News Release: 6 May 1999

Caravagio's "'The Taking of Christ': Saints and Sinners in Baroque Painting" on View at the National Gallery of Art, 30 May - 18 July 1999

Washington, DC--Caravaggio's dramatic masterpiece The Taking of Christ (1602), rediscovered in Ireland in 1990, will be the centerpiece of a special exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, West Building, 30 May through 18 July 1999. The painting will be on view with eight outstanding Italian, French, and Spanish baroque paintings from the Gallery's permanent collection in Caravaggio's "The Taking of Christ:" Saints and Sinners in Baroque Painting.

Its whereabouts unknown for approximately two hundred years, The Taking of Christ was recognized under an erroneous attribution in the dining room of the residence of the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits) in Dublin, Ireland. Subsequently cleaned and restored, this masterpiece depicting Judas' betrayal of Christ to Roman soldiers is representative of the innovative style of Michelangelo Merisi, called Caravaggio (Roman, 1571-1610), which is characterized by intense realism, bold contrasts of light and shade (chiaroscuro), and dramatic groupings of figures.

This exhibition derives from Saints and Sinners: Caravaggio and the Baroque Image, being shown at the McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, through 24 May 1999. The painting is owned by the Society of Jesus, Ireland, and is on long-term loan to the National Gallery of Ireland.

The exhibition is made possible by a grant from EduCap Inc.

"Thanks to the generosity of Boston College, the Society of Jesus of Ireland, and the National Gallery of Ireland, we are privileged to exhibit this outstanding painting, which crossed the Atlantic for the first time earlier this year. I would also like to thank EduCap for making this exhibition possible," said Earl A. Powell III, director, National Gallery of Art.

Caravaggio

During the early years of the seventeenth century, Caravaggio developed his revolutionary style of painting, which had an immense impact on his contemporaries in Rome, as well as on successive generations of artists as far away as Spain and Northern Europe. Born in Lombardy, he went to Rome at age 21 and found immediate success and numerous public and private commissions for his innovative style. By the time of his death eighteen years later, his style of painting was among the most imitated and influential in Europe.

Related Baroque Paintings in the Exhibition

The artists whose religious and secular works are included in the exhibition were all influenced by Caravaggio. On view will be the Gallery's recently acquired Soldiers Playing Cards and Dice (The Cheats) (c. 1620/1622) by Caravaggio's French follower Valentin de Boulogne (c. 1591-1632) and two newly cleaned and restored works, Saint Jerome and the Angel (c. 1625) by Simon Vouet (French, 1590-1649), and Saint Sebastian (c. 1620/1630) by Tanzio da Varallo (Italian, c. 1575-1633). Other popular saints during the early seventeenth century are represented in the Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew (1634) by Jusepe de Ribera (Spanish, 1591-1652), The Repentant Magdalene (c. 1640) by Georges de La Tour (French, 1593-1652), and The Dream of Saint Catherine of Alexandria (c. 1593) by Lodovico Carracci (Italian, 1555-1619).

Imitations of Caravaggio's scenes of musicians include The Lute Player (c. 1612/1620) by Orazio Gentileschi (Italian, 1563-1639) and the patron saint of music, Saint Cecilia and an Angel (c. 1617/1618 and c. 1621/1627), by Orazio Gentileschi and Giovanni Lanfranco (Italian, 1582-1647).

Curator

Philip Conisbee, senior curator of European paintings, National Gallery of Art, is the coordinating curator for the exhibition in Washington.

Brochure and Programs

An illustrated brochure available at the exhibition will summarize the most significant aspects of Caravaggio's art and its impact on painters throughout baroque Europe. There will also be a lecture series with experts on 20 June and 11 July, "The Power of Images - Caravaggio and Baroque Imagery;" a related film program in July; and a feature on the Gallery's Web site, which will include images of the works of art in the exhibition, the text of the accompanying brochure, and a listing of the associated programs mentioned above.

Related Publications

Saints and Sinners: Caravaggio and The Baroque Image, edited by Franco Mormando, with essays by Noel Barber, Franco Mormando, John W. O'Malley, Pamela M. Jones, Thomas Worcester, Josephine von Henneberg, Gauvin Alexander Bailey, John Varriano, and Sergio Benedetti, McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, is distributed by the University of Chicago Press, 1999 (catalogue of the exhibition at Boston College, 1 February - 24 May 1999) and available from the Gallery's Shops for $40 (softcover). Caravaggio: The Master Revealed, written by Sergio Benedetti, is published by The National Gallery of Ireland, and available from the National Gallery of Art's Shops, for $19.95 (softcover). To order these books by mail, call (800) 697-9350 or (301) 322-5900.

General Information

The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov.

Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances. For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by the Gallery or its checkrooms.

For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:

Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov

Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov

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