The impact of Angicourt’s Gothic Naples was to be of far-reaching importance for Caravaggio’s art[68]. The varying styles of northern France that were manifest in this sunny city made an unusual impression on the artist, reflected in the works he created there after his departure from Rome. The abundance of luminous tones in the Gothic cathedrals, set against the light, calm shade of the background, is expressed in his paintings through a colouring more ornate than he ever strove for in Rome. This is evident in his altarpieces, such as The Flagellation of Christ created for the Church of San Domenico Maggiore. In certain paintings he attempted to work against the impression of bright colour, which could have reduced the effect of grandeur, by applying the pigments that would determine the picture’s overall colouring before applying the opaque prime coat. Thus Caravaggio obscures the brilliant colours with neutral half-tones, which, for him, was a new means of achieving the important comprehensive impression in his works. Through this, he became the influential founder of a certain movement of Spanish seicento painting, to which he became connected through Guiseppe Ribera during his time in Naples.
His work The Seven Works of Mercy dates from this time. It was commissioned by a very powerful religious institution, Pio Monte della Misericordia, to decorate its new church, and is at first glance incredible in the number of figures depicted in the scene. It attempts to symbolise all the charitable works that a Christian should do, found in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew (25:35-36): “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” To this is added the right, and even the obligation, that every Christian be given a tomb. For this work, Caravaggio received his highest payment (around 400 ducats), so for him it was an extremely important commission. The figures appear to be grouped in a dark corner of a street, which renders the scene even stranger. This is without doubt one of the first times in the history of painting that all the works of mercy have been represented together in the same painting. Also, some of the characters perform two duties, such as the man who is tearing his coat in two in order to clothe the sick man, to whom he is also paying a visit. Caravaggio was certainly alluding here to Saint Martin, who dismounted from his horse to share his tunic with a beggar. The parallels are cleverly integrated into the canvas, whilst the cloak and the angels’ wings give movement to the composition. The light falls diagonally from the left of the painting, highlighting precisely the important details. In reinforcing the drama of the spectacle, Caravaggio creates unity with his unusual treatment of the light, despite the number of acts appearing to take place. Far from deifying the scene, he restores the simple humanity of the protagonists, including that of the Virgin and Child, thanks to his work on the shadows.
In their work on lighting effects according to Caravaggio’s style, the Spanish School of the seicento went even further in terms of the thickness of the application of the pigments, in order to create a sense of vibrating energy in the painting as a whole, which in all likelihood related to the shimmering light of southern Spain. Spagnoletto’s Drunken Silenus from the year 1626 in the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples reveals that he was still greatly influenced by Caravaggio’s work[69]. The latter dedicated himself, as he had done in Rome, to paintings intended for churches as well as to the portrayal of mythological and related conceptions. He mastered the treatment of light with his characteristic talent, making his paintings exceptional in their execution. The Holy Family, probably painted in 1607, dates from this Neapolitan period. There are at least three versions of this work in existence, the attributions of which are in dispute. The colouring is here at its most harmonised, and the colour red resonates particularly strongly.
Caravaggio’s deep-rooted respect for the reality of appearance also guided him in relation to colour. Contrary to Lodovico Carracci’s ideal choice of colouring, where his light blue and pink compositions were created for a totally different sort of observation, Caravaggio remained closer to the material substance of the pigment as, for him, it already meant something artistic in itself, in representation and in effect. The chemical character of the pigment fascinated him, and gave his paintings their first impact. The carmine feather in the hat of The Chess Players (this painting has since been attributed to his successors, but the influence of his pictorial characteristics are very strong) and the soft colour of Salome’s velvet robes have the same overall effect as the tone of a musical instrument has on a piece of music. It is irreplaceable, an essential ingredient in the whole piece, on which the impression and understanding of the work of art are dependent.