Angelo Caroselli or Carosèlli (11 February 1585 – 8 April 1652) was an Italian painter of the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

period, active mainly in his native

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. He created religious works, allegories, portraits as well as

genre scenes Genre art is the pictorial representation in any of various media of scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, work, and street scenes. Such representations (also called genre works, ...

in the vein of the

Caravaggisti The Caravaggisti (or the "Caravagesques") were stylistic followers of the late 16th-century Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio. His influence on the new Baroque style that eventually emerged from Mannerism was profound. Caravaggio never establish ...

. He also returned regularly to scenes of witchcraft and sorcery.Attributed to Angelo Caroselli, ''An allegory of love with a singing violinist and a courtesan with coins in her palm''
at Sotheby's His style is eclectic style and shows influences principally from

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

and the painters of 'low-life' scenes active in Rome called the

Bamboccianti The ''Bamboccianti'' were genre painters active in Rome from about 1625 until the end of the seventeenth century. Most were Dutch and Flemish artists who brought existing traditions of depicting peasant subjects from sixteenth-century Netherland ...

. His work is characterised by its search for originality.Anna Ottani Cavina, ''Angelo Caroselli''
in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 20 (1977) This is demonstrated in the potent naturalism and

chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...

that characterise his compositions and his preference for depicting colorful characters of contemporary Rome and scenes of witchcraft and musicians. The work of Caroselli was influential on other Caravaggisti such as the Lucchese painter

Pietro Paolini Pietro Paolini, called il Lucchese (3 June 1603 – 12 April 1681) was an Italian painter of the Baroque period. Working in Rome, Venice and finally his native Lucca, he was a follower of Caravaggio to whose work he responded in a very personal ...

and the Dutch painter

Dirck van Baburen Dirck Jaspersz. van Baburen (c. 1595 – 21 February 1624) was a Dutch painter and one of the Utrecht Caravaggisti. Biography Dirck van Baburen was probably born in Wijk bij Duurstede, but his family moved to Utrecht when he was still youn ...

.Renate Möller. "Caroselli, Angelo." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 16 March 2020Wayne Franits, ''Dirck van Baburen and the “Self-Taught” Master, Angelo Caroselli.''
in: Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art, vol. 5:2 (2013) Despite the Caravaggist influences his work is characterised by its search for originality and a certain resistance to the triumphant absolutism of the Baroque style, which is expressed through some 'archaicizing' leanings in his work.
Caroselli was also active as an art restorer, copyist, and, possibly, forger. Angelo Caroselli
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

In recent years a corpus of paintings has been attributed to a yet to be identified artist referred to with the

notname In art history, a ''Notname'' (, "necessity-name" or "contingency-name") is an invented name given to an artist whose identity has been lost. The practice arose from the need to give such artists and their typically untitled, or generically title ...

of Pseudo-Caroselli. The style of the anonymous artist is so close to that of Caroselli that it is believed that this artist must have been in direct contact with Caroselli. The resulting similarity in styles has made it difficult to attribute certain works with certainty to either of the two artists.

Life

Angelo Caroselli was born in Rome on 11 February 1585. His father was a reseller of second-hand gold and silver, a low-class activity in those days. He grew up in a popular neighborhood of Rome. Angelo did not get a formal training but was self-taught. He learned to paint by working as an art restorer and copyist. He became very skilled at copying older masters such as

Annibale Carracci Annibale Carracci (; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother and cousin, Annibale was one of the progenitors, if not founders of a leading strand of th ...

, Titian and Caravaggio. It is said that Poussin could not distinguish Caroselli's copy of a Madonna by Raphael from the original. It was rumored that he was also an art forger and passed some of his copies off as originals. Passeri describes how Angelo Caroselli dressed in a very strict

Stoic Stoic may refer to: * An adherent of Stoicism; one whose moral quality is associated with that school of philosophy *STOIC, a programming language * ''Stoic'' (film), a 2009 film by Uwe Boll * ''Stoic'' (mixtape), a 2012 mixtape by rapper T-Pain *' ...

fashion, giving up all luxury. This reportedly gave him a laughable appearance and had a negative impact on his reputation. However; this did not stop him from being a playboy who sought out the pleasures of love on which he spent much of his time. Angelo Caroselli - Allegory of Youth and Old Age

Angelo Caroselli - Allegory of Youth and Old Age

The artist spent time in Florence possibly in 1605–6 or 1610. Here he was employed to paint copies and pastiches of paintings particularly appreciated by

Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo II de' Medici (12 May 1590 – 28 February 1621) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1609 until his death. He was the elder son of Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Christina of Lorraine. For the majority of his twelve-ye ...

