"I Bari" Caravaggio

I Bari (the cardsharps) is an oil painting on canvas of 94x131 cm made in 1594 by the Italian painter Caravaggio. The painting enjoyed considerable success and was the subjects of numerous copies by contemporary artists. The commissioner was Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte, whose coat of arms is painted on the back. It is kept on the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth in USA. The protagonists of this painting are 3 players: 2 of them, the cardsharps, are in league to defeat the guy who is on the left of the scene. In this painting the colors and the clothing are 2 fundamentals elements: the victim wears dark and simple clothes, while the 2 cardsharps are dressed with very colorful clothes. It's very important the moment painted: the victim is intent to look carefully at his cards, the cheater who is in the center, is very close to the victim to look at his cards and to suggest them to the other man that in the meantime behind the back has some cards to launch after the other cardsharp has suggested him the cards of the victim. Also the light has a fundamental role in the composition: the strong illumination that comes from outside we can see the dresses of the various protagonists and the place in which the scene is set. 

Caravaggio has been a great innovator: the painters of the pas usually painted daily scenes with protagonists frontally set; Caravaggio painted them in three quarters making the scene more dynamic and giving the feeling to the observer to be sat to the table close to the players.