Narcissus, c.1608/10 Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610)

We create our paintings with museum quality and covering the highest academic standards. Once we get your order, it will be entirely hand-painted with oil on canvas. All the materials we use are the highest level, being totally artist graded painting materials and linen canvas.

We will add 1.6" (4 cm) additional blank canvas all over the painting for stretching.

High quality and detailing in every inch are time consuming. The reproduction of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio also needs time to dry in order to be completely ready for shipping, as this is crucial to not be damaged during transportation.
Based on the size, level of detail and complexity we need 8-9 weeks to complete the process.

In case the delivery date needs to be extended in time, or we are overloaded with requests, there will be an email sent to you sharing the new timelines of production and delivery.

TOPofART wants to remind you to keep patient, in order to get you the highest quality, being our mission to fulfill your expectations.

We not stretch and frame our oil paintings due to several reasons:
Painting reproduction is a high quality expensive product, which we cannot risk to damage by sending it being stretched.
Also, there are postal restrictions, regarding the size of the shipment.
Additionally, due to the dimensions of the stretched canvas, the shipment price may exceed the price of the product itself.

You can stretch and frame your painting in your local frame-shop.

Once the painting Narcissus is ready and dry, it will be shipped to your delivery address. The canvas will be rolled-up in a secure postal tube.

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The paintings we create are only of museum quality. Our academy graduated artists will never allow a compromise in the quality and detail of the ordered painting. TOPofART do not work, and will never allow ourselves to work with low quality studios from the Far East. We are based in Europe, and quality is our highest priority.

The composition places a single youth in a starkly dark space, his body angled toward the reflective surface that mirrors his face and torso. His garments are illuminated in brilliant whites and pale golds, while his knee forms a central pivot around which both figure and reflection rotate. Though the background dissolves into near-black, the boy’s upper body and sleeves shimmer with carefully modeled light, creating a sense of theatrical immediacy. The moment is quietly suspenseful, hinting at the tension between fleeting self-adoration and inevitable loss.

Caravaggio’s noted chiaroscuro emerges in the bold contrast of pale skin and drapery against an inky surround. Here, the colors are subdued, limited mainly to browns, dark greens, and muted whites that concentrate attention on the scene’s central drama. The painter’s choice of such a restricted palette amplifies the psychological force of the narrative, ensuring that the face, hand, and reflection become the dominant focal points. This sense of spotlighting was relatively novel at the time, marking the artist’s evolving style of emphasizing form through stark light effects.

The technique, typical of Caravaggio’s early work, showcases direct painting with smooth brushstrokes that give the figure a sculptural quality. He avoids intricate detail in the backdrop, instead pressing the viewer’s gaze onto the youth’s posture and expression. One can detect the confident handling of oil paint in the folds of the sleeve and subtle shadows along the cheek. That assured play of light and shade - especially evident around the bent elbow and on the reflective surface - reveals a fascination with observation, harnessing actual models to capture moments of intense realism.

In terms of composition, the figure and his reflection create a nearly perfect ellipse, a visual loop that underlines the mythological subject of Narcissus lost in his own image. The knee acts like a magnetic pole, drawing the observer in a circular path around the painting. While mythological subjects in Caravaggio’s oeuvre are rare, the portrayal here echoes themes found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, binding bodily presence and allegorical meaning. As an early example of the painter’s dramatic flair, it encapsulates the essential hallmarks - illuminated figure, shadowy setting, and heightened emotional tension - that would shape Baroque painting in the decades to come.