Bacchus

A closer look

Rather than an idealised god, Caravaggio painted a real model from the streets of Rome, with sunburnt hands, flushed cheeks and dirty fingernails. In front of him a bowl of fruit is rendered with astonishing realism, including bruised and rotting fruit and a pierced apple, hints that beauty and pleasure are fleeing. The wine in the carafe ripples as if just poured. The painting was probably made for Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, Caravaggio's first important patron.