Caravaggio and the art of dress

Caravaggio famously turned to the everyday world around him for inspiration, depicting the people he encountered on the bustling and turbulent streets of Rome. The groundbreaking images he created of soldiers, servants, pilgrims and fortune tellers proved highly popular and gave rise to a new style of art, yet the significance of many of these subjects has been obscured over time.

This talk explores why these social groups captured Caravaggio’s imagination and points to their growing presence in the city during his lifetime. It focuses on the techniques used by the artist to represent members of the urban poor, which included borrowing from familiar visual stereotypes and portraying a blend of realistic and fantastical forms of clothing. It will show how the dress codes embedded in some of Caravaggio’s best-known paintings can increase our understanding of the religious and secular themes of his work and enhance their dramatic intensity.

Dr Elizabeth Currie is an author and lecturer specialising in Italian art and fashion history. She teaches at Central Saint Martins and is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Her publications include 'Fashion and Masculinity in Renaissance Florence' (2016) and 'Street Style: Art and Dress in the Time of Caravaggio' (September 2025).

Supported by Elizabeth and Daniel Peltz OBE