Caravaggio in a new light

An exciting new exhibit of Caravaggio open in Chicago through Februrary 11, 2006.

Tutta l'opera del Caravaggio: una mostra impossibile (The Official Site)

Loyola University Museum of Art (The First American Viewing)

A couple of news articles about the exhibit:

Digital magic conjures the impossible (The Australian)

Is It Still Art If It's a Reproduction? (Voice of America)

There are only about two dozen Caravaggio paintings in existence today (not counting paintings attributed to him or of uncertain origin). To see them all, one would need to travel from Texas to St. Petersburg to Rome to Paris...to only name a few stops. Or one would have to convince a number of smaller churches to loan these works.

This is not an impossible task.

Nor is it impossible to have those paintings that are hung in museums borrowed by other museums.

But to have all the known paintings available for viewing in one location is practically impossible.

That is, until now.

A new electronic exhibit of the paintings has been made available by Rai-Radiotelevisione Italiana, Italy's government broadcaster.

It may not be as good as seeing the real thing, but take a look a that the first link above. This is the project's official page. If you are beginning your research on Caravaggio or you want your children to have a taste of his great work, this site really helps.

There are some drawbacks. For example, the zoom function quickly pixelates the image and you are better off looking at it in normal view. An annoyance is that once you enter it, the normal browser window closes and you are left with navigation only within the site itself (for example, you will not see the browser address bar again, so if you want to bookmark it, do so before entering the site.)

But despite that, I really like the site. It makes a great teaching tool and a great opportunity to see the works in the farthest reaches of the world (presuming even there you have internet access!).

But the website is only the first step. After a successful runs in Rome, Naples and Malta, the exhibit makes its American debut in Chicago at the Loyola Museum of Art (second link above).

The nagging question, and I think the one downfall of the exhibit, is just how much 'light is shed on these paintings'? What I mean, of course, is the never ending concern that Caravaggio painted many of his paintings for spaces that had far less light than even, perhaps, the weakest computer screen provides. But since this is an electronic exhibition, it would seem that light is necessarily more abundant and particularly variable.

I am not suggesting that the light shouldn't be altered. After all, looking at Boy Bitten by a Lizard in its original setting, one would find it difficult to find the lizard. On the other hand, to experience the painting the way the master (perhaps) intended would be a thrill all its own.

So I herald this exhibit; but I would also say we should use it as a stepping stone. Perhaps the analogy is too mean but instead of being satisfied with the faux Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas, visit the real one when you get the chance.

Instead of being satisfied with the elections display of a master's work, use it as an inspiration to see the real thing.

Tom

PS. There are some other blogs around that have information on Caravaggio and a discussion of this exhibit. Here is just a sampling:

Caravaggio Gallery