Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, 'Boy bitten by a Lizard', about 1594-5

Boy bitten by a Lizard

Room 32

About the work

Overview

An effeminate youth recoils in pain as he is bitten by a lizard, which clings tenaciously to his finger. In the foreground is a magnificent still life of fruit, with a rose and sprig of jasmine in a glass vase. Look closely and you can see the reflection of a room in the curved surface of the vase. The painting may have an allegorical meaning, and possibly refers to the pain that can derive from love.

This picture is the earliest of our three Caravaggios and was probably painted in Rome in the mid-1590s, when the artist was beginning to find fame with his compelling and innovative style. It is very unusual for a late sixteenth-century painting to show such a moment of action, but Caravaggio rejected artistic convention and painted directly onto the canvas from live models. This gave his works an immediacy and intensity that made them instantly popular. Numerous early seventeenth-century copies and derivations of this painting exist, including a high-quality replica in the Fondazione Longhi, Florence, considered by many to be by Caravaggio himself.

In-depth

An effeminate youth with curling locks, full lips and a rose tucked behind one ear, recoils in surprise at being bitten by a lizard, which clings tenaciously to his finger. With a startled expression etched across his face, the boy is caught mid-motion, snatching his hand away from the unexpected pain. In the foreground is a magnificent still life of cherries and plums, with a rose and sprig of jasmine arranged in a glass vase. Look closely and you can see the reflection of a room in the curved surface of the vase.

The precise meaning of this striking image is not clear, though it may be allegorical. The scene might refer to the pain that can derive from love – a warning against the perils of love and the unexpected dangers that lurk behind beautiful things. It could be intended as a vanitas, with the rose symbolising the transience of life and beauty, or perhaps one of the senses (Touch). It might equally be a study in extreme expression, whether copied from a live model or (as some have suggested) from a mirror image of the artist himself. It is certainly very unusual for a late sixteenth-century painting to show such a moment of action, but Caravaggio was anything but conventional. He painted directly onto the canvas from live models, without preparing numerous studies on paper beforehand, and this innovative practice set him apart from classicising artists such as Annibale Carracci. Skipping a whole stage in the traditional artistic process was highly controversial, but it gave Caravaggio’s works an immediacy and intensity which made them instantly popular.

This picture is the earliest of our three Caravaggios – the others being The Supper at Emmaus and Salome receives the Head of John the Baptist. It was probably painted in the mid-1590s in Rome, where Caravaggio had moved to as a young man, initially specialising as a painter of still lifes in other artists' studios. Still-life painting was considered inferior to figure painting in Caravaggio’s own day, but he elevated the depiction of fruit and flowers to new heights, declaring that painting objects required as much artistry as painting figures. Here Caravaggio’s still life is placed prominently in the foreground, as the artist transforms the boy’s impulsive movement into a narrative drama. It was highly compelling and innovative paintings such as this, rooted in the world around him, that brought Caravaggio to the attention of influential patrons such as Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, in whose household the artist resided from 1595.

Caravaggio’s biographers describe a painting of a boy being bitten by a lizard and it was almost certainly made for the open market, without a specific patron in mind. At around the same time he produced a number of works showing everyday subjects – youths, musicians, lute players, cardsharps and fortune tellers – the originality and popularity of which led to increasing demand among collectors and countless imitations. Numerous early seventeenth-century copies and derivations of Boy bitten by a Lizard exist, including a high-quality replica in the Fondazione Longhi, Florence, considered by many to be by Caravaggio himself.

Key facts

Details

Full title: Boy bitten by a Lizard
Artist: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Artist dates: 1571 - 1610
Date made: about 1594-5
Medium and support: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 66 × 49.5 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought with the aid of a contribution from the J. Paul Getty Jr Endowment Fund, 1986
Inventory number: NG6504
Location: Room 32
Collection: Main Collection
Frame: 17th-century Italian Frame

Provenance

First definitely recorded in the collection of Sir Paul Methuen and by 1809 in Viscount Harcourt’s collection at Nuneham where during the 19th century it bore an attribution to Murillo. In 1948 sold at Christie’s to Vincent Korda. Exhibited in The Age of Caravaggio, New York and Naples, 1985, No. 70. Purchased 1986 with the aid of a contribution from the J. Paul Getty Jr Endowment Fund.

Additional information

Text extracted from the National Gallery’s Annual Report, ‘The National Gallery Report: January 1985 – December 1987’.

Exhibition history

2013

Loan to Gallery Prince William V

Gallery Prince William V

11 October 2013 - 9 December 2013
2016

Beyond Caravaggio

The National Gallery (London)

12 October 2016 - 15 January 2017

National Gallery of Ireland

11 February 2017 - 14 May 2017

Scottish National Gallery

17 June 2017 - 24 September 2017
2023

Masterpieces from the National Gallery

Shanghai Art Museum East

17 January 2023 - 7 May 2023

National Museum of Korea

2 June 2023 - 9 October 2023

Hong Kong Palace Museum

22 November 2023 - 11 April 2024

Chimei Museum

2 May 2024 - 1 September 2024

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2002

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2002

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About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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