Caravaggio's French Friends: Tracing Influence

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) was one of the most revolutionary figures in the history of art. His strikingly original paintings, with their intense naturalism, dramatic lighting, and powerful storytelling, had a lasting impact on Northern European art, and French art in particular. Caravaggio’s practice of painting from life and his use of strongly contrasted lighting effects were widely emulated, but his French followers and associates did not simply replicate his style. Taking Caravaggio’s works as a starting point, they responded to different aspects of his style and developed their own individual approaches. This talk will explore the Caravaggesque innovations of artists such as Valentin de Boulogne, Georges de la Tour, and Simon Vouet.

Rebecca J. Long is the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Associate Curator in the Department of European Painting and Sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago, where she oversees Spanish and Italian art before 1750. Before joining the Art Institute in 2015, she served as Associate Curator of European Painting and Sculpture before 1800 at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. She has held research fellowships from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, NYU’s Villa La Pietra, and Harvard University’s Villa I Tatti, and has served as an adjunct professor of art history at Hunter College, Fashion Institute of Technology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, University of Louisville, and Northwestern University. She was most recently the curator of the exhibition “El Greco: Ambition and Defiance” (Grand Palais, Paris, 2019-Chicago, 2020).

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