The ''Young Sick Bacchus'' (), also known as the ''Sick Bacchus'' or the ''Self-Portrait as Bacchus'', is an early self-portrait by the Italian

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

artist

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fin ...

, dated between 1593 and 1594. It now hangs in the

Galleria Borghese The or Borghese Gallery is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana. At the outset, the gallery building was integrated with its gardens, but nowadays the Villa Borghese gardens are considered a separate touri ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. According to Caravaggio's first biographer,

Giovanni Baglione Giovanni Baglione (; 1566 – 30 December 1643) was an Italian Late Mannerist and Early Baroque painter and art historian. Although a prolific painter, Baglione is best remembered for his encyclopedic collection of biographies of the o ...

, it was a cabinet piece painted by the artist using a mirror.

History

The painting dates from Caravaggio's first years in Rome following his arrival from his native

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

in mid-1592. Sources for this period are inconclusive and probably inaccurate, but they agree that at one point the artist fell extremely ill and spent six months in the hospital of Santa Maria della Consolazione. According to a 2009 article in the American medical publication ''

Clinical Infectious Diseases ''Clinical Infectious Diseases'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal published by Oxford University Press covering research on the pathogenesis, clinical investigation, medical microbiology, diagnosis, immune mechanisms, and treatment of disease ...

'', the painting indicates that Caravaggio's physical ailment likely involved

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

, as the

jaundice Jaundice, also known as icterus, is a yellowish or, less frequently, greenish pigmentation of the skin and sclera due to high bilirubin levels. Jaundice in adults is typically a sign indicating the presence of underlying diseases involving ...

d appearance of the skin and the icterus in the eyes are indications of some active

hepatic The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

disease causing high levels of

bilirubin Bilirubin (BR) (adopted from German, originally bili—bile—plus ruber—red—from Latin) is a red-orange compound that occurs in the normcomponent of the straw-yellow color in urine. Another breakdown product, stercobilin, causes the brown ...

. According to

Paolo Zamboni Paolo Zamboni (born 25 March 1957, Ferrara, Italy) is an Italians, Italian doctor and scientist. He is full Professor and Director of the School of Vascular Surgery at the University of Ferrara in Italy. He is known for his description and pro ...

professor of Vascular Surgery at

University of Ferrara The University of Ferrara () is the main university of the city of Ferrara in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. In the years prior to the First World War the University of Ferrara, with more than 500 students, was the best attended of ...

, the obvious signs of

anemia Anemia (also spelt anaemia in British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen. This can be due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin availabl ...

, yellow skin, and

acanthosis nigricans Acanthosis nigricans is a medical sign characterised by brown-to-black, poorly defined, velvety hyperpigmentation of the skin. It is usually found in body folds, such as the posterior and lateral folds of the neck, the armpits, groin, navel, foreh ...

lead back to the diagnosis in painting of

Addison's disease Addison's disease, also known as primary adrenal insufficiency, is a rare long-term endocrine disorder characterized by inadequate production of the steroid hormones cortisol and aldosterone by the two outer layers of the cells of the adr ...

, a condition described by Addison in the 1800s that affects the adrenal glands. The ''Sick Bacchus'' was among the many works making up the collection of

Giuseppe Cesari Giuseppe Cesari (14 February 1568 – 3 July 1640) was an Italian Mannerist painter, also named Il Giuseppino and called ''Cavaliere d'Arpino'', because he was created ''Cavaliere di Cristo'' by his patron Pope Clement VIII. He was much patronize ...

, one of Caravaggio's early employers, which was seized by the art-collector

Cardinal-Nephew A cardinal-nephew (; ; ; ; )Signorotto and Visceglia, 2002, p. 114. Modern French scholarly literature uses the term "cardinal-neveu'". was a Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal elevated by a pope who was that cardinal's relative. The practice of c ...

Scipione Borghese Scipione Caffarelli-Borghese (; 1 September 1577 – 2 October 1633) was an Italian cardinal, art collector and patron of the arts. A member of the Borghese family, he was the patron of the painter Caravaggio and the artist Bernini. His legac ...

in 1607, together with the '' Boy Peeling Fruit'' and ''

Boy with a Basket of Fruit ''Boy with a Basket of Fruit'' is an oil on canvas painting generally ascribed to Italy, Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, created ''c.'' 1593. It is held in the Galleria Borghese, in Rome. Background The painting dates fr ...

''.

Style

Apart from its assumed autobiographical content, this early painting was likely used by Caravaggio to market himself, demonstrating his virtuosity in painting genres such as

still-life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or human-made (drinking glasses, books, ...

and

portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better re ...

and hinting at the ability to paint the classical figures of antiquity. The three-quarters angle of the face was among those preferred for late renaissance portraiture, but what is striking is the grimace and tilt of the head, and the very real sense of the suffering; a feature that most Baroque art shares. The

can be compared with that contained in slightly later works such as the ''Boy With a Basket of Fruit'' and the '' Boy Bitten by a Lizard'' where the fruits are in a much better condition, reflecting no doubt Caravaggio's improved condition, both physically and mentally. The painting shows the influence of his teacher, the Bergamasque

Simone Peterzano Simone Peterzano () was an Italian Mannerist painter. Born in Bergamo, he stressed his links to Venice where he probably trained. He is mostly known as the master of Caravaggio. Peterzano called himself a pupil of Titian and would sometimes sign ...

, in the utilization of the tensed musculature depiction, and of the austere Lombard school style in its attention to realistic details.

Commentary

Cindy Sherman Cynthia Morris Sherman (born January 19, 1954) is an American artist whose work consists primarily of photographic self-portraits, depicting herself in many different contexts and as various imagined characters. Her breakthrough work is often co ...

, as part of her ''History Portrait'' series (1989–90), produced a parody on ''Sick Bacchus'', an ironic photographic self-portrait named ''Untitled # 224''. During a 2018

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

interview,

Paul Janeway St. Paul and The Broken Bones is an American eight-piece soul band based in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, that formed in 2012. The band is composed of Paul Janeway (vocals), Browan Lollar (guitar), Jesse Phillips (bass), Kevin Leon (dru ...

of the band St. Paul & the Broken Bones said that the title of his band's new album, ''

Young Sick Camellia St. Paul and The Broken Bones is an American eight-piece soul band based in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, that formed in 2012. The band is composed of Paul Janeway (vocals), Browan Lollar (guitar), Jesse Phillips (bass), Kevin Leon (dru ...

'', is an homage to Caravaggio's ''Young Sick Bacchus'' (

camellias ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in tropical and subtropical areas in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 descri ...

being the

state flower This is a list of U.S. state, federal district, and territory flowers. See also *List of U.S. state trees * Lists of U.S. state insignia References External linksList of state flowers {{USStateLists * U.S. state flowers Flowers ...

of the band's home state,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

References

External links

* {{Caravaggio 1590s paintings Mythological paintings by Caravaggio Paintings in the Borghese Collection Self-portraits Paintings of Dionysus Food and drink paintings

History

Style

Commentary

See also

Further reading

References

External links