Self-Portrait as Bacchus

Sick Bacchus is one of the earliest surviving paintings by Caravaggio, usually dated to around 1593–1594, shortly after he had settled in Rome from his native Milan. It is a disguised self-portrait: the artist presents himself as Bacchus, the god of wine known to the Greeks as Dionysus, seated and turned towards the viewer with his head slightly tilted. Choosing a mythological figure as a pretext for depicting oneself was an approach later taken up by other artists, Rembrandt among them.

What stands out most is not the god's identity but his appearance. The young man, muscular and handsome, has yellowish skin, pale lips and a grimace that suggests suffering. Early biographers recorded that Caravaggio fell seriously ill in Rome soon after his arrival, and historians have debated which illness he had. Some modern studies have proposed malaria, based on the signs of liver involvement visible in the figure, while others have suggested an adrenal disorder. These remain hypotheses about a painting that does not settle the question, so they should be treated cautiously.

The picture pairs a classical subject with a strikingly frank treatment of flesh and face, far from the idealised manner usual in mythological painting of the period. The still life beside the figure, with fruit already showing signs of decay, displays Caravaggio's skill in that genre, and it may also have served to advertise his talents to potential patrons.

The painting belonged to Giuseppe Cesari, one of the artist's early employers, and was seized in 1607 by Cardinal Scipione Borghese, nephew of Pope Paul V; the collection he formed gave its name to the gallery in Rome where the work hangs today. Its significance lies in being an early example of Caravaggio's pursuit of physical truth in his figures, a concern that would shape much of later Baroque painting.

Painter

Caravaggio

Date

1595

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

67 × 53 cm

Museum

Galleria Borghese, Rome

Movement

Italian Baroque painting

Genre

self-portrait, historiated portrait, mythological painting

Depicts

Caravaggio, Bacchus

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