She leans back with her eyes closed and lips slightly parted, her face flushed with a wave of intense emotion. At her feet lies a skull — possibly a quiet reminder of the impermanence of beauty. Painted around 1606 by the Italian Baroque master Caravaggio, 'Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy' depicts the saint not in grief or sacrifice or with a group of disciples, but alone, suspended in a moment of pure rapture.
Long considered lost, with at least eight known imitations in circulation, the original 'Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy' was rediscovered and authenticated in 2014 by Mina Gregori, the most famous Caravaggio expert. For the first time, the painting is now coming to India at an exhibition at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA).
On display from April 17 to May 18, the exhibition is a result of a collaboration between the Italian Embassy Cultural Centre and KNMA, timed with the official visit of Italian deputy prime minister Antonio Tajani and minister for university and research Anna Maria Bernini.
To Roobina Karode, director and chief curator of KNMA, the exhibition is not just historic — it’s a dialogue across centuries, continents and artistic vocabularies. “This is a rare opportunity for local audiences in India to see a Caravaggio in its physical, original form — not in reproduction, not in textbooks, but in its presence,” Karode says.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) was a revolutionary Italian painter whose short, turbulent life left an outsized mark on the history of Western art. Trained in Milan and active across Rome, Naples, Malta and Sicily, he rejected the idealised figures of the Renaissance and instead painted saints and sinners with startling realism.The biblical figures in his religious paintings were not seen as distant icons but as flesh-and-blood individuals. Even in the case of Mary Magdalene — a prominent figure in Christian tradition, often described as a devoted follower of Jesus — Caravaggio’s compelling work adds to the intrigue.
His signature use of chiaroscuro — the sharp contrast between light and shadow — imbued his religious scenes with a cinematic intensity that often unsettled viewers and thrilled patrons. In a life cut short mysteriously at the age of 38 while he was on the run after allegedly killing a man, Caravaggio created fewer than 90 works. However, his influence inspired generations of painters from Rembrandt to Artemisia Gentileschi, and he remains one of the most studied and mythologised figures in art history.
“Since Caravaggio has never come to India, and it’s become increasingly difficult to move paintings of this stature, it’s been a long-standing dream of mine to bring his work here,” says Andrea Anastasio, director of the Italian Embassy Cultural Centre in Delhi. “If this goes smoothly, I’m hoping to bring more Caravaggios over the next two years.”
The project was brought to fruition in just two and a half months — a remarkable logistical feat involving conservation protocols, high-security transport, complex insurance and bureaucratic precision. “Usually this kind of thing takes a year. The opportunity came through a chance message. The ambassador (of Italy to India, Antonio Bartoli) messaged me at seven in the morning to say that there was a Caravaggio in Beijing, on its way back to Rome. He asked, 'what if we could bring it to Delhi instead?,” Anastasio recalls.
To ensure wider access and understanding, the exhibition will be accompanied by virtual reality experiences, documentary screenings and educational programs. “Caravaggio isn’t widely known in India beyond academic circles,” says Anastasio. “We want to introduce him in a more direct, less formal way. Technology can help bridge that gap.”
The exhibition also opens up questions of influence. Can Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro be found in Indian visual traditions? “Modern Indian artists who’ve been exposed to Western art have definitely felt his relevance,” Anastasio says. The exhibition will run parallel to a solo show by senior artist Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh, whose monumental painting titled 'Kaarawaan' places portraits of various global masters on a single symbolic boat “That’s why we’re also showing this painting next to works by Sheikh. He must have seen Caravaggio’s paintings in person. The importance of light in his compositions certainly owes something to Caravaggio.”
Attention to emotional nuance and realism has resonated with Indian artists who’ve encountered Caravaggio’s work. “Artists such as A. Ramachandran, Krishen Khanna and others were moved by the drama of light and mystery of Caravaggio's style and technique of painting,” adds Karode.
Long considered lost, with at least eight known imitations in circulation, the original 'Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy' was rediscovered and authenticated in 2014 by Mina Gregori, the most famous Caravaggio expert. For the first time, the painting is now coming to India at an exhibition at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA).
On display from April 17 to May 18, the exhibition is a result of a collaboration between the Italian Embassy Cultural Centre and KNMA, timed with the official visit of Italian deputy prime minister Antonio Tajani and minister for university and research Anna Maria Bernini.
To Roobina Karode, director and chief curator of KNMA, the exhibition is not just historic — it’s a dialogue across centuries, continents and artistic vocabularies. “This is a rare opportunity for local audiences in India to see a Caravaggio in its physical, original form — not in reproduction, not in textbooks, but in its presence,” Karode says.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) was a revolutionary Italian painter whose short, turbulent life left an outsized mark on the history of Western art. Trained in Milan and active across Rome, Naples, Malta and Sicily, he rejected the idealised figures of the Renaissance and instead painted saints and sinners with startling realism.The biblical figures in his religious paintings were not seen as distant icons but as flesh-and-blood individuals. Even in the case of Mary Magdalene — a prominent figure in Christian tradition, often described as a devoted follower of Jesus — Caravaggio’s compelling work adds to the intrigue.
His signature use of chiaroscuro — the sharp contrast between light and shadow — imbued his religious scenes with a cinematic intensity that often unsettled viewers and thrilled patrons. In a life cut short mysteriously at the age of 38 while he was on the run after allegedly killing a man, Caravaggio created fewer than 90 works. However, his influence inspired generations of painters from Rembrandt to Artemisia Gentileschi, and he remains one of the most studied and mythologised figures in art history.
“Since Caravaggio has never come to India, and it’s become increasingly difficult to move paintings of this stature, it’s been a long-standing dream of mine to bring his work here,” says Andrea Anastasio, director of the Italian Embassy Cultural Centre in Delhi. “If this goes smoothly, I’m hoping to bring more Caravaggios over the next two years.”
The project was brought to fruition in just two and a half months — a remarkable logistical feat involving conservation protocols, high-security transport, complex insurance and bureaucratic precision. “Usually this kind of thing takes a year. The opportunity came through a chance message. The ambassador (of Italy to India, Antonio Bartoli) messaged me at seven in the morning to say that there was a Caravaggio in Beijing, on its way back to Rome. He asked, 'what if we could bring it to Delhi instead?,” Anastasio recalls.
To ensure wider access and understanding, the exhibition will be accompanied by virtual reality experiences, documentary screenings and educational programs. “Caravaggio isn’t widely known in India beyond academic circles,” says Anastasio. “We want to introduce him in a more direct, less formal way. Technology can help bridge that gap.”
The exhibition also opens up questions of influence. Can Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro be found in Indian visual traditions? “Modern Indian artists who’ve been exposed to Western art have definitely felt his relevance,” Anastasio says. The exhibition will run parallel to a solo show by senior artist Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh, whose monumental painting titled 'Kaarawaan' places portraits of various global masters on a single symbolic boat “That’s why we’re also showing this painting next to works by Sheikh. He must have seen Caravaggio’s paintings in person. The importance of light in his compositions certainly owes something to Caravaggio.”
Attention to emotional nuance and realism has resonated with Indian artists who’ve encountered Caravaggio’s work. “Artists such as A. Ramachandran, Krishen Khanna and others were moved by the drama of light and mystery of Caravaggio's style and technique of painting,” adds Karode.
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