Alessandro Zuccari's 'Cantiere Caravaggio' Reveals the Master's Working Method

Alessandro Zuccari's new book 'Cantiere Caravaggio. Questioni aperte. Indagini. Interpretazioni' (De Luca Editori d'Arte, 2022) challenges the myth that Caravaggio painted without preparatory drawings. Through radiography and infrared reflectography, Zuccari demonstrates that Caravaggio (Milan, 1571 – Porto Ercole, 1610) worked in his studio manipulating light sources and using technical devices like lenses and convex mirrors. The book analyzes the artist's practice, showing how he sketched, corrected, and altered compositions. For instance, X-rays of the 'Martyrdom of Saint Matthew' (1599-1600, Cappella Contarelli, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome) reveal an initial version centered on a soldier with a knife, lacking the architectural background inspired by Bramante. In the second version of 'Saint Matthew and the Angel' (1602), raking light shows the saint's body in a different position and the angel's legs later painted out. Zuccari also supports Lionello Venturi's theory of a Venetian period in Caravaggio's early career, noting Venetian elements and connections to Giorgione, Tintoretto, and works like Tintoretto's 'Crucifixion' (1565) at the Scuola di San Rocco and 'Last Supper' (1595) at San Giorgio Maggiore. The 432-page volume costs €38.