without killing someone in a duel in the 16th century-
😆
Whoopsie, i think i woke my roommate up by laughing at your comment too loudly 😂
"The artichoke incident wasn't Caravaggio's first run-in with the law, nor was it the last."
No, but it sure was a hearty one.
Take my like and get out dammit
Badum tss
This makes me mad for some reason.
Is it because I’m made I didn’t think of it first? Probably.
Is it because this feels like simultaneously the epitome of the dad joke and the epitome of the inversion of the dad joke? Probably.
Kaz Rowe you have GOT to stop putting out so many thoughtfully well written and creative videos that CLEARLY take so much time and effort and EXTREME talent to produce. It's getting too much for us.
it takes way too much iq to fully appreciate and I just dont have it
But whe still love her vids🥺😋
@@ramiromendoza1419 they go by they/them
@@youngcharlatan1211 thank u for the heads up my dude/sis/friend👍
Literally my new fave channel/content creator! We are literally the same person when it comes to interests and Kaz condenses them down into vids that my aadhd can deal with. Finding the "gay cowboy/cow people" vid made my week!
As an Italian, it's so mind blowing to hear another perspective on the character of Carlo Borromeo, since in Italy is often regarded as a benevolent figure who assisted the poor during the plague and even went to visit sick people in person to give them comfort. I think that our skewed perspective on the guy is probably due to the fact that he has been canonised as a saint by the Catholic church and that he is depicted in an extremely positive light in Alessandro Manzoni's extremely influential novel "I promessi sposi" (The soon-to-be wed)
Promesi Sposi is booring
@@falconeshieldbecause it was Published at the end of newspapers one page a week. So to Read it all in one sit is Like watching all tv Shows meant to be Seen a week apart on Netflix all in one sitting. The plot seem to Never go on
"I wasn't trying to kill him, I was only trying to cut his junk off" is not the defense he thought it was
the slowly devolving descriptions of Caravaggio were GOLDEN, really emphasized the whole "what the fuck Caravaggio" theme this video had
I think it is important to remember lead poisoning in regards to madmen of a bygone era. Their actions are their responsibility, same as someone with a head injury or uncontrolled mental illness, but there are external factors that humanize their actions.
People with brain injuries have issues with impulse control. I imagine it's similar for lead poisoning. This doesn't make their actions okay but it does make them more of a tragedy
Yes!!!! Lead being used commonly in wallpapers and paints etc is actually thought to have some bearing on specific behaviors of certain generations
@@carolkindle2662 I was watching something about colors we don't use anymore and what they're made from and I believe it was vermillion that is beautiful and really common to be able to be found its gemstone but it just free releases massive amounts of Mercury and whenever we used to mine it it would actually give the life expectancy of those miners 3 years
EDIT: WHY IS IT REPYLING TO THE WRONG PERSON OVER AND OVER THIS WEBSITE SUCKS
@@dismurrart6648 I hate the notion that leftists/liberals have with "oh the mentally ill need to take control of their actions", dude you have no idea what you're talking about being so judgmental.
@@jeffm3283 well Jeff, I do actually. I have adhd, cptsd, abandonment issues, and anger issues. The way my life has turned out I cope by eating which has caused obesity, I have an addictive personality, and could very easily have destroyed my life. I've seen traumatized children r**e other children. I've seen people physically attack people because of head trauma.
Most serial killers have fucked up tragic childhoods and major trauma. Most abusers are continuing the cycle. For me, not becoming an abuser was an active choice.
So no. Unfortunately those of us who are mentally ill fairly often have to do a lot of work and it's unfair and sucks. My lover doesn't deserve me abusing them because I was abused. My loved ones don't deserve me intentionally harming them because of disregulation in my brain. I don't deserve the life of misery that comes with not treating my trauma and illness. In fact, I'm a good person and deserve the endorphin rush from rock climbing and not the pain of seeing the hurt in my victims eyes. So instead I do therapy and hard work to heal and everyone around me is better for it and I have a chance at a good life
Pleased to know that working in customer service has always been the same.
Having a guest throw a dish at you and pointing a weapon at you is simply peak essential worker experience.
