In the US, there are fewer than 10 paintings by Old Master Caravaggio and in a rare exhibition, Dallas Museum of Art is displaying one of his masterpieces Martha and Mary Magdalene (c. 1598).
Depicting Mary Magdalene, who at the time was considered a prostitute by the Catholic Church , experiencing a spiritual awakening as her sister Martha counts on her fingers the reasons she should convert. Caravaggio conveys the moment of Mary’s conversion—a challenging subject—through his treatment of light, which casts a divine glow on the reformed sinner.
One of the greatest Baroque painters of the 17th century, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio continues to be revisited as one of the most influential artist of the European art history.
Caravaggio: Martha and Mary Magdalene is curated by Julien Domercq, the DMA’s new Lillian and James H. Clark Assistant Curator of European Art and will be on view at Dallas Museum of Art from June 23–September 22, 2019
