Descriptive Essay Narcissus’“ Micheangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.

Narcissus by Caravaggio
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Narcissus by Caravaggio
Narcissus is an oil-on-canvas painting with the dimensions 110cm by 92cm. It was created in 1599 by the baroque movement painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. It is currently displayed at the Galleria Borghese in Rome, Italy.
The subject of the piece, a young boy, is stable and free of tension. The painting is well balanced and symmetrical. The boy is posed in a way that evokes a poetic theme. Caravaggio re-used the models and costumes in his paintings because he could not afford to pay new models. This, however, did not affect the quality of his work. In this piece, the young boy is staring down in awe at the reflection of his image on the surface of the water. The imagery space of the painting is very close to the viewer. Caravaggio may have sat very close to the model of this picture. Applying his famous style, chiaroscuro, he manages to produce a dramatic contrast using golden lights and inky darks; an approach that makes the figure appear to stand out of the darkness. This effect also visually brings the image closer to the viewer. Most paintings of Caravaggio depicted a scene at the height of an action – just before the drama occurred. Looking at the painting, the viewer is carried from the real world into the scene of this famous mythological event. Narcissus leans forward to drink from the pool. His knee is brightly lit and acts as his fulcrum. His right hand is on the side of the pool, supporting his body as he leans into the dark water.

His left hand is in the water, ready to take it up when he notices his image and hopelessly falls in love with it. He becomes oblivious of his surrounding and is immersed, eyes and ears alike, into the water. His eyes are shadowed deeply and have the gaze of a man mesmerized by his beauty. The water paints a perfect picture of Narcissus (Witting & Patrizi, 2012, p. 45).
Caravaggio was inspired by the story of Narcissus from the Greek mythology. His painting was interpreted from Metamorphosis by Ovid. The story goes that Narcissus was born to Nymph Leiriope and Cephissus – the river god. The blind prophet, Tiresias, had foreseen that Narcissus would live a long life only if he failed to recognize himself. He was a beautiful boy, admired by many young ladies but too vain to notice. One day, he returned from a hunt thirsty and headed to the pool for a drink. When he noticed his reflection in the water, he fell in love with his beauty and stayed there staring at his reflection. He died of hunger, and his body was transformed into a yellow flower, which until now is known as Narcissus flower.
There are critics who claim that Narcissus was not painted by Caravaggio. However, a study of the features of this painting reveals a lot of similarities with Caravaggio’s style and period. Chiaroscuro, which was unique to Caravaggio, is applied to this painting. He re-used his models, and the model for Narcissus resembles the angel in Caravaggio’s work, Rest on the Flight into Egypt. The vest Narcissus wears in the painting is similar to the dress worn by Mary Magdalene in the painting The Penitent Magdalene. These pieces of evidence plus others not mentioned, point to the fact that Caravaggio produced the painting (Metropolitan Museum of Art (N.Y.), 1985, p. 265).

References
BIBLIOGRAPHY Metropolitan Museum of Art (N.Y.). (1985). The Age of Caravaggio. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Witting, F., & Patrizi, M. L. (2012). Michelangelo de Caravaggio. New York: Parkstone Press International.