Self-portrait as Sick Bacchus

Self-portrait as Sick Bacchus is an early piece by Caravaggio in which he takes the classical figure of Bacchus the God of Wine, and puts his own spin on it. What you see in the painting is not a God, but rather a very frail, and sick looking young man, with a look of extreme anguish on his face. The ripe peaches, and grapes at the end of the table directly in front of Bacchus not only contrast with the dying fruit in Bacchus' hand, and the wilting leaves on his head, but also, with the way the fruit is drawn in the foreground, it comes out at the viewer, making it a focal point. By drawing the viewers into the painting in this way, and bringing attention to the ripe fruit that is right in front of them, while at the same time showing them the rotting fruit in the hand of Bacchus, the painting seems to be signifying the death of old traditions in art. In that sense, the painting has a sort of defiant attitude about it.

The painting has a slightly disturbed feeling to it. The way Bacchus is isolated in darkness brings an air of mysteriousness to the painting. Besides the table in the foreground, there are no clues as to where he is--the background is just a wash of color. Where is he? His face is turning blue; he is possibly dying alone in this room. And is that a smile on his face, or a grimace? He is looking directly at the viewer with that strange expression on his face, and it almost seems as if he's been interrupted. All of these things: The darkness, death, and overall uncertainty found in the painting have a very unsettling quality.

Self-Portrait as Sick Bacchus succeeds despite the subject matter being so old and overused during the time period. Caravaggio takes the traditional image of the God of Wine, spins it into his own characteristically twisted style, and uses it to foreshadow the decline of tired, traditional imagery in painting and the artist's desire for a new, more forward looking style.