In the late sixteenth century, the Italian artist Caravaggio painted a flamboyantly dressed young man being swindled by a young female fortune teller. This comical scene of everyday life is an example of a genre painting. In this video we learn about what genre scenes are, how they differ from other types of imagery, and how they help us to appreciate daily life.

Speaker: Dr. Heather Graham

CHAPTERS

0:00 Caravaggio’s Fortune Teller

0:28 Who are these people and what scene unfolds before us?

0:49 What is a genre scene?

0:53 How are genre scenes different from other types of images?

1:08 Depicting ordinary people in ordinary life

1:16 Genre scenes are not portraits

1:44 Celebrations of daily life

1:50 Depicting high and lower class types

2:05 Vermeer’s c. 1665 Lady Writing

2:22 Spontaneity is the point