"simply peak essential worker experience" Subtle, classic statement. I regret I can only upvote once.
We studied his art briefly at university and somehow we never touched his horrible behavior. Thank you so much for the informational and great video ❤️
Same. It was briefly alluded to. My professor really loved his work. His favorite Baroque artist. 🙄
"now god is punching everyone for party rocking" i know you probably said punishing but i can't resist because it's funnier the way i heard it the first time
Oh, she said punching alright. And it's definitely funnier!
@@crowdedcrow3098 they
Their jokes are so subtle and fantastic.
I'm surprised he had time to paint in between so many crimes o.o
Jail gave him so many free time.
Be aggio, do crime
He was a pretty fast painter
Oh my god, NO WAY! 1/4 of my thesis is on art of Bacchus in the Italian Renaissance, and you just helped a LOT
oo wow!!! Got anything fun facts to say about Bacchus lol?
I would also like to know any bits that were of particular interest! 😀
Honestly, the OSP video on Bacchus as an early pre Mycenaean Greek cthonic god of madness and death was one of the most interesting videos I've ever watched.
Ohh the boy and the lizard so much to unpack there. One of my favorites
How Caravaggio did not end up murdered or killed in a brawl much earlier is amazing. The guy must have had 'great artist plot armour'.
Thank God!! FINALLY, someone is talking about Caravaggio!!! He is UNHINGED. From, an art history grad student.
Haha, true. Absolutely unhinged!
You remind me of once reading the autobiography of Benevenuto Cellini. Another Renaissance artist with a violent career which involved several murders. This one was a goldsmith, and I didn't have to read far to realize he was seriously insane. At one point, as he was bragging about the skills he was renowned for, he talked about his skill at making foils. A foil is a metallic coating applied to the back of a gem to make it reflect light and make it glitter. Today we mostly see foils mostly on the back of rhinestones. The thing is that, to make a foil back then, he dissolved gold or silver in mercury, painted the mixture on the back of the gem, then placed it in an oven to evaporate the mercury. The side effect of this was that the walls, floor, ceiling, and every surface in the shop became saturated with mercury, which slowly but surely would have turned his brain to mush.
I loved seeing the notification pop up for this video! In my school, we finally got the chance to research and have a project on Caravaggio and holy heck does he have an... interesting life... ! Super excited to watch this vid in full and compare what I know to what you talk about!
"This cockroach of a man..."
Say no more 😆
Tough and a survivor. Well, at least until 38.
As someone from Malta who recently discovered your channel I was excited to see a name of person linked to my (tiny) country's history for once. 😂 However I am afraid I do have to correct you on one point. Caravaggio was actually in Malta for over a year - he painted several paintings during that time, some of which are still exhibited here. Also fun fact: although The Knights of St John were a military order - they were also a religious order (equivalent to the Knights Templar) which means Caravaggio would have had to take monastic vows of chastity, poverty and obedience to join (not that any of the Knights gave much of a **** about their vows, but that's another story).
I just enjoyed your factoids. Lord knows, we humans are a messy, contradictory lot.
Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane is a favorite book of mine! Thank you for making a video on it! Makes it easy to share the essentials with my peers.
My favorite sequence worth mentioning is that he allegedly left anonymous bawdy poems dissing his contemporaries in the town square. Sounds a lot like twitter or rap beefs to me. Reminds me how little has changed over the course of human history.
“Time to chat about a weird little man again.” Me introducing my dad to my dates.
😆😂
"At the age of 38, passed away."
*Italian teenage boys sigh in unison*
Art history classes should 1000% include this kind of information.
I included it in high school and college art history courses. Seemed that, for especially high school students, the more about an artist’s crazy, depraved, odd , etc. behavior, the better they remembered those and other aspects of the artist’s work.
I love historical accounts of men who were objectively terrible as human beings but also SO talented at that ONE thing that nobody could actually ignore them. It's weirdly hilarious. The same energy as how the Unabomber also happened to be extremely good at specific math theories.
