Master of light shines the way for Baroque era to emerge

Caravaggio: Eternal Ecstasy, which opened in July through to the end of October at M Woods in Chengdu, Sichuan province, marked the debut of Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy in China before it traveled to Beijing.

For the exhibition at the National Museum of China, a 12-minute virtual reality tour is offered to embark upon the life journey of Caravaggio — tremendous, yet tragic.

Cinzia Pasquali, who headed the restoration team that worked on the painting for over six months in 2018, says the piece was believed to have been made following his escape from Rome after killing Ranuccio Tomassoni during a row in 1606.

A manuscript note was found at the back of the canvas, reading, "Magdalena, reversed by Caravaggio in Chiaia, there to be kept for the benefit of Cardinal Borghese of Rome". The note is also displayed.

A video rotates at the exhibition showing the restoration steps carried out by Pasquali, who also co-curated the current exhibition at the National Museum of China, and her team years ago.

Their work engages the audience with the quietness in which Caravaggio focused wholeheartedly on shading, forgetting about his troubled life — the creases of Mary Magdalene's robe, the luster of her soft hair and the tears dripping from the corner of her eye.

Dutch painter Karel van Mander (1548-1606), a contemporary of Caravaggio, authored Het Schilder-Boeck (The Book of Painters).

In the book, he mentions Caravaggio's work and life: "Indeed, he does not devote himself continually to study, but when he has worked for a couple of weeks, he goes wandering for a month or two, with a sword at his side and a servant behind him, and turns from one ballgame to another, always ready to start a brawl and to scuffle, so much so that it is rare to see him regularly. …Nonetheless, his painting is beyond question."

Pasquali says: "The exhibition allows close examinations of the painting to understand the distinguished way that Caravaggio depicted his subjects.

"The theatrical representation and the dramatic effects of light and darkness, characteristic of his work, can be seen in the work."

She says the exhibition explains vividly why Caravaggio is recognized as "a revolutionary of light "and a great artist in history.

Zhuge Yingliang, co-curator of the exhibition at the National Museum of China, says the show provides people with the perspective of the restorers to understand Caravaggio and his art.

"To compare the similarities and differences in the work of Chinese and Italian restorers, we've set up a section at the end of the exhibition to show the process of preserving classic Chinese ink painting and calligraphy.

"It is not only to show the knowledge, patience and time invested in the work. The significance of art restoration is ultimately to enrich the essential values of these extraordinary artworks, to revive the thoughts of the artists, and to share them with the public," she says.

The exhibition marks the latest progress in the cultural exchanges between China and Italy through staging well-curated exhibitions at the National Museum of China. Previous collaborations include Renaissance in Florence: Masterpieces and Protagonists in 2012, Four Centuries of Painting in Venice in 2016 and Tota Italia: Origins of a Nation in 2022.

Contact the writer at linqi@chinadaily.com.cn