. The artist joined the

Accademia di San Luca The Accademia di San Luca (the "Academy of Saint Luke") is an Italian academy of artists in Rome. The establishment of the Accademia de i Pittori e Scultori di Roma was approved by papal brief in 1577, and in 1593 Federico Zuccari became its fir ...

of Rome in 1604 or 1608 and stayed a member until 1636. He was likely a non-voting member until he became 30 years old under the rules introduced by

Pope Paul V Pope Paul V ( la, Paulus V; it, Paolo V) (17 September 1550 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death in January 1621. In 1611, he honored ...

in 1605. He was able to obtain important commissions including in the Chiesa Nuova. In this church he painted two ''Prophets'' and a ''

Pietà The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus after his body was removed from the cross. It is most often found in sculpture. The Pietà is a specific form o ...

'' in oil paint on plaster on the walls of the Vittrice Chapel ub 1611–12. Caroselli collaborated with the Caravaggist

Giovanni Francesco Guerrieri Giovanni Francesco Guerrieri (1589–1655) was an Italian painter and Caravaggisto. Guerrieri was born in Fossombrone. In 1606 he travelled to Rome where he studied under some notable artists including Orazio Gentileschi. Returning home in 1614 ...

during that artist's stay in Rome from 1615 to 1618. They jointly created Caravaggesque scenes for the

Palazzo Borghese Palazzo Borghese is a palace in Rome, Italy, the main seat of the Borghese family. It was nicknamed ''il Cembalo'' ("the harpsichord") due to its unusual trapezoidal groundplan; its narrowest facade faces the River Tiber. The entrance at the oppos ...

Campo Marzio Campo Marzio is the 4th ''rione'' of Rome, identified by the initials R. IV. It belongs to the Municipio I and covers a smaller section of the area of the ancient ''Campus Martius''. The logo of this rione is a silver crescent on a blue backgroun ...

.''Caravaggio's Friends and Foes'' exhibition catalogue, Whitfield Fine Art, 2010 Angelo Caroselli - Young man playing a lute by candlelight

In 1615 Caroselli married Maria Turca or Turcha (also erroneously called 'Zurca'), whose father was a Sicilian of Palermo who had lived in Rome for many years. Passeri goes on to state that the family lived in dire straits as Caroselli did not get many commissions. For that reason the young couple left Rome in 1616, and after spending possibly some months in Piedimonte Matese in the province of

Caserta Caserta () is the capital of the province of Caserta in the Campania region of Italy. It is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial ''comune'' and city. Caserta is located on the edge of the Campanian plain at the foot of the Camp ...

, they settled in Naples. The family's single daughter and three sons Carlo, Angelo and Francesco were all born in Naples. The first born was the daughter Giacoma who was baptized in Naples on 26 September 1516. The last son was baptized in Naples on 25 February 1623.Marta Rossetti, ''Note sul soggiorno napoletano di Angelo Caroselli (1585-1652), appunti sulla parentesi fiorentina e alcune opere inedite''
in: L'Acropoli, Anno XI - n. 5, p. 530 The Caresolle family moved back to Rome in 1626. Caroselli was notorious for his love for beautiful women and was often derelict in his marital duties towards his wife. Caroselli was able to attract a number of pupils to his workshop. He shared a studio with

, a painter originally from

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one o ...

who had come to Rome to study in 1619 when he was only 16 years old. Whereas in the past the relationship between Caroselli and Paolini was regarded solely as that of a master and apprentice, more recently discovered materials point to a more complex relationship, more akin to that of collaborators and characterised by the sharing of themes. Caroselli was continuously absent from Rome from June 1616 until February 1623 so it would have been impossible for Caroselli to be Paolini's master. Paolini's documented presence in Lucca in 1626, at least for the period June–October further limits the period of their interaction.Patrizia Giusti Maccari, ''Pietro Paolini, Pandora''
at Dorotheum Caroselli was an important influence on the style of Paolini's work throughout his career. Angelo Caroselli - Blind love, a man playing draughts with a courtesan

Angelo Caroselli - Blind love, a man playing draughts with a courtesan

In the 1630s the artist went through a turbulent time. In that decennium he received a commission from the Barberini family. He also became a friend of Cardinal Lorenzo Magalotti and made a trip to Ferrara with

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as Guercino, or il Guercino , was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vig ...

