Fortune-Tellers and Telling Sympathies: Innovations of Caravaggio's Fortune-Teller

Within art the Romani presence has been frequently seen but rarely observed. Historians and casual viewers alike have seen that the palm reader in many fortune-teller paintings of the Renaissance and Baroque periods is a Romani woman, yet rarely is the presence observed. The portrayal of the Romani, and its revelation of their perception during this time, is never deeply explored. The observation of these early painted Romanies reveals a stark difference between Caravaggio's 1594 Fortune-Teller and the works that followed in the wake of the painting's popularity. Caravaggio painted a sympathetic portrayal of the Romani, a choice that defied common expectations of the time both in the visual arts and in society.