Master of light shines the way for Baroque era to emerge

Porto Ercole is a charming seaside town in Tuscany, Italy, that provides soothing beach views and summertime getaways for city travelers.

It was also where Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) took his last breath.

On July 18, 1610, the legendary painter died in a sanitarium alone, exhausted, feverish, and suffering injuries from several brawls.

Until his death, Caravaggio didn't obtain a long-awaited papal pardon to return to Rome where he had garnered fame for his unrivaled painting techniques as he was unfavorably known for committing various crimes. His stormy, enigmatic personality finally went too far — an escalating argument ended when he committed murder. He fled Rome to avoid a life sentence.

Caravaggio's revolutionary style helped anticipate the Baroque period. However the sudden end of his dramatic and turbulent life — at the age of 38 — also ended his short-lived career.

He was buried in haste and was forgotten until the early 20th century, when his art was rediscovered by historians.

Caravaggio and his works have since returned to the limelight. A show featuring his paintings drew enthusiastic audiences and one of his most famous works resurged to public attention.

This was the situation when, in 2014, a painting depicting the biblical figure Mary Magdalene was identified as work of Caravaggio's. It then embarked on a global tour adorning the walls of museums worldwide.

Now, Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy has come to illuminate the exhibition halls of Beijing.

The National Museum of China and the Italian embassy in China jointly present a show specially for and displaying only Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy.

The exhibition Caravaggio's World of Art also centers around the restoration work done to return this Caravaggio work back to its glory.

Until the end of March, people can "face" Caravaggio, celebrated as the founding father of Baroque art.

In this painting, they will see his smart utilization of reduced colors — primarily black, white and red — as well as his revolutionary usage of strong contrasts between light and dark, also referred to as chiaroscuro in Italian, for which he is best known.

Caravaggio has made recurring appearances in Chinese art scene these two years.

His Boy Bitten by a Lizard was on show at Botticelli to Van Gogh, an exhibition of masterpieces from the National Gallery London held from Jan 17 to May 7 last year at the Shanghai Museum.

From Dec 12 to April 12 this year, Caravaggio: Wonders of the Italian Baroque, an exhibition at the Museum of Art Pudong in Shanghai, gathered six works by Caravaggio, including Boy with Basket of Fruit, an iconic piece in the collection of the Borghese Gallery, Rome.