. In 1635 he worked on frescos in the

Palazzo Pamphilj :''See also Palazzo Doria Pamphilj Palazzo Pamphilj, also spelled Palazzo Pamphili, is a palace facing onto the Piazza Navona in Rome, Italy. It was built between 1644 and 1650. Since 1920, the palace has housed the Brazilian Embassy in Italy. I ...

in Rome. He also formed close relationships with Prospero Fagini, Giovanni Francesco Salernitano, a nobleman from Naples, and Giovanni Luca de Franchis, an aristocrat from Genoa.Marta Rossetti, ''Musical Instruments in the Life and Work of Angelo Caroselli (15851652), a “Caravaggesque artist” in: La musica al tempo di Caravaggio, Gangemi Editore spa, p. 201-218 After becoming a widower in 1637 he lived with the painter

Agostino Tassi Agostino Tassi (born Agostino Buonamici; 1578 – 1644) was an Italian landscape and seascape painter, who was convicted of raping Artemisia Gentileschi in 1612. Because he aspired to nobility he modified the details of his early life. Though ...

. He was a frequent collaborator of Tassi who used him to paint the large figures in his landscapes.Patrizia Cavazzini, ''Painting as Business in Early Seventeenth-century Rome'', Penn State Press, 2008, p. 56 Caroselli married in 1642 Brigitta (or Brigida) Lauwers (Lauri), the daughter of the Flemish landscape painter Balthasar Lauwers who resided and worked in Rome since the early 1600s. He thus became the brother-in-law of the painters Filippo Lauri and Francesco Lauri. Filipo and Francesco became his pupils and collaborators, as evidenced by the altarpiece of 1631 representing ''

Pope Gregory I Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregori ...

'' executed for the church of S. Francesca Romana. The work, which was clearly influenced by

Carlo Saraceni Carlo Saraceni (1579 – 16 June 1620) was an Italian early-Baroque painter, whose reputation as a "first-class painter of the second rank" was improved with the publication of a modern monograph in 1968. Life Though he was born and died in ...

, was almost entirely by the hand of Francesco Lauri. Angelo's own son Carlo was his pupil but his oeuvre is not well established.

Tommaso Luini Tommaso Donini or Tommaso Dovini, called ''Il Caravaggino'' (21 December 1601, in Rome – 21 March 1637, in Rome) was an Italian painter active mainly in Rome. He created religious works, allegorical paintings, portraits as well as such genre paintings with musicians and card players as were popular with the Caravaggisti. Caravaggio was an important source of inspiration in terms of his innovations in naturalism as well as subject matter. Caroselli often depicted card players, musicians, prostitutes and other low life scenes of contemporary Rome. He further showed in his oeuvre a fascination with witchcraft,

necromancy Necromancy () is the practice of magic or black magic involving communication with the dead by summoning their spirits as apparitions or visions, or by resurrection for the purpose of divination; imparting the means to foretell future events; ...

and the magic arts. As the artist did not date his paintings and his work is eclectic, it is not easy to establish a clear chronology of his output both in terms of subject matter and style.Angelo Caroselli, ''The Virgin and Child with Saints Elizabeth and the Infant John the Baptist''
at Galerie Canesso Some art historians see an evolution from an initial naturalistic phase which developed in the 1930s towards a more "classicist" style, characterized by a greater elegance and softness in the brushstroke and a smoothness of the flesh that contrasts with the hard and sharp manner of the earlier works. In the latter period he also introduced ancient reliefs in his work.Opera d'arte Vanitas di Caroselli Angelo (1585/ 1652), a Roma
at Beni-Culturali The style of Caroselli is often described as eclectic. Despite his adherence to the forms and subjects of Caravaggio and the emerging Baroque, Caroselli's works show certain 'archaicising' elements. In this archaic aspect some art historians see a conscious rejection of, and rupture with, the triumphant 'Baroque absolutism' of his age. His early biographers Passeri and Baldinucci also speak at length of his great skill in copying the ancient masters and in working in different styles at the same time. Angelo Caroselli (Attr

Early interpreters of Caravaggio's style and themes such as

Bartolomeo Manfredi Bartolomeo Manfredi (baptised 25 August 1582 – 12 December 1622) was an Italian painter, a leading member of the Caravaggisti (followers of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio) of the early 17th century. Life Manfredi was born in Ostiano, nea ...

proved an important influence on Caroselli's handling of the Caravaggist themes. Manfredi's interpretation of the singers and musical performers through half- to three-quarter-length figures in cramped, undefined rectangular spaces, imbued with rich coloration and soft chiaroscuro, seems to have left a particular impression on Caroselli. Caroselli's figures were generally less elegant and more earthly than those of Manfredi. Caroselli's depictions of singers and musicians, which likely date from his first period in Rome before 1616, appear in turn to have influenced the Dutch painter Dirck van Baburen's explorations of the same subject matter. Van Baburen's ''Singing young man'' (

Städel Museum The Städel, officially the ''Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie'', is an art museum in Frankfurt, with one of the most important collections in Germany. The Städel Museum owns 3,100 paintings, 660 sculptures, more than 4,600 ...

