The St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation has waved aside concerns by art historians about the impact ongoing construction works might have on Caravaggio’s 'The Beheading of St John the Baptist'.
Concerns that the works will block natural light intended to shine on the masterpiece are unwarranted, the foundation said in a statement on Saturday which argued that the oratory which houses the Caravaggio had been structurally changed more than 300 years ago.
“The Oratory that houses the 'The Beheading of St John the Baptist' underwent an ambitious renovation led by Mattia Preti, which renovations and structural changes were finished in 1695,” the foundation said.
It cited a 1997 article by academic David Stone in the Burlington Magazine which reported that those changes “eradicated most traces of the original environment for Caravaggio's Beheading” located on the southeast wall.
The 1695 interventions included the blocking of the sixth window on the northeast side, which was in line with the fifth window in contention.
“It follows that the fifth window could not have been the aperture that allowed natural light to fall on the painting because it is too distant from the painting itself to participate in the chiaroscuro of the image; this coupled with the fact that the triumphal-arch in front of the Beheading, constructed in the time of Preti, further distanced it from the said fifth window and the natural light. The sixth window, closest to where the painting of the ‘Beheading’ hung, was blocked off by Preti himself,” the foundation said.
Saturday’s statement comes in response to an open letter signed by 28 Caravaggio experts from across the globe, calling for an investigation into ongoing works to build a tapestry hall for the St John’s Co-Cathedral museum.
Once built, the hall will block a window that overlooks Caravaggio’s 'The Beheading of St John the Baptist' – something the art experts argue will “obliterate the original line of light that Caravaggio took into account” when working on the painting.
Initially, the St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation dismissed the concerns by saying that window was kept permanently shut anyway, to protect the painting from potential UV damage.
On Saturday, it went further and argued that the claims made by art experts were not backed by fact and that Caravaggio’s masterpiece had its original context altered back in the late 1600s when Preti led changes to the Co-Cathedral oratory.
It said that it had installed a state-of-the-art LED lighting system two years ago to illuminate the painting while also protecting it from any possible light damage.
The tapestry hall that is being built will be used to house a set of 29 Flemish tapestries that are currently being temporarily exhibited in the Co-Cathedral itself.
“In such large and complex projects there are always carefully balanced choices that need to be made,” the foundation argued, saying the decision to block the oratory’s fifth window was one such choice.
It is unlikely that the window in question illuminated the painting effectively, it added, saying it most likely “caused raking light not allowing the viewer to see the picture properly.”
“In reality, the 'light' in the painting is a ‘painted' light. It is the well-crafted chiaroscuro and the luce di cantina technique that gives the illusion of external light entering the scene.”