Some Seventeenth-Century Appraisals of Caravaggio's Coloring

Most modern studies of Caravaggio's critical fortunes during his lifetime and in the decades following his death have highlighted the negative reactions to his work, which was accused of allegedly displaying poor invenzione, being overly dependent on the model, and lacking in disegno and decorum. Yet the important fact that the artist's contemporaries lavished praise on his innovative use of color has been largely overlooked. Within this current of positive criticism his colore was credited with verisimilitude and imaginativeness, and consequently regarded as worthy of imitation.