Still, she said she was impressed at the detail she could view on several works. In Saint John the Baptist from Kansas City's William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, she could see the incised lines Caravaggio scratched as an outline into the first layer of paint.
Looking at The Denial of Saint Peter -- from New York's Metropolitan Museum -- she could see how Caravaggio used a tiny pointed stick to create the sparks flying off a fireplace.
``At the Met, you can't get close enough to see it. If you got close enough to see it, you'd be swooshed away by a guard,'' she said with a laugh.
Caravaggio was the professional name of Michelangelo Merisi, born near Milan in 1571. After years as an apprentice or assistant to painters, he became famous for abandoning
idealized imagery in favor of realistic portrayals of scenes from the Bible and mythology.
Caravaggio painted figures with dirty feet and tattered clothing. The fruit depicted in his work was often decaying, and his models were his friends and lovers or street people and prostitutes. Many of his works depict extremely violent acts -- such as beheadings and torture -- and he often had to repaint or find new buyers for his commissions.
Outside the studio, Caravaggio had a reputation as a brawler and was often arrested. In 1606, he had to flee Rome when charged with murder for a rival's death during a duel.
He won a papal pardon, but died of a fever in 1610 at age 39 before he could return to Rome. His star dimmed until the 20th century, when new research and the discovery of several paintings falsely attributed to others elevated Caravaggio to a place among the great old masters.
On the Net:
Loyola University Museum of Art: www.luc.edu/luma/
www.caravaggio.rai.it/index_en.htm
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