ogical heroes, and madonnas that have been depicted by court painters (Cruz 10).
Sherman's use of herself as subject mirrors the same self-use of Caravaggio and Gentileschi. In effect, this self-portraiture is a reflection of the Baroque which depicts the common man or woman, flaws, warts and all, even when the model is meant to symbolize some more-than-ordinary personage in the realms of royal or religious iconography. With Sherman, however, the "warts" of the Baroque model are taken to a radical extreme. The problem for the viewer is to transcend the extremes of the surface in order to see the deeper message.
Cruz identifies one Sherman photograph from the History Portraits as having its source in Caravaggio. Clearly, Sherman's "Untitled #224" is modeled on Caravaggio's "Sick Bacchus," as Cruz calls it, or "The Little Bacchus," as Moir calls it. The study will analyze these two works in depth. For now, it suffices to point out that Sherman's work is clearly intended to update the Baroque vision according to Sherman's own purposes, which are, again, de
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