Unrelated but I’m just taking a moment to appreciate how kaz always looks so swag
their outfits and Flair 🗣🗣🗣🗣🗣
&debanare
For a while i couldnt watch their videos bc they look a lot like my partner and it made me real flustered. Lesbianed too close to the sun
hehe there is nothing i love more than a video about a silly little man
I did a project on this man for an AP class. Oh my goodness he is hands down one of my favorite artists, he messed up a lot but he is entertaining, and his work is engaging and beautiful. He’s definitely a favorite of mine!
And he was only 38 when he died, I'm kinda curious of what he would've done next lmao btw I think you would love "I Promessi Sposi", an historical novel by Manzoni, I think in English is "The Betrothed", set in Italy in the 17th century^^
Oh wow that’s even wilder. He did all of that before he turned 40?!
@@afish1659 Yeah, like he was trying to do the worst things he could think of in the shortest amount of time sksksk
@@letiziagrippi4683 world first speedrunner
I'm Italian, and an art enthusiast, so THANK YOU. I modeled for some Caravaggio recreations as an art project of a friend (Caravaggio Reloaded, check it out it's amazing), and I always loved the wild stories that surround his art.
my art history teacher taught us about caravaggio and everything he got up to in such an iconic way. i’ve never been so invested in a course, and might have shed a tear or two whenever i finally got to see some of his works in florence. litterally screamed when i saw that you had made a video about him!! today is a good day.
Kaz, you perfectly occupy a place in Casual Dark Academia RUclips and I thank you for your service
I'll never forget that the party rock guys second and last album was called 'We're sorry for party rockin'
he's such a horrible little gremlin and he could do things with light that make me CRY...how do he do that
(also: I would love to see you talk about Artemesia Gentileschi! tw for SA though)
Caravaggio really pulled a crime speedrun. Got basically all of them into a mere 38 years and tumbled ass over tea kettle into the grave.
Ah man, I'm so glad you covered this story! When I first heard about Caravaggio's life of crime, I thought: this would be the perfect historical drama- and of course the aesthetic would mirror his art style, etc... it's like made for an arthouse/crime drama film haha
There's Carravagio by Derek Jarman. It pretty much hits all the marks you list.
Can I just say, your style of videos is so unlike any other youtuber I’ve seen! You make history interesting and discuss things I never even knew! Thanks for dedicating yourself to being entertaining while being educating!!!
You may like overly sarcastic productions, Khadija mbowe, or or mina Le if you like this channel!
Very unusual and interesting perspective about Caravaggio’s dark side. However, his light side allowed him to SEE light in such a unique, personal and dramatic way that he stirs strong emotions in us still today, a fraction of what he felt. A genius. Full of unsolved personality problems, causing violence and murder. Still, a producer of eternal masterpieces ✨✨✨
it's pretty fictionalized, but I still am always thinking about Derek Jarman's beautiful, wild Caravaggio film
I LOVE that film. Such a stunningly shot work of cinema - I really enjoy when films about an artist try to create a similar visual aesthetic as their body of work. It’s even more impressive when you consider the fact that Jarman was able to accomplish all that on a shoestring budget.
Everyone is also so grimy yet hot lol, from a young Tilda Swinton and Sean Bean to the guy who played Caravaggio. Everyone is sexy in spite of (or is it **because** of) the fact that they’re literally filthy lol.
@@JaesadaSrisuk Yes, and Robbie Coltrane is in it too (you may know him as the actor who portrayed Hagrid). I watched the movie just about the time Coltrane's "Cracker" series was out. He portrayed Scipione Borghese, an Italian cardinal and a patron of Carravagio.
literally my favourite film, with jarman as my favourite director. i even have michele's knife tattooed on my arm - a glorious work.
utterly delighted by the way you pronounce Caravaggio.
“Sometimes horrible people make great art”
*Ye has entered the chat*
"The one valid crime he commits, he actually gets punished for" Perfect
truly the Jaime Lannister of the late Italian Renaissance/early Baroque period
&YOUR blouse 👚!!🎠🎃
@@cuckmulligan7602 personally I'm more of a Davinci man myself🎠🎃
the fits always go so hard
It's crazy to think you started posting only a year-two years ago! I can't think of my life without you! (In a non parasocial way) I just love watching and re-watching your videos, they're so entertaining yet calming and your voice is calming yet engaging too! What a perfect balance your channel is for me! Seriously so grateful!
