![]() ![]() People think she is freakish but I don't – I love her. I too try to find the beauty in everyone that I photograph, whether it's the kids in South Central LA who invented the new dance form I documented in Rize, or the transsexual Amanda Lepore who I've photographed a lot. That's why Caravaggio is a very sympathetic figure to me. He always found beauty in the unexpected, the ordinary – in the street urchin's face, the broken nose, and the heavy brow. The kind of beauty he depicts isn't in any sense what we see traditionally in painting of that time. While Michelangelo was aspirational, using bodies at the height of perfection, Caravaggio was much more of a realist. It had a really big impact on me, I wanted to learn more about Caravaggio, I just loved his aesthetic. I'm really good friends with John Maybury whose mentor was Jarman and when Jarman's film Caravaggio came out in the 80s I was living in London. It's through one of my contemporary art heroes, Derek Jarman, that I got really turned on to the artist. That's why in Jesus Is My Homeboy I had people from the street dressed in modern clothing, in modern settings, with Christ, because that's who Jesus would be with if there was a second coming. Back then that was considered blasphemous but actually that's where Jesus pulled his disciples from – the street people and the marginalised. That's who he felt comfortable with, empathised with. He didn't strive to paint the court and the aristocracy – he was painting the courtesans and the street people, the hookers and the hustlers. But in no sense does Caravaggio judge the boy. Painting became like thinking for these masters.The flower in the boy's hair and the blouse coming off his shoulders I think signify that the boy is a male prostitute. He is like the old Titian and the old Rembrandt who threw away the fine sable pointed brushes and were confident to load a large bristle brush with a thick glob of lead white paint and with one stroke describe, for example, the jaw of a rising man or the cheek bones of his sisters. He always knew about death, and even death on the streets, but now it is what he thinks about and paints more than anything else. This is his mature somber style reflecting the intense troubles of his later life even though he still paints miracles. He is the figure in the back on the far left.Įverything comes out of the dark. The usual expressions early on where disinterest or amazement, but now because of what he has lived, there is an expression bordering on horror. He decides which characters reveal them selves and which remain only a hint in darkness where we must imagine their essence solely from the gestures.Īs in a number of his group paintings there is a half hidden self portrait. The light is illusive hitting and skipping along from left to right. All of the forms are recognizable only from the way the light just touches them and reveals shape. It is still the hard to describe “Caravaggio red” but it is in a dark haze. Gone are the rich expanses of glowing flesh and brilliant reds. In the resurrection scene he is raising, leaning back slightly, pulling up his friend. In the Calling of Saint Matthew in the French church in Rome he is pointing-calling. Especially striking is the repeat pose of Jesus pointing. There are many similarities with earlier Roman works. He received support in Sicily and the commission was important and the size of the painting signifies that his great gifts as a painter were still highly prized. Lazarus did not resurrect himself, he was raised.Ĭaravaggio painted this after he escaped from the prison in Malta. ![]() As with the Virgin being assumed into Heaven it is passive on the part of the subject. It is being called "Resurrezione di Lazzaro", Resurrection of Lazarus, where it should be called Raising of Lazarus. It was exposed to both indoor and outdoor conditions of uncontrolled variations of temperature and humidity. The painting had significant damage from previous restorations and from the environmental conditions in Messina. The restoration in the Museum of Rome took seven months. The painting was transported from Messina. You are able to also learn about the restoration process in some detail. You are able to approach very close to see the brushstrokes and get a sense of the weave of the canvas. This is an opportunity not to be missed because of the importance and size of the painting and because the lighting and the setting is ideal. ![]() ROME-Until July 15th, at the Museum of Rome Palazzo Braschi by Piazza Navona the large restored masterpiece will be displayed in a special room. ![]()
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