One of my current favourite pieces of art is The Fortune Teller, an oil on canvass painting by Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio) around 1594* (Allart.biz, n.d.). This piece is displayed at the Capitoline Museum in Rome, and I have viewed it there on several occasions. (Source: All art.biz, n.d.)
Firstly, let me frame my discussion. Ricard (2009-10) notes that, in basic terms, art comprises form and content. While my ability to discern clearly between such dimensions is likely to increase as this course progresses, there is overlap between them to me at this stage. Accordingly, I will address elements of both.
At the highest level, the visual qualities that particularly appeal to me about this painting include: the realistic portrayal …show more content…
In summary, The Fortune Teller comprises two characters interacting, most likely with deception underway – although it is not really discernable at the scale I have provided above, the fortune teller appears to be surreptitiously slipping a gold ring from the man’s finger as she strokes his palm with her finger. It contains realistic portrayals of two people in period costume with significant detail, in front of a wall with no other subject matter. It communicates a transaction between the two parties, but to me has elements such as sleight of hand, power/gender dynamic (the man leaning forward, the woman leaning away) and some complexities associated with the subjects’ different cultural backgrounds – inherent in the expressions on their face and their postures. These complexities include a degree of intimacy despite their cultural separation, different forms and bases for self-assurance, and an element of sexuality. It is both a simple and a rich interaction. The context concerns what would have been a relatively common activity in renaissance Italy between a man and a woman from two different social
Firstly, let me frame my discussion. Ricard (2009-10) notes that, in basic terms, art comprises form and content. While my ability to discern clearly between such dimensions is likely to increase as this course progresses, there is overlap between them to me at this stage. Accordingly, I will address elements of both.
At the highest level, the visual qualities that particularly appeal to me about this painting include: the realistic portrayal …show more content…
In summary, The Fortune Teller comprises two characters interacting, most likely with deception underway – although it is not really discernable at the scale I have provided above, the fortune teller appears to be surreptitiously slipping a gold ring from the man’s finger as she strokes his palm with her finger. It contains realistic portrayals of two people in period costume with significant detail, in front of a wall with no other subject matter. It communicates a transaction between the two parties, but to me has elements such as sleight of hand, power/gender dynamic (the man leaning forward, the woman leaning away) and some complexities associated with the subjects’ different cultural backgrounds – inherent in the expressions on their face and their postures. These complexities include a degree of intimacy despite their cultural separation, different forms and bases for self-assurance, and an element of sexuality. It is both a simple and a rich interaction. The context concerns what would have been a relatively common activity in renaissance Italy between a man and a woman from two different social