The Fortune Teller — Caravaggio
Reading one of the first works of the great promoter of the Baroque.
By observing the early works of great artists, we can glimpse the birth of some of the characteristics that years later would make them so recognizable.
In the case of Caravaggio, this birth of his own artistic identity can be seen in The Fortune Teller, a painting that experts placed with great certainty at the beginning of the Italian painter’s career.
According to 17th-century chronicles, the work was already famous at the time, being one of Caravaggio’s first successes, and probably boosted his figure within cultural and aristocratic circles.
The painting was given as a gift to Louis XIV by an Italian prince who possessed the work.
In The Fortune Teller, as we have said, we can already glimpse several of the characteristics that would become part of Caravaggio’s style. The first approach to this painting clarifies the artist’s search for realistic representation and a developing concern for illumination.
In the scene, we see two people, a boy and a girl. He seems to be of a well-to-do social class, although we can glimpse a somewhat cynical or mischievous air in his expression. Next to him, a young woman who appears to be a gypsy is reading his…
