A Painter of Pain: Games of Wit and Self-Promotion in Caravaggio’s Boy Bitten by a Lizard

Obscure, complex, and witty ideas as well as a blurring of boundaries were popular in painting when Caravaggio arrived in Rome with the aim of becoming a successful painter. In this paper I examine Caravaggio’s Boy Bitten by a Lizard in this cultural context. This painting, I will argue, is a well-conceived painting that was meant to present the extent of his abilities and talents as a painter. It was intended to attract those very patrons that commissioned paintings from such painters as Cavalier d’Arpino. This painting should be looked upon as a commercial poster, an advertisement, a business card for the sake of getting attention, exposure and perhaps even a wealthy patron in Rome.