Self-Portrait as Bacchus

Caravaggio painted this Self-Portrait as Bacchus (also called the Sick Bacchus) around 1593-94, shortly after arriving in Rome from Milan. The greenish pallor of the figure suggests the artist may have painted himself during an illness he suffered while working in the workshop of Giuseppe Cesari. This early work already demonstrates Caravaggio's revolutionary approach to mythological subjects, presenting the god of wine not as an idealized classical figure but as a real, vulnerable human being.

The painting shows Caravaggio's emerging mastery of naturalistic light effects, with the figure illuminated against a dark background. The careful observation of flesh tones, including the sickly pallor, reveals his commitment to depicting reality rather than idealized beauty.