Andrea Vaccaro (Italian, 1604-1670)

The painting I chose for my project is King Midas, by Italian artist Andrea Vaccaro. Vaccaro lived from 1604 to 1670 and was one of the most successful painters in Naples at the time (nga). Vaccaro often worked for noble and local patrons, producing religious works for them. Artists of the 17th century—Vaccaro’s time—often painted in the baroque style, using expressive power for the needs of the Counter-Reformation Church for affecting images (Lattuada). Great drama, deep color, and intensive shadows are common in the baroque style. Additionally, Vaccaro drew great inspiration from another artist, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (Lattuada). As a result, he used tenebrism in many of his works, utilizing dramatic light-and-dark contrast to emphasize emotion, which we can see in this painting.

In this painting, King Midas—the main character of the story—is staring into the darkness, away from the viewer. Through his facial expression along with his clothing, we can spot certain attributes of the story within the painting. We see his expression, which conveys arrogance. This emphasizes his own, arrogant feelings towards his newfound powers. Additionally, on his head lies a crown, with a very distinct golden color. This emphasis on the color connects to the main plot of the story and the powers that he gained. Finally, red colored clothes in paintings signified at the time power and influence. By painting his clothing red, Vaccaro conveys that Midas currently has great power, adding to the theme of arrogant power that is present in the story.

Additionally, we see the effects of the Christian culture and setting that Vaccaro lived in within this painting. Midas's Touch, a tale that warns its readers about the pitfalls of greed, details the King's downfall from a noble king to a distressed and starving man as a result of his search for wealth. The concept of greed is a heavily criticized emotion in the Christian religion. Because of this, Vaccaro painted the character in a dark background, signifying that the sing of greed surrounds the king.

An aspect missing from this painting is King Midas’s humility. Despite being greedy, Midas showed his humility when he helped Silenus the Satyr, and when he begged the god Bacchus for help. This emotion is not present within the painting, which is likely to emphasize the momentary power and arrogance he felt at the power, which also heightens his soon-to-come downfall.

Vaccaro made many decisions in creating his painting to emphasize a key aspect of Midas's story, his greed. By removing the humble aspects of the story and contrasting the king with the dark background, Vaccaro puts a spotlight on an emotion that the dominant religion viewed negatively at the time, arrogance and pride.

Works Cited

1. “Italian Paintings of the 17th Century.” Www.nga.gov, www.nga.gov/collection/paintings/italian-17th-century.html.

2. Lattuada, Riccardo. “Andrea Vaccaro’s David and an Outline of Vaccaro’s Early Career.” Umsystem.edu, 2017, mospace.umsystem.edu/xmlui/handle/10355/83683, https://doi.org/muse2017v51p45-69. Accessed 14 Apr. 2025.