An impossible exhibition

The paintings of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio are found in many places, including churches and museums. They are scattered all over Italy and European cities such as Paris, London, St Petersburg, Dublin, Barcelona and Berlin - and in Malta. They are also to be found in museums in the United States - in New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Fort Worth and Connecticut.

To view them all takes time, expense and patience. To follow in the footsteps of Caravaggio where he stopped to paint what are considered today as masterpieces is difficult because some of his paintings were acquired by museums.

Moreover, it was impossible to view the complete collection in one place. The expense of insurance premiums and the attitude of some curators who are not very ready, not to say reluctant, to part with their treasures even for a short time because of the danger of loss made such an exhibition an impossible one, Besides al fresco painting could only be viewed in situ.

This is why the Caravaggio exhibition at Caraffa Stores in Vittoriosa has bee dubbed "Caravaggio: an Impossible Exhibition". Responsible for making it possible has been the digital revolution in the service of art employed by RAI sponsored by the Campania Region and in collaboration with Heritage Malta.

First impossible exhibition

The first such impossible exhibition is that of Caravaggio. It is for this very reason that we in Malta can consider ourselves lucky that we have this exhibition in our midst and at this particular point in time. It is due to the understanding and collaboration of Dr Francis Zammit Dimech, the Minister of Tourism and Culture, who used his power of persuasion to have the exhibition transferred to Malta in time for Malta's accession to EU celebrations.

The Impossible Caravaggio Exhibition opened for the first time at Castel Sant'Elmo in Naples in the spring of 2003. It consisted of 68 paintings, including the large The Beheading of the Baptist.

The next stage of the exhibition was at Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome. It was then planned to be taken to Milan until the Caravaggio Foundation of Malta intervened with the assistance of the Minister of Tourism and Culture.

Digital revolution

The visitor cannot expect to be in the presence of the actual painting, The exhibits are in fact transparencies of the same size , more or less, of the original paintings. The digital process requires lighting by four spotlights from behind and hung in a high-tech structure. The size of the transparency is only approximate. In some cases it is smaller and in other instances they are slightly bigger. The clarity of the back-lit images restores the paintings' inner light. There is also an X-ray effect which renders visible the instances where the artist made corrections or cancellations, which in effect one cannot decipher in the original painting.

What makes this exhibition extra special is the exhibits being accompanied by audio-visual aids rendering the exhibition user-friendly and illustrating the story of how the paintings came to be and at what time and why their site was chosen.

The exhibits

Apart from our own familiar masterpiece The Beheading of the Baptist the exhibited transparencies include the Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt and a page, Medusa, Sleeping Cupid, Portrait of a Knight of Malta, Penitent Magdalen, St Francis in Ecstasy, Rest on the Flight to Egypt, The Cardsharps, Musicians, Sacrifice of Isaac, Supper at Emmaus, Capture of Christ, Judith beheading Holofernes, St Catherine of Alexandria, St Jerome in Meditation, another St Jerome from the Galleria Borghese, Victorious Cupid, The incredulity of St Thomas, David and Goliath, several paintings of St John the Baptist, Salome with the head of John the Baptist, St Francis in Meditation, Madonna of Loreto, Madonna of the Rosary. St Peter's denial, Flagellation, The Crowning with Thorns, The Entombment - one of Caravaggio's greatest masterpieces - The Calling of St Mathew, The Adoration of the Shepherds, St Mathew and the Angel, Conversion of St Paul (two versions), The Sacrifice of Isaac, Death of the Virgin, Ecce Homo, Crucifixion of St Andrew, Raising of Lazarus, Burial of St Lucy, and the Seven Acts of Mercy.

No art lover, and especially no admirer of Caravaggio, can afford to miss Caravaggio: an Impossible Exhibition in Vittoriosa.