Narcissus1.0040_Caravaggio

Narcissus1.0040_Caravaggio

BarberiniCorsini.org
OGCMA s.v. "Narcissus"

Michelangelo da Caravaggio, 1571-1610, or sometimes attributed to Orazio Gentileschi), "Narcissus", oil on canvas; Rome, Galleria Nazionale, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Palazzo Barberini.

It is observed that Narcissus and his reflection form a circle, a symbolic perfection in Neoplatonist theory: "Caravaggio's Narcisso [beside other Neoplatonist philosophical articulations] too can thus be understood as the painter, at ease within himself, sufficient unto himself and creating his own fictional world out of himself." (H. Marek, s.v. "Narcissus" in Moog-Grünewald RMM 423.

A young man gazes at his reflection in water, wearing a patterned top and white sleeves, with objects nearby.

OGCMA slides are designed by Roger T. Macfarlane for use in Classical Civilization 241 courses at Brigham Young University.
The present resource contains information assembled for The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, 1300 - 1990's, edited by J. Davidson Reid (Oxford 1994), and it is used with express permission from Oxford University press.
Address concerns or inquiries to macfarlane@byu.edu.