caravaggio was one of the first artistic bohemians.ellious, uncompromisi, and dissolute, dd at 37. late in his short life, he portrayed himself as the decapitated goliath. it'she work of aeeply religious man depictin his own damnion. while caravaggio saw himself in the headlesgoliath, the young gian lorenzoerni gave his features to the heroic david. bernini took the immediacy he found in caravaggio's paintings and recreated it in marble with phenomenal and unprecedented virtuosity. the sculptors of the renaissance had often treated the david theme. donatello's david is serenely elegant. michelangelo's is contained... perfect... full of potential. t bernini's david moves... turns aggressively to confront the observer. true to the spirit of the baroque, this david is meant to be experienced. the viewpoint in this case, of course, is that of goliath. it said that the cardinal maffeo barberini held a mirror to berni's face so the young pdigy could use his own expression intense conceration the david. when the cardinal became pope urban vii

caravaggio placed miraculous events in a familiar, naturalistic setting. velazquez fused the real and the mythological to create a new psychologically penetrating reality. in the forge of vulcan, he chooses the moment when the god apollo tells vulcan that his wife venus is making love to mars, the god of war. velazquez combines theatrical gesture with the astonished faces of real workmen, set in an authentic forge. he quickly became a favorite portrait painter of king philip. as court painter, velazquez would make a portrait of one of the royal family. assistants then made copies, which were sent to foreign courts. this was an important part of the diplomatic process and the business of finding marriage partners for royal offspring. secure in his position as court painter, velazquez turned his attention to formal and painterly innovation. in his portraits of jesters and dwarfs, velazquez was free to experiment. he understood that paintings made according to the classical rules produced something other than what the eye sees. the eye cannot focus simultaneo