Narcissus

Masterpiece

Narcissus

Details

Artist

Caravaggio · Baroque

Where

Palazzo Barberini

About

One of the strangest compositions in Western painting: a perfect circle formed by the youth and his reflection, joined at the knees. There is no background — only Narcissus, the pool, and darkness. The reflection is deliberately less finished than the boy above, as if the illusion is already slipping. Caravaggio reduced myth to its psychological core: self-love as a closed loop with no way out.

Rating

Notes