Narcissus

Typically I have never been that interested in traditional painting, but after learning and reading about Caravaggio and his work (this piece in particular) I became very interested. In a contemporary era, I am still learning a lot about traditional art, but I really admire this piece for the subject matter as well as the story/concept being conveyed. The story behind the piece is that Narcissus is a handsome young man who ends up falling in love with his own reflection. The idea behind the piece is that people who fall too in love with things end up being unhappy (for example, people are too vain, too materialistic, etc.) Although this piece was created a little over 400 years ago, the concept it presents still holds true - if you place too much emphasis on greed, you will be unhappy. The subject in the piece is being greedy by placing too much emphasis on himself, and the contrasting darkness surrounding the subject illustrates the idea of unhappiness. The piece itself is dark, which helps convey the concept immensely. The facial expression of the subject comes across as unhappiness as well, which also helps convey the concept. It also appears that the shirt that the subject matter is wearing is emphasized through light, which also draws on the idea of being too vain and materialistic (placing too much emphasis on the materialistic items we own falsely makes us happy, and also adds on to the idea of an individual being vain... clothes enhance one's appearance, etc). This piece is very clever, and the concept itself it great. I really admire this piece a lot, because it's concept will live on forever 

Image derived from: Caravaggio, . Narcissus. 1597-1599. Painting. Caravaggio: The Complete Works, Rome, Italy. Web. 14 Oct 2013. <http://www.caravaggio-foundation.org/Narcissus,-c.1597-99.html>.