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Monday, November 4, 2024 |
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The National Gallery displays Caravaggio's last painting, not seen in the UK for nearly twenty years |
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Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, 'The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula', 1610. Intesa Sanpaolo Collection. Gallerie dItalia - Napoli © Archivio Patrimonio Artistico Intesa Sanpaolo / foto Luciano Pedicini, Napoli.
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LONDON.- The Last Caravaggio (18 April 21 July 2024), 'The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula', 1610, generously lent by the Intesa Sanpaolo Collection (Gallerie dItalia Naples) is being displayed alongside another late work by the Italian artist from the National Gallery Collection, Salome receives the Head of John the Baptist, about 160910.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (15711610) is one of the most revolutionary figures in art. His strikingly original, emotionally charged paintings, with their intense naturalism, dramatic lighting and powerful storytelling, had a lasting impact on European art and reverberate to this day.
'The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula', which was only reattributed to Caravaggio in 1980 following the discovery of an archival letter describing its commission, presents a rare opportunity to explore the final period of Caravaggios life. This letter (Archivio di Stato, Naples) - displayed in the exhibition and shown in the UK for the first time - which was sent from Naples (where the picture was painted) to Genoa (where its patron, Marcantonio Doria, lived), records the final stages of the paintings commission. 'The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula', which includes a self portrait of Caravaggio peering over the saints shoulder, was painted during the last months of the artists life. Despatched from Naples on 27 May, the finished painting arrived in Genoa on 18 June 1610. Just weeks later, in July 1610, Caravaggio himself set out from Naples, hoping to return to Rome where he believed he would be pardoned for the murder, committed in 1606, which had caused him to flee to the south. He died in Porto Ercole on 18 July 1610, never reaching his destination.
In 'The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula' Caravaggio departs from the traditional iconography of Saint Ursula where she is generally portrayed only with the symbols of martyrdom and in the company of one or more of her virgin companions. Instead, he chooses to depict the very moment in which the saint, having refused to marry a Hun who did not share her Christian faith, is shot by him with an arrow. The tightly cropped composition gives the scene tremendous dramatic emphasis. The entire scene is imbued with a complex interplay of light and shadow or chiaroscuro, characteristic of Caravaggios paintings. The viewer is faced with an intricate depiction of hands: the guilty hands that have just fired the arrow, Ursulas hands framing the fatal wound in her chest, and the bystanders hand, thrust between the two protagonists just moments too late. Caravaggio includes his own self portrait on the right of the painting, looking on, helpless.
The National Gallery painting, 'Salome receives the Head of John the Baptist', was also painted towards the end of Caravaggios life. The story of the death of John the Baptist is told in the Gospel of Mark (6: 1629). John had criticised King Herod for marrying his deceased brothers wife, Herodias, and she sought revenge. At Herods birthday feast, Herodiass daughter Salome so delighted the King by her dancing that he promised her anything she wanted. Encouraged by her mother, she asked for the Baptists head, and the King had John executed.
Caravaggio has once again reduced the story to its essentials, focusing on the human tragedy and conveying the scenes emotional power through a more muted palette, pronounced chiaroscuro and dramatically choregraphed gestures. The brutish executioner places Johns head on a salver held by Salome, whose serious expression and sidelong glance are enigmatic. An elderly maidservant clasps her hands in grief, setting the emotional tone. The half-length format brings the figures up close, enhancing the dramatic impact of the scene. Characteristic of Caravaggios mature works, the composition appears simple but hides a sophisticated physical and psychological interplay between the main protagonists. Salome and the executioner are subtly linked by their poses the angles of their heads echo each other, and a strong raking light falls across their faces but their role is very different. The executioners face is impassive as he thrusts the head towards Salome: he may have wielded the sword but the guilt for the Baptists death lies with her.
This exhibition presents an opportunity to explore Caravaggios late paintings, the representation of violence in his work, and to reflect on violence in our own times. The programming and activity around this project will shed light on the figure of Saint Ursula, allowing visitors to explore her story. The narratives of male violence in Caravaggios paintings will also be examined.
Dr Francesca Whitlum-Cooper, Acting Curator of Later Italian, Spanish and 17th-century French Paintings, says. The National Gallery is exceptionally strong in its holdings of works by Caravaggio, possessing an early picture (Boy bitten by a Lizard), a major Roman work (The Supper at Emmaus) and a late Neapolitan painting (Salome receives the Head of John the Baptist). With the generous loan of 'The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula', visitors will be able to engage with late Caravaggio as we present this final painting to the public in London for the first time in a generation.'
National Gallery Director, Dr Gabriele Finaldi, says Deeply affecting and tragic in tone, Caravaggios last picture seems to reflect the artists troubled and anxious mental state as he prepared to leave Naples and return to Rome. We are grateful to Intesa Sanpaolo for lending this late masterwork to the National Gallery.
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