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Caravaggio:
Unceasing Lightning
Mireya Castañeda
ART
historians affirm that Michelangelo Merisi, named
Caravaggio (1571-1610), appears like a ray of
lightning within the stagnant environment of Rome in
the final decade of the 16th century.
I am
taking without permission from the Spanish poet
Miguel Hernández the title of his book El rayo
que no cesa, (Unceasing Lightning), as
Caravaggio’s revolutionary style of painting not
only influenced his contemporaries, but paralyzes
with emotion anyone who has the privilege of
contemplating one of his works.
That is
precisely what convenes us now. Caravaggio has
enamored Havana with his painting “Narcissus at the
Source” (oil on canvas; 115.5 x 97.5), the
centerpiece of the exceptional Caravaggio in Cuba
exhibition (September 23 – November 27), inaugurated
in the temporary room in the Universal Art Building,
attached to the Museum of Fine Arts.
The exhibition curator, Rosella
Vodret, from the Superintendence of
Cultural
Heritage
of the City of Rome, affirmed in a press
preview, that Caravaggio “could not have a better
environment than this one, as he is considered a
revolutionary… nobody could have revolutionized the
history of art like he did.”
It is a
fact that Caravaggio changed everything. Subjects
taken from the street, without idealization,
represented with extreme realism; his composition,
shaping the essential without any detail
intervening; and the illumination, that powerful and
direct light which we Cubans who love art works can
now appreciate in the original painting.
This
Michelangelo, Merisi, was the initiator of a style,
tenebrism that had a great influence within Baroque
works of art (in painters such as Guido Reni,
Rembrandt, Zurbarán, Murillo and Velásquez). The
word comes from the Latin tenĕbrae (shadows),
due to those atmospheres of light and shadow which
enfold the scenes of his paintings.
And
thus, in chiaroscuro, Caravaggio-style, is the
lighting design in the room housing the exhibition
of 13 paintings in all, because, in addition to
“Narcissus at the Source,” another 12 oils by his
followers have come to the Fine Arts, although the
artist never wanted to have pupils or a workshop, in
the way, for example, that Rubens did.
It is
veritably gratifying that this masterpiece is being
shown in Cuba. The beautiful and complete catalogue
accompanying the show confirms this. Outside of
Italy, “Narcissus…”has only been displayed – in the
20th century – in London, New York, Leningrad and
Sao Paulo, and in this century, in Madrid, Tokyo,
Melbourne and Podgorica (Montenegro).
Without
doubt an acknowledgement to the Museum of Fine Arts
(which celebrates its centenary in 2013), to its
valuable collections and the many exhibitions of
these; for example, the Sorolla’s, the works of
Amelia Peláez, which have been taken to other
countries, and to Cubans, who are familiar with and
know how to appreciate art.
Caravaggio has and gives spectators a just
comprehension of the myth of Narcissus, a youth
known for his great beauty, according to various
versions of Greek, Hellenic or Roman mythologies,
which the artist absorbed – as the catalogue notes –
from Ovid’s poems. There he is in all his splendor
and emotion; Caravaggio presents him as
self-absorbed, incapable of drawing away from his
reflection (he ended up by throwing himself into the
water and a beautiful flower grew in the place where
his body fell, known as the narcissus).
Caravaggio’s “Narcissus…” is an absolute
masterpiece, and as Rosella Vodret affirms, “one of
the most suggestive and fascinating pictures in
Italian painting and that of all time.”
THE
OTHER ORIGINALS
The
exhibition comprises 12 oil paintings by artists who
worked alongside Caravaggio and others who did not
directly know him, a second generation of his
followers, including those from beyond the Italian
peninsula.
Thus
“Ecce homo,” Giovanni Baglione; “Saint John the
Baptist,” Tommaso Salini; “Self-Portrait,”
Orazio Borgianni; “Saint Joseph Reading by
Candlelight,” Gerrit van Honthorst; “Bacchus
and the Drinker,” Bartolomeo Manfredi;
“Saint Francis of Assisi,” Carlo Saraceni;
“Crowning with Thorns,” Lionello Spada; two of the
same title, “Rest on the Flight into Egypt,”
one by Orazio Gentileschi and the other by Angelo
Caroselli; “Fainting Magdalene,” author
unknown, and “Saint Geronimo,” Hendrick van
Somer.
Yes,
one painting is missing, but Artemisia Gentileschi
(Rome 1593-Naples 1653) merits its own space.
Daughter of the Tuscan painter Orazio Gentileschi
(1563-1639) she is currently considered the first
woman painter in history.
She
painted religious and historical works at a time
when these heroic themes were considered
inappropriate for the feminine spirit. She imposed
her art in an era in which women painters were not
easily accepted.
She
signed her first work, “Susanna and the Elders”
(Florence, Uffizi Gallery), in which one can
appreciate how Artemisia had assimilated
Caravaggio’s realism, and then painted the work
“Judith Slaying Holofernes” (Florence, Uffizi
Gallery) and the painting accompanying the
exhibition, “Self-Portrait” (National Gallery of
Ancient Art, Rome).
THE
LANGUAGE OF ART
Italian
Deputy Culture Minister Ricardo Villardi traveled to
Havana for the inauguration of Caravaggio in Cuba.
At the press conference he said, “When the language
of culture speaks, it promotes spiritual growth and
maintains an open connection between our two
peoples.”
His
Cuban counterpart, Deputy Minister Fernando Rojas,
thanked Italy for “This gift, fruit of a cooperation
which is gathering momentum every day and making it
possible to consolidate the historic links of
friendship between both nations.”
In this
context, Villardi announced that bilateral plans
include Cuba’s participation in the International
Forum of Cultures, to take place in Naples in 2013.
A
number of sources confirm that the exhibition is
valued at 70 million euros. It was transported here
by the Blue Panorama Company, whose president,
Franco Pecci, also traveled to the Cuban capital and
affirmed, “It is an honor for me to work on this
project for the Cuban people.”
Caravaggio
(and his followers) in
Cuba.
Contemplating the original works is a memorable
event for art lovers. Almost five centuries after
Michelangelo Merisi’s arrival in Rome, his work is
still an “unceasing lightning” of emotion.
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