I don't believe in capital punishment but I sure am tempted to say it should be meted out to those who destroy works of art. Well, I would have to put murdering human beings at the head of the queue, but I was saddened to hear that the 400-year- old nativity painting shown above was burned by the Italian mafia forty years ago. An informant who was involved has admitted that the thieves damaged it during the theft, then stored in a barn where critters gnawed away at it. So in the end they burned it. Disgusting.
While I am a huge fan of the artist Caravaggio this painting doesn't do much for me, although it fits the season. His depictions of the Last Supper are sublime and on my visits to the National Art Gallery in London I have headed to the one it owns first.
Caravaggio was a rogue himself. A womanizer (maybe a manizer) and boozer , he spent time in jail for brawling and was "on the lam" for a suspected murder for years. He was dead by the age of thirty seven having produced roughly eighty paintings that have survived to this day. His exceptional ability to bring drama to a work through the interplay of light and dark (chiarascuro) brought about a school of painters, the Caravaggisti. Really -- I'm not making this up!
Caravaggio was largely forgotten until the twentieth century. I wonder if it is because we are fascinated with bad boys and girls. The movie Amadeus accentuated Mozart's crudity, even while he was producing sublime music. And we are fascinated with the fallen celebs, everyone from Lindsay Lohan (where did she go?) to Tiger Woods (what's next for him?)
Why does this intrigue us so?
2 comments:
It seems we are intrigued by the personality's double sidedness. As per Tiger Woods, it almost seems that people are relieved he had a shadow side. Maybe it helps justify our own, which doesn't seem so bad while we keep it safely hidden. But just shine a spotlight on it and just about anybody could cause a scandel or at least ruffle some feathers.
Maybe Caravaggio's use of light and dark for effect is a helpful metaphor for the inner life of all of us. Thanks.
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