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Hanging (?) Fragment
Caravaggio
Period
Baroque
Theme
Daily Life
Medium
Camelid hair, cotton
Current Location
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Story
This damaged fragment shows Caravaggio's revolutionary use of light slicing through darkness.
His models were real people from Rome's streets—prostitutes, beggars, thieves.
The Church hated his gritty realism, but collectors couldn't resist it..
“A silence so complete it becomes its own witness.”
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A restrained palette and sculptural lighting create a solemn geometry. The wooden crate and letter anchor the narrative with journalistic precision.
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