Finally someone covers the man I studied for my art history classes THANK YOU KAZ
holy hell it's so perfect for you to be covering this classic piece of work
ps - is it me or is that blackwork ....actually... purplework? in any case, it's great. :)
I'm starting to suspect that these videos are partially a way for you to flex your incredible costuming skills while LARP and ren fairs are socially irresponsible.
But terribly gouche
I love Caravaggio's art, artichokes, and all the splendid videos you create--not necessarily in that order. Thank you. Serenity.
Once again, amazingly informed and written video Kaz!! Thank you for blessing us today. Also I can’t stop staring at the black work on your blouse. So beautiful!
As an art major I am very excited
"This cockroach of a man" Kaz you're the best
I’ve never heard anyone pronounce “Karel” that way and I have to say, regardless of the fact that it’s horribly wrong, i love it 😂
omg im so happy im so obbessed w caravaggio and i love your channel!!! im so excited to watch this video!!!!!!
this whole channel is bangers upon bangers and the historical looks are impeccable
i recently found u and these videos r my new fav, i cant wait for more! (i marathoned all ur videos in 1 sitting💀)
I really enjoyed this video, but while talking about badly behaved artist men of yore is very entertaining I wanted to suggest maybe to give the women a little more love? Especially in art, many female artists are being "rediscovered", though they were never really "gone". Artemisia Gentileschi being one of the more famous now, but also Jeanne Mammen (who lived through two World Wars, talk about bad luck). Just to reiterate, I appreciate and enjoy all your content!
I'd like to nominate Hildegarde von Bigen, Oracle Nun Composer of the German alps.
She's one of the first known medieval composers to not be as afraid of writing larger musical intervals instead of the prayer sung like a "safe" drone.
🤩 Honestly, Queen.
Yes, Kaz, your take on some of the women would be informative and likely amazing.
@@L3onking Seconded!
aaah, missed your videos Kaz 💖💖💖
by the way, your outfit is absolutely gorgeous omg
Please do a video on Artemisia Gentileschi and how much better her Judith painting is!
I adore Gentileschi's Judith and Holofernes also! I do like Caravagio's, i'm a sucker for the subject & his is a gorgeous representation, but my absolute fave is Gentileschi's. (Kinda gauche to say but it's long been my phone's wall paper)!
It's just magnificent, breathtaking and also it's hard not to feel the strong connection she had with that particular piece. Her second version especially, the blood is a more realistic in how it sprays and flows and Judith is depicted wearing a bracelet that represents Artemisia herself (a patron saint or something like that? can't exactly recall, sorry I'm pretty uneducated!).
Sorry if I'm waffling, just wanted to agree with you :)
Next on "It's Always Sunny in Renaissance Rome"
" it's hard to say why so many artists of this era we're so temperamentally volatile" she says so innocently as if Jackson Pollock and Toulouse-Lautrec never lived.
Your fully-loaded wild-eyed look when you briefly speculated on Archbishops being allowed to own private armies... well, it made my world seem brighter, if only for a few moments. More, please.
you know a biography video is going to be a wild ride when it opens with an event known as "the artichoke incident"
You’re the type of person I would love to just sit with and listen to for hours. You’re very knowledgeable and enthusiastic!
gives me the vibes of Giacomo Casanova (who I would love to see covered in something like this) ‘Lover’, moved place to place with really high and really low times in life, prison escapes, rags to riches then back to rags all over again
The thing about lead poisoning is interesting in modern times too because acute lead poisoning from the type of pollution in the mid-20th century has been linked to the boom in serial killers in the early second half of the 20th century. Also explains why boomers are so violent and reactionary
Ohhhh 😲. That explains so much.
This is great. My Art History classes never went over any of this. And Caravaggio was one of my favorite artists. Thank you, Kaz, for filling in "the rest of the story."
I wonder if in Italy the stereotype of a good artist as someone who swaggers around causing trouble made people want to act that way
not sure but it sure as fuck didn't help the "oh excuse then for being [violent /weird/ passionate/ unwell] - they're an artist" mentality we still drag around
@@lissaquon607as long as artists are monetarily forced to be the pets of wealthy people instead of being able to afford life in their own right by their work
Never gonna happen
I could honestly listen to you tell stories all day
A story about a artist with more baggage than a airport.
