View a rare caravaggio up close

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Lounge -Detail of ‘Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy’. Consideration: Kiran Nadar Museum of Art and the Italian Cultural Center Summary A painting level of 1606 by Italian Baroque Master Caravaggio, who first rose in 2014, comes to the KNMA Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy, a 1606 painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, is so facinating for the intriguing history. If for his style. At the end of his short life, the Italian Baroque artist was painted – he died at the age of 38 in 1610 – this canvas has been lost for centuries. The oil painting appeared in a private collection again in 2014 and was confirmed as an original by a team of specialists, including Mina Gregori, an Italian art historian and a Caravaggio scholar. Since then, Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy has been shown at selected exhibitions around the world and has now been seen in the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Delhi, in partnership with the cultural center of the Italian embassy. Roosbina Karode, director and chief curator, KNMA, who has long admired Caravaggio, was all for this opportunity to bring an original artwork by the artist to the capital. ‘This is a rare opportunity to make a past artwork accessible to the audience. We continue to these masterpieces as they stir us, and are a powerful part of a tradition. Art has that moving quality; It speaks to different generations through time – it can speak differently, but it is. It’s an opportunity to see it in a different context and put it in a museum in Delhi, ‘she says. Caravaggio is considered one of the most important masters of the Baroque era. He bursts on the scene about 150 years after the Renaissance and had a profound impact on the way religious art, especially biblical themes, was painted. His style, especially the use of Chiaroscuro and naturalistic treatment, still resonates today. “Caravaggio has set up the traditional cannons of his time and introduced in his work models from real life and a film -like lighting,” Italian ambassador Antonio Bartoli said at the unveiling of the painting. Also read: ‘Three Storey House’: In a new solo, Anita Dube uses her art for political commentary Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy was painted while the artist was in captivity after he was charged with murder. For prof. Giulia Silvia Ghia, art historian, curator and conservator, who was part of the repair of the painting, is always exciting to find and identify works that were considered lost. In Caravaggio’s case, it becomes too fascinating because of the life he led. “Even before he (from Rome to Naples) finished after killing a man in a duel, he led a life defined by irregular behavior and was very promiscuous. This means that, apart from the works made for churches, or for family collections, he has moved hand to hand until the authorship has been lost, much like the painting in the municipality, “says Ghia, and also a council for culture in the municipality. Apart from the turbulent events that took place in his life, Caravaggio has defied prescribed ideas of how a religious narrative should be painted. “He broke away from the Renaissance artistic ideals and invented a dramatic painting that gave the narrative and a mysterious theater a lead,” Karode explains. In fact, one of the most important aspects of his practice was to bring his art near a polite experience. He modeled sacred figures about ordinary people, be it figures of the streets, brothels and more. The use of light and shade to create sharp and high contrast was another of his signatures. He brought about the curiosity of the viewer by leaving certain things ambiguous and shrouded in the mystery. He would almost never reveal a complete image setup. “You wouldn’t know what the place is where this narrative exposes – it’s in a city, city or forest? It was another thing he found out, ‘Karode expanded. Ghia agrees and believes that the defining aspect of his practice was the way light the bodies formed. According to her, he built the composition in a way that viewers would feel like they were seeing it on stage. “The strength of Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy is deeply generated by the position of the body (diagonal line from left to right). The red and white curtains, the hands and the hair fill the lower part so that attention is condensed on the neck, the lips and the eyes in the dramatic light that colors the skin in a unique way,” she says. In her note about the painting, Gregori mentions that this Magdalene is without a doubt an original: Her hands are enough to understand it. She further explains that the hands are the characteristic element of the original works of Caravaggio; The strong wrists and hands, in live colors and wonderful variations of nuances and light, with part of the fingers in the shade, are also the striking and intense element of this painting. Also read: Weekly planner: Step out for a lot of art and music, in fact, in Caravaggio’s work, most of the emotion is contained in the dramatic posture of the body. Karode cites the example of an elongated hand with the finger pointing, the back of the back, or in this case where Mary Magdalene can be seen to lie down. “It feels like he has captured a momentary posture. This twist and stretch in the body gives a sense of immediacy that I find extremely attractive, ‘she says. She shares the example of another of his famous works – Supper by Emmaus – in which he portrays Jesus Christ after his resurrection. While this story has been painted by many artists in the past, Caravaggio treats it differently. He gives Christ a new, slightly ominous appearance, as if he was disguised after the resurrection. The old disciples do not recognize Him. “It is only when he breaks the bread and the wine tastes that one of the apostles pushes his chair back and throws his hand up and acknowledges their Lord. Caravaggio painted this moment of emotional outburst, of Revelation in the most dramatic way. He ran the emotions of his subjects, be it Christ or Mary Magdalene, ‘says Karode. The figure of Mary Magdalene also fascinated many artists. Many painters in the past have also embarked on the subject of saints experiencing ecstasy, which is usually rose by the clouds with their eyes closed. In this painting, however, Caravaggio placed Magdalene near the ground. “Her eyes are half open. It transfers that she does not dream or sleep. The ecstasy is experienced physically and spiritually. There is a tear flowing from one eye. It’s something we can relate to – something that is part of a human experience, ‘says Karode. The project at the KNMA is part of a special showcase devoted to Caravaggio’s artistic legacy and its impact on world art history. It also contains the display of documentary films and a virtual reality experience for a more exciting involvement in Caravaggio and its practice. “The use of light that he invented affected generations of artists, to the point that there is a history of painting in Europe, is a real experience-one that causes a deeply intimate and emotionally charged reaction,” says Ghia. 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