Narcissus
1597–1599 · Oil on canvas · Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Palazzo Barberini, Rome
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About this work
- Artist
- Caravaggio (1571–1610)
- Year
- 1597–1599
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 110 × 92 cm
- Collection
- Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Palazzo Barberini, Rome
- Movement
- Baroque
A boy in a brocaded doublet kneels at the edge of a pool and stares at his own reflection, his arms and their mirror image forming a closed circle around the lit knee at the centre of the picture. Ovid's Narcissus fell in love with his reflection and wasted away; Caravaggio gives him sixteenth-century Roman dress and nothing else, no landscape, no flowers, only the dark water and the darker ground. The painting is usually dated to 1597 to 1599 and was attributed to Caravaggio only in the twentieth century, by Roberto Longhi; the attribution is now generally accepted, though some scholars still argue for a follower. It belongs to the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in the Palazzo Barberini in Rome and has become one of the artist's most reproduced images, the simplest and most melancholy of his early works.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
A kneeling youth and his reflection forming a circle of white sleeve and dark water, for a bedroom, study or hallway at 24×36 in black. Charcoal, deep blue or warm grey walls suit the darkness; pair it with David with the Head of Goliath.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Baroque painting
- Era
- 16th century (1597–1599)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- grand
- Rooms
- bedroom, hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; natural wood lightens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is Narcissus in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was Narcissus painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