) has many elements in common with Caroselli's ''Singing man'' (

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal do ...

) in the pose of the singer holding a score, the fanciful costume with a medallion in the hat and the raised open hand, a feature that traditionally has been associated with the Dutch followers of Caravaggio. Scena di stregoneria - Caroselli

Caroselli seems to have a preference for the subject of prostitutes and courtisans. Giovanni Battista Passeri recounts that the Caroselli lived with Agostino Tassi so he could enjoy the favours of the courtesans who lived in his house. His paintings of this subject matter therefore depict figures that the painter knew well.Angelo Caroselli, ''Blind Love: A Man Playing Draughts with a Courtesan''
at Robilant+Voena As his follower referred to as the Pseudo-Caroselli also often returned to this subject in a style not very unlike that of Caroselli, it has not always been possible to distinguish the work of the two artists in this area. For instance, the ''Violinist and Courtesan, an Allegory of Love'' (Sotheby's New York sale of 31 January 2018 lot 15) has traditionally been attributed to Caroselli but, since it also displays the more physical treatment of similar subjects by Pseudo-Caroselli, it could very well be the work of the latter. A fascinating depiction of the theme of paid love by Caroselli can be seen in the ''Blind love, a man playing draughts with a courtesan'' (at

Robilant+Voena Robilant+Voena is a commercial art gallery specializing in European Old Masters and 20th-century Italian and American art, with gallery spaces in London, Milan, Paris, and New York. The gallery has held a number of critically acclaimed Old Mast ...

in 2019). This panel shows four people in a room around a table on which a draughts game board and playing cards are placed. A pretty young woman with a pearl pendant and a low-cut dress holding a game piece in her hand, is turning her head towards an old woman with a wrinkly face to her right. The latter holds something in her right hand which may be another game piece or a coin (i.e. the payment for the courtesan's services?). On the opposite side of the table there is a man blindfolded, with long dark hair and beard who is holding coins in his right hand. Behind him appears the head of a fourth figure, probably the

putto A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University of ...

who blindfolded him. On the wall hangs a painting with a nude reclining female and a Cupid with a bow and quiver in a landscape. The complex iconography of the painting seems to cite from many of the works of Caravaggio such as that of the ''Cardsharps'', the

fortune teller Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical w ...

in the

Capitoline Museums The Capitoline Museums (Italian: ''Musei Capitolini'') are a group of art and archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Pala ...

and the ''Calling of St. Matthew'' in the

Contarelli Chapel The Contarelli Chapel or Cappella Contarelli is located within the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. It is famous for housing three paintings on the theme of Saint Matthew the Evangelist by the Baroque master Caravaggio. The paintings w ...

in Rome. The scene has many symbolic meanings including those of

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

, deception and love. The blindfolded man in buying the courtesan's favours represents on the one hand, a form of vile, blind love and, at the same time, all those who get involved in the risky game of love. The contrast between old woman and the young courtesan placed next to each other represents an allegory of

vanitas A ''vanitas'' (Latin for 'vanity') is a symbolic work of art showing the transience of life, the futility of pleasure, and the certainty of death, often contrasting symbols of wealth and symbols of ephemerality and death. Best-known are ''van ...

, i.e. the theme of the merciless march of life towards old age and ultimately death. Angelo Caroselli - The Virgin and Child with Saints Elizabeth and the Infant John the Baptist

Angelo Caroselli - The Virgin and Child with Saints Elizabeth and the Infant John the Baptist

Various art historians have posited that Caroselli was linked to the circles of the adepts of the secret sciences of magic, occultism and alchemy. There are no written documents to support this suggestion but it is clear from his paintings dealing with themes of the occult that he had a fascination with the subject. Some of the paintings on this topic formerly attributed to him have now been attributed to the anonymous Pseudo-Caroselli. The subject of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

, usually in the company of the child Jesus and saints, appears to have been particularly dear to the artist. At least 29 works treat this subject. The frequency is likely due to the Catholic

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

's insistence on the role of the Virgin in its belief system. Most of Caroselli's Virgins are shown in a serene attitude, and, in some cases, smiling and joyful with the child Jesus. This style of representation seems to go back to ways of representing the Virgin in the 16the century and may indicate a rejection by the artist of the emotionality of the Baroque in favour of the Renaissance iconography.

Sources

* *

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caroselli, Angelo 1585 births 1652 deaths Painters from Rome 16th-century Italian painters 17th-century Italian painters Italian male painters Italian Baroque painters Art forgers