Boy Bitten by a Lizard by Caravaggio, 1594-1596
We see the depiction of a boy's startling discovery of a lizard hidden among the fruits, which has fastened upon the boy's finger. Although the situation cannot be called humorous it is certainly ludicrous, even ambiguous, revealing a handsome youth, a rose behind one ear, squeamishly repelled by so harmless an animal as a lizard! But petty as this situation is in reality, it takes on an overwhelming force through its intensification by the closely restrictive frame of the bodily and spiritual commotion; it is a piece of trickery suggestive of the close-up device in moving pictures, which succeeds in turning an absurd drama into something convincingly shocking.
Baglione mentions it in a fragment: "A boy (fanciullo) bitten by a lizard (lucerta) that comes out of some flowers and fruits. It is a work of such diligence that the boy really appears to shriek." Says Mancini: "Shortly after Caravaggio came to Rome, during his stay with Pandolfo Pucci da Recanati, he painted for sale a child (putto) who cries from being bitten by a "racano," which he holds in his hand (che tiene in mano)."
There are mentions that Caravaggio sold it (il putto morso del racano) for "quindici giuli."
Two paintings correspond to the description of Baglione, but not exactly to that of Mancini: a. Boy Bitten by a Lizard. Florence, Roberto Longhi Collection, 65.8 x 50 cm. b. Boy Bitten by a Lizard. London, Vincent Korda Collection. Formerly at Nuneham Park in the collection of the Viscount Harcourt.
The subject of the Boy Bitten by a Lizard is based, as Longhi has convincingly demonstrated on a drawing by Sophonisba Anguisciola, the pupil of Bernardo Campi in Cremona. This drawing (wrongly attributed to Santo di Tito by Voss) represents a boy weeping from the pinch of a crab that comes out of a basket held by an older girl who tries to comfort him; it was extremely popular in the sixteenth century.
Perhaps the painting of a putto bitten by a crab mentioned by Manilli, which is no longer in the Borghese, was wrongly ascribed to Caravaggio and was really a copy after Sophonisba's drawing. There is such a painting in Dijon which is labeled with the name of Sophonisba herself. It seems impossible that Caravaggio made this painting just after his arrival in Rome as Mancini indicates. In my opinion, the strong foreshortening of the work goes beyond the rather flat and dry manner of Caravaggio's first Roman production. It seems not impossible to me that the painting of which Mancini speaks (a, putto crying because he is bitten by a racano which he holds in his hand) was a still earlier work by Caravaggio.
Other paintings/pictures tagged "Caravaggios Boys"
"Concert of Youths" (1595) Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City |
"Boy Peeling a Pear" (1592-1593) Longhi Collection, Rome |
"The Cardsharps" (1594) Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth |
Popular Works by Caravaggio
Bacchino Malato (1593) • Concert of Youths (1595) • St Catherine of Alexandria (1598) • Boy Bitten by a Lizard (1594-1596) • Penitent Magdalene (1597) • Bacchus (1596) • Boy Peeling a Pear (1592-1593) • The Cardsharps (1594) • St. Francis in Ecstasy (~1600) • Rest on Flight to Egypt (1596-1597) • Martha and Mary Magdalene (1598)
Caravaggio Maturity period paintings
Saint Jerome Writing (1605-1606) • St. John The Baptist (1602) • The Crowning with Thorns (1602-1603) • The Entombment (1602-1603) • St. Jerome in Meditation (1605) • Ecce Homo (1606) • St. John the Baptist (1595) • Saint Francis (1606) • St. Francis (1606) • The Crowning with Thorns (1595) • Madonna with the Serpent (1606) • Madonna di Loreto (1603-1605)
Caravaggio Early maturity paintings
Narcissus (1597-1599) • Judith Beheading Holofernes (1598-1599) • Amor Victorious (1601-1602) • David with the Head of Goliath 3 (1609-1610) • Taking of the Christ (1602) • St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness 1 (1607) • The Sacrifice of Isaac (1601-1602) • Portrait of Maffeo Barberini (1599) • Supper at Emmaus (1606)
Caravaggio Later paintings (the Maltese period)
Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt (1608) • Beheading of John the Baptist (1608) • St Jerome (1607) • Sleeping Cupid (1608) • Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt 2 (1607-1608) • Christ at the Column (1607) • The Seven Acts of Mercy (1607) • Flagellation of Christ (1607) • Madonna del Rosario (1607) • Raising of Lazarus (1609) • Burial of St Lucy (1608)
Caravaggio Cerasi Chapel Paintings
The Conversion of St. Paul (1601) • The Conversion of St. Paul (1600)
Caravaggio Latest paintings
Salome with the Head of the Baptist (1609) • The Denial of St Peter (1610) • Nativity with St Francis and St Lawrence (1609) • David with the Head of Goliath 2 (1606-1607) • The Annunciation (1608-1609) • Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (1607)
Caravaggio Contarelli Chapel Paintings
Martyrdom of St. Matthew (1599-1600) • The Inspiration of Saint Matthew (1602)
Visitors Comments on Boy Bitten by a Lizard by Caravaggio
The boy’s face is so expressive it feels like he’s right in front of your eyes in flesh and bones. He looks more like a girl to me... full red lips, naked shoulder and flower behind the ear... his gestures look effeminate, too. Makes you wonder if he was real or just in the painter’s imaginations?!