Grand Manner and Caravaggism

Moral messages: Representations of virtue and vice

 Great men and women, distinguished through bravery and willpower or through steadfastness and cunning are celebrated as examples by the ancient poets. Equal to them are the heroes of the Old Testament: Abraham with his unconditional obedience, the champions of Israel such as David or Judith, who all triumphed over the enemies of God.

The biblical leaders are succeeded by the Christian saints. They, too, are heroes— athletae Christi — obvious in the unflinching endurance of their martyrs.  To represent those heroic deeds, a specific manner has been developed by Italian, especially Venetian painters, the "grand manner", passed on to their Northern followers as Johann Carl Loth named "Carlotto", active in Venice, and Johann Michael Rottmayr, one of the leading masters of Austrian High Baroque. With its theatricality, his huge paintings fulfill all aesthetic requirements of their age.