DISCOVER UTRECHT, CARAVAGGIO AND EUROPE

Curator Dr. Bernd Ebert on the exhibition "Utrecht, Caravaggio and Europe" at Alte Pinakothek (17 April to 21 July 2019)

By Alte Pinakothek, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen

Alte Pinakothek, Bavarian State Painting Collections

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From which museums do the works in the exhibition come?

The exhibition comprises a total of 75 works, more than 70 of which are on loan from museums, church institutions and private collections throughout Europe and the USA.

The list of lenders reads like the Who's Who of the international museum world: the Louvre in Paris, the National Gallery in London, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the Mauritshuis in The Hague, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Metropolitan Museum in New York. But of course, with Berlin, Dresden and Kassel, the most important collections of paintings in Germany are also represented.

At the same time, we are particularly proud of loans from smaller institutions such as the Museo della Misericordia in Florence, the Pinacoteca cantonale Giovanni Züst in Rancate, and the Montserrat Monastery near Barcelona. Honthorst's "Decapitation of John the Baptist" comes from the Church of Santa Maria della Scala in Rome. At almost 3.50 m, this painting is not only so important because of its size, but also because of its provenance. During his stay in Rome, Honthorst placed it in the church as an altarpiece, where it still hangs today.

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What marks the difference between the Munich exhibition and the presentation in Utrecht?

The exhibition and catalogue were conceived jointly by the Centraal Museum and ourselves. The loans at the two exhibition venues therefore largely coincide. 6 loans will be on view exclusively in Munich, including Caravaggio's "Fortuneteller" from Rome, Borgiannis "David and Goliath" from Madrid, Régnier's "Saint Sebastian" and Valentin's "Falschspieler" from Dresden.

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How did the young Utrecht painters get in touch with Caravaggio?

The three Utrecht painters did not get to know Caravaggio personally. He left Rome in 1606 and died in 1610.

In Rome, however, they could see many of his altarpieces in churches, including the "Vocation of Matthew" in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi or "The Crucifixion of Peter" in Santa Maria del Popolo. But they will also have studied important paintings in private collections. Honthorst, for example, lived for several years in the household of the Giustiniani brothers, who were among the most important collectors and patrons in Rome. They owned 15 works by Caravaggio alone.

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What motivates young Dutch painters in the 17th century to travel through half of Europe to Rome?

Since the 16th century, a number of Dutch painters have travelled to Italy after completing their education, among them in particular painters from Utrecht, the formerly most important bishop's seat in the Netherlands. In Italy, especially in Rome, they were able to study ancient art and the masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance. But they were also curious to get to know the current art movements.

The Dutch artist biographer and art theorist Karel van Mander recommended in his "Schilder-Boeck", published in 1604, that the young, aspiring painters should go to Rome to study the works of a certain Michelangelo Merisi from Caravaggio, who did "miraculous things" there.

For most artists it was not a study trip of a few weeks or months. They stayed for years and tried to get commissions on the very competitive market. The return to their homeland was planned and the knowledge of new techniques and styles gave them an advantage on the domestic market.

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What makes a work of art caravaggesque?

Caravaggesque paintings are figure depictions as history paintings that depict a certain moment in a story or as genre paintings with a scene from everyday life. Themes are painted with great emotionality and direct appeal to the viewer. The figures depict familiar characters of a narrative or represent certain characters known from theatre or literature. They are lifelike and seem to have sprung from the everyday world of the artists. This may also be due to the fact that the figures were painted after real models, which were not idealized then.

There are life-size figures to be seen, often as half figures. They are positioned close to the edge of the picture and thus close to the viewer and arranged on a narrow stage. Frequently, the viewer is addressed by glances or gestures. The figures are often reproduced cut off by means of the narrow section of the picture.

Strong light and shadow contrasts can be seen. The emotions, gestures and facial expressions are often exaggerated as in the theatre. In reference to Carvaggio, one can find subdued colouration with earthy tones and simultaneously birght reds with some Caravaggists. In the Utrecht group, the paintings later became more colorful and brighter. In contrast to the preceding mannerist painting, which was characterized by a strong artificiality, the painting of the Caravaggists is naturalistic. Figures and materials are reproduced realistically, but there is no striving for the ideal and no renunciation of ugly details such as rotten teeth or dirty feet.

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What is the goal of the exhibition and how do you want to achieve it?

The three Utrecht Caravaggists Hendrick ter Brugghen, Gerard van Honthorst and Dirck van Baburen are in the focus of the exhibition.

The aim of the exhibition is to illustrate the stylistic peculiarities and qualities of the Utrecht painters. To this end, we have placed their works in the context of paintings by other important Caravaggists from Italy, France, Spain and Flanders. By juxtaposing works of the same theme and - if possible - Caravaggio himself, the peculiarities of the personalities of the respective artist become clear.

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What can "Caravaggism" give or show us today?

The Caravaggists address the great themes of humanity with their stories. The intense and strong emotions have not lost their topicality: sadness, sorrow, pain, triumph, compassion and deceit, joy, humour, morality. The non-idealized "types" in the pictures speak directly to us. With this exhibition, we want to address in particular young adults who are of the same age as the young caravaggists of that time.

The procuress (1625) by Gerard van HonthorstCentraal Museum

Why does music play such an important role in the exhibition and the supporting programme?

The exhibition shows how visual artists reproduce deep emotions with great drama in their pictures. We asked ourselves how a composer would reproduce this, who does not compose with brush and paint, but with notes? How would a dramaturge or a filmmaker stage these still topical themes? This is a question we have explored together with young artists from the the opera studio of the Bayerische Staatsoper, the University of Music and Performing Arts and the Akademie der Bildenden Künste München.

For example, eight international young composers have composed short pieces of music for all 75 works in the exhibition, which can be heard by visitors to the exhibition directly in front of the original via the music audio guide.

Credits: Story

The contents were created in connection with the exhibition "Utrecht, Caravaggio and Europe" at the Alte Pinakothek München. Click here to discover the world of the Caravaggisti.

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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