Description
In Sick Bacchus, Caravaggio depicts a young man crowned with ivy, holding grapes and looking directly at the viewer. The attributes identify the Roman god of wine, but the greyish complexion and subdued expression depart from the ideal of a vigorous, eternally youthful deity.
Painted during Caravaggio's early Roman period, the picture combines close observation of the human body with a remarkable interest in fruit, fabric and directional light. The figure may be a self-portrait, although this remains debated; the title is not evidence of a particular illness. Now in the Borghese collection in Rome, the painting reveals the artist's early ability to make an ancient myth feel intensely human. Paint, lighting, surface condition and the history of reproductions all affect what viewers think they see.
