Vol. 1 No. 2 (2025)

Case Studies

Visual Translation of the Imprint of Life: Re-exploration of Caravaggio's Paintings

Published 2025-08-30

  • Yingpeng Zhang

Yingpeng Zhang
College of Fine Arts, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou 730070, China

Abstract

Caravaggio's art opened the door to European realism in the 17th century. His short and glorious life was full of suffering and disappointment. He lost his parents in a minor and experienced social suppression after adulthood. Under the dual stimulation of physiology and psychology, his heart was extremely distorted, his personality was eccentric, his temper was irritable, and he was full of rebellion towards society. He stood on the opposite of "stylism" and academicism, and fought against the times with his own unique artistic language. This article starts from the vision of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, analyzes Caravaggio's life's missing experience and deconstructs the visual presentation of this missing experience in his artistic creation.

Keywords

Missing experience, Caravaggio, Violence

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