about Caravaggio and his famous "nec spe, nec metu"

 
  Caravaggio, the famous 17th century baroque artist, can somehow be seen as my favourite artist and the first artist that i actively searched for material and even flew to Beijing to watch a baroque art exhibition which contained his works in the middle of my 11th grade semester.
  At first i admired him simply for his unique personality as if he was a some kind of punk singer who led quite a dissipated life. I've read some art history describing Caravaggio as a radical pioneer who painted "anti-Christ religious painting" and stunned the catholic church and therefore being forgotten until the the 20th century. the description of Caravaggio seems fit my vision of a perfect artist shouldered controversial reputation yet remained his distinctive style and unaffected.
  However,I started to realize my impression of this great artist was somehow inaccurate and quite shallow through a documentary filmed by BBC. It started with the scene of Caravaggio at the verge of his last breath using flashback showing me how miserable this rare genius had experienced.
  The well-made documentary demonstrate to us the whole lifetime of Caravaggio from him being a shepherd in his childhood to him exhaustively chasing the fleeing ship for his paintings which was prepared as a redemption for the cardinal。
  In 1600, Caravaggio came to Rome, the very centre of all art and religion in the empire. Here in Rome, Caravaggio started to uncover his talent and started contact with other artists.  "Nec spe, nec metu,"the popular saying among Caravaggio and fellow poor artists around him, meaning "no hope, no fear."  Quite ironically, this saying perfectly reflect Caravaggio's whole life. As a talented young man in Rome, he started to be committed with tasks of altarpieces in small catholic churches, among the most famous are the calling of st.Matthew and the crucifixion of st.Matthew which were painted on two opposite walls. Instead of seeing a uninhibited, Don Joan artist, this time, I saw a real man with flesh and blood struggling between firm, fanatic religious belief and the deep-inside-demon of him.  He painted his madness and his belief of sacred spirit within carnal to his work. Therefore art was torn upside down with old, filthy gamester as the model of st. Matthew and with perfect naked cold-bloody assassin being the centre of painting and being polished accompanied with other accessories. Art was supposed to bring us beauty and grace and all the fantasy of immortality and eternal heaven. In contrast,  Caravaggio demonstrate us with quite a startling image with remorseless killer and ignoble saint being dragged to into the crowds. And the painter would not stop, he painted a deliberate gold plate to contain the head of st.Matthew, and this violent, sharp contrast of the green-grey dying head and  luxury of the gold plate was so stunning that the church felt intolerable and therefore came the reputation of Caravaggio saying "indecent" and "consorting with devil".
  Many people are likely to question nowadays, if Caravaggio's paintings were overwhelmed with filthy and radical reality and lack of essential meaning of religious paintings. Or they may challenge that Caravaggio was overacting and defaming those religious figures, but if we go back to Rome in the 17th century, imaging ourselves standing in the dim, dark holy temple, watching Caravaggio's  painting emerging from the darkness like a live drama happening right in front of your eyes while st.Matthew murdered brutally, Hollywood-like perfect naked hit-man raising his dagger and beautiful maiden with lily-white arms holding the exquisite golden plate waiting that holy head being decapitated and placing on, i believe the worst sinner among us will bow and convert to the purity of divine truth coming from real flesh and blood, and from the soil of Rome where soldiers, peasants, thieves and gamblers crowded in and out everyday.