How does Divine Love Conquering Earthly Love (Baglione) elucidate its Description?
Scholar Beverly Louise Brown states that the painting depicts Eros, the god of love and desire, as an armor-clad angel, as he draws back with his arms, aiming for a final thrust to kill the figure in the bottom right whom Brown also stated to be Cupid. The figure underneath Eros, is a religious figure described as a provocatively naked beautiful young boy, with humanly features, as he lays defenseless on the ground. This depiction of the young boy was a challenge to his contemporaries' moral values.In the background at the bottom left, there is a devil with faun ears, holding a trident as he crouches down with an anguished and surprise look facing the viewer.This piece is a depiction of a battle between Eros and Anteros, the god of requited love, trying to win over the soul of a man. However, if the two individuals resolved their complication, then they would be achieving the perfect love.Baglione used elements of Caravaggio’s style, by making the hue dark using an intense and direct spotlight to create a strong tenebrism contrast between the background and the foreground. Similarly, to Caravaggio’s, Love Victorious, the figures are close together in the plane, with the raking light covering only Eros and Cupid as the foreground. Along with this, Baglione was also able to demonstrate naturalism, or the new vision of Caravaggio.
However, Baglione does not fully adopt Caravaggio’s technique, and still maintains his traditional approach, Mannerism. Baglione applies his traditional techniques on the figures incorporating attenuated proportions, strained poses, and complex attire.
Eros Anteros tenebrism Caravaggio Love Victorious Cupid left Mannerism