Another great video about a silly little man from one of my favorite creators on RUclips!
Thanks for making the video I was curious about about this topic and searched it. He's one of the master painters and also supposedly murdered at least one guy so yeah I'm strapped in
Damn I didn't realize he was a nonce. Why are so many artists pedophiles lol
NIIICE!! Gaad i adore his paintings. A couple decades ago I read 2 books about C, one was a straightfwd bio, the other was whimsically a woulda-been diary by the artist. Appreciate your raw delivery
"Why was this man so unhinged??"
It just sounds like he was the father of all male Karens...
You really make some of the best videos on RUclips. The topics you cover are absolutely amazing! I love it!
One of the first people that helped Carvaggio when he was espcaping from rome and also participated in the fight with ranuccio tomassoni was mario minniti, a painter and friend (possibly had relations too) with Caravaggio, he is the model in Bacchus,The Musicians, Boy with a basket of fruit, Lute player and the Calling of St. Mathew (it's the guy with curly black hair). When Caravaggio fled Rome, Mario wasn't his apprentice already because he got married and gave shelter to Caravaggio in his house.
I gotta say... I accidentally fell asleep while watching a playlist of your videos for god knows how long, and now you are everything that is recommended to me hahah
Another "weird little man" to talk about would be Dante Gabriel Rossetti, from the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. Such a dramatic and interesting story.
I am maltese or from Malta,
it is known that the knights allowed caravaggio to join if he painter the main painting of the co-cathedral of malta. which was the beheading of john the baptist which is the only signed painting since the knights forced him to sign it.
Caravaggio is my favorite painter. I have read at least two biographies of his life and have also watched Simon Schama's The Power of Art which had an excellent episode focusing on Caravaggio. His paintings are brilliant and were used as inspiration for the R.E.M. video "Losing My Religion" and Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ (although I didn't see much of that influence in the film).
Caravaggio is my favourite painter too, ever since I saw his art exhibition in the Uffizi gallery in Florence.
Ecer since i found your account I use it to get through work and find asleep at night it’s so interesting and soothing I love it so much thank you thank you thank you
I found your channel not so long ago and I've seen all your videos and this is easily one of the best channels in youtube. It's really great 😌
still working on your backlog of amazing videos but i came to interact and comment on the newest one for algorithm - love your work bye
EXCELLENT video! Caravaggio is my all time favorite artist. He is a genius, but also absolutely Indefensible, lol. thank you!
I really enjoyed this video! I had no idea about Caravaggio's problematic™ lifestyle, it's been enlightning!
I’m living for this, I’d love to hear you speak about more artists
i honestly hated my ren. art history class in uni so much because 80% of the anecdotes were just about how all the artists straight up abused their models and it was so difficult to sit through (it also didn't influence my decision to concentrate in 19th century art at aaaall /sarcasm)
My immediate response upon clicking was "aahhhhh yes. DESTROY the reasons why I love this art."
To be fair, it's good to know. It's good to acknowledge the shitty behaviour, in order to further decide how much this art means to you.
Your outfits and videos are IMMACULATE.
Gosh I just LOVE Caravaggio. Quite possibly the most entertaining figure in all of art history.
This is such a well-written, witty and interesting video and I thoroughly enjoyed it but I couldn’t help but snort about your beautiful pronunciation of the name ✨Karél de Mander✨ because the original Dutch pronunciation is more like kaarol duh mandur (I’m Dutch lmao)
Can we all take a moment to appreciate the grammar school teacher who was wounded in the line of duty by noticing a creep and stalking his students and doing something about it? Hero
Just wanted to say how much I love your talent as a storyteller mingled with your intellect and investigations into the facts.
I had to pause at 22:41 because I'VE GONE BY THAT PAINTING MULTIPLE TIMES AT THE ART INSTITUTE WOW I had no idea that he was connected to Caravaggio.
Kaz; we're impressed by your delivery; exquisite!...from London with Love 💜
10:57
As if none of this was rough already, I love a historical gossip, keep 'em coming, sis