Caravaggio; Rembrandt; Matthew; Saul; Lombardy; Netherlands
Notes
Calling of Saint Matthew – «Призвание апостола Матфея»
Conversion of Saint Paul – «Обращение Савла»
«at the receipt of custom» (Matthew 9:9) – «у сбора пошлин»
Tasks
I. Read the text. Make sure you understand it. Mark the following statements true or false.
1. Caravaggio's life was happy and eventless.
2. The style of this genius revolutionized European art.
3. Caravaggio never rebelled against convention.
4. The Calling of Saint Matthew is a realistic painting.
5. Saint Paul was pictured drastically foreshortened.
6. Caravaggio's naturalism inspired a great number of followers in Europe.
II. How well have you read? Can you answer the following questions?
1. Where was Caravaggio trained? What society did Caravaggio live in? What was Caravaggio's relationship with authority?
2. How did Caravaggio protest against convention?
3. How did Caravaggio arrange the figures in the Calling of Saint Matthew? What did Caravaggio deny in this painting?
4. What was Caravaggio's attitude to the Renaissance masters? How did Caravaggio quote Michelangelo in the Calling of Saint Matthew? What was the source of this quotation?
5. What was the favourite subject during the Counter-Reformation? How did Caravaggio picture it? Did Caravaggio paint Saul against a background of nowhere? Was it Caravaggio's greatest achievement? What were his other achievements?
6. How were Caravaggio's paintings treated by artists and critics during his life-time? Did this attitude change after his death?
III. I. Give Russian equivalents of the following phrases:
a background of nowhere; a hard, firm style; light-and-dark contrasts; pictorial style; drastically foreshortened; a long-life rebel; conventional people; to represent religious scenes in terms of daily life; an unruly genius; to obtain a commission; scenes from smb's life; to represent an event in the soul-stirring way; a background object; to deny the existence of; the realistic scene; Venetian colourism; to quote; gaudily dressed youths; a vernacular translation; the beam of light; to instil a new soul; to descend from heaven; an unidentified source of light; Renaissance masters.
II. Give English equivalents of the following phrases:
изображать религиозный сюжет как повседневное событие; луч света; обыватели; венецианский колоризм; перевод на народный язык; вдохнуть новую душу; тяжелый, жесткий стиль; цитирование; изобразительный стиль; свет без указания источника; заказчики отказывались от картин; ниспровергать классические традиции художников Ренессанса; спустя десятилетие; излюбленный сюжет; божественная любовь; нейтральный фон; единственный различимый предмет на заднем плане; реалистические сцены; новаторское искусство.
