St. John the Baptist at the Museo Civico in Taverna

Mattia Preti calls Caravaggio to Calabria

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, San Giovanni Battista, c. 1604-1606
 

E. Bramati

11/05/2014

Catanzaro - "Caravaggio is the greatest painter of all times but not even a painting by this universal genius has ever been to Calabria. The arrival of such an important work in the land of Mattia Preti is an incredible cultural event". Mario Caligiuri - the regional director of Culture - commented with these words the arrival of the "St. John the Baptist" by Michelangelo Merisi at the Museo Civico in Taverna.

The masterpiece, displayed at the Galleria Nazionale di Arte Antica at Palazzo Corsini in Rome, will arrive in the Calabrian city at the end of October, during the celebrations for the 400th anniversary of Mattia Preti's birth, which began in 2013.
The style of the Knight of Calabria was deeply influenced by Caravaggio, even if he added personal interpretations. In particular, his dark backgrounds and his use of light, which together confer drama to the scene, were inspired by the master.

The "St. John the Baptist", in turn, represents an important example of the realism that the artist adopted even for religious characters. The saint has been stripped of his traditional symbols, first of all his camel-skin robe, and is covered in a red cloak. The details of his body are accurate and show signs and flaws of a man which is everything but idealized.

The comparison between these two artists, who both worked in Rome, Naples and Malta in different years, is also an occasion of exchange between the Museum in Taverna and the Gallery in Rome, which will present the exhibition "Mattia Preti: the early years".

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