paul

Martha and Mary Magdalene, c. 1598, shows the saint at the moment of her conversion. It is from the Detroit Institute of Arts, but is currently on view in Caravaggio and His Followers, at the Kimbell Museum of Art In Caravaggio's remarkable version of the Mary Magdalen story, he painted the moment of her transition from sinner to saint. As much as Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code popularized the idea that the Church demonized Mary Magdalen, more commonly she was idealized in art as a saint who turned her life around. The painter Michelangelo Merisi, who is nicknamed Caravaggio, was demonized in his lifetime for his shockingly realistic paintings and his own "sinful" life. (He was charged with murder and often on the run.) The inclusion of Martha with Mary Magdalen and other objects requires the viewer to interpret the symbolism. Martha is seated with her back to the viewer, with only one shoulder and her hands hit by Caravaggio's dramatic lighting. On the ...

Valentin de Boulogne, Soldiers Playing Cards and Dice, c. 1618/20 A magnificent exhibition of Caravaggio and His Followers at the Kimbell Museum in Fort Wort h features the Washington National Gallery of Art's Soldiers Playing Cards and Dice by Valentin de Boulogne. The painting tells a story of deception. Caravaggi o had also painted Card Sharks with fewer figures. Boulogne, a Frenchman working in Rome, may have known of his composition. Boulogne's painting is a tight, close-up composition with masterfully chosen areas of ligh t. Two simultaneous episodes are taking place: dice throwing on the right and cheating card players on the left. The card sharks are the first to demand our attention, as they look startlingly real. Behind the central fig u re, who is in the process of cheating, a nother drama is happening. A man on the r ight l ooks down and covers his dice, perhaps hiding something while his adversary with the red hat seems about to erupt in anger. Although ...