ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO TO SHOW CARAVAGGIO'S THE SUPPER AT EMMAUS

THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO WILL BE OFFERING VISITORS THE RARE OPPORTUNITY TO VIEW ONE OF CARAVAGGIO'S MASTERWORKS FROM 10.OCTOBER.2009 THROUGH TO 31.JANUARY.2010. COMING FROM THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON, 'THE SUPPER AT EMMAUS' IS ONE OF THE MOST HIGHLY REGARDED PAINTINGS BY ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL OF ALL WESTERN ARTISTS, AND IT IS A PAINTING HARDLY EVER SEEN OUTSIDE LONDON. FOR THESE FOUR MONTHS, IT WILL BE ONE OF A FEW CARAVAGGIOS ON VIEW ANYWHERE IN THE UNITED STATES. THE SUPPER AT EMMAUS WILL SERVE AS THE CENTERPIECE FOR A FOCUS INSTALLATION IN GALLERY 211 OF THE ART INSTITUTES'S COLLECTION OF 'CARAVAGGESQUE' PAINTINGS. CARAVAGGIO'S INSISTENCE ON HEIGHTENED REALISM AND THE SCULPTURAL QUALITIES OF HIS FIGURES, OFTEN BRIGHTLY LIT AGAINST A DARK BACKGROUND, ARE EVIDENT IN WORKS SUCH AS BARTOLOMEO MANFREDI'S 'CUPID CHASTISED' AND CECCO DEL CARAVAGGIO'S 'THE RESURRECTION'. A GALLERY BROCHURE WILL ALSO LEAD VISITORS TO OTHER GALLERIES WHERE THE DIFFUSION OF CARAVAGGIO'S STYLE THROUGHOUT EUROPE WILL BE IMMEDIATELY APPARENT IN WORKS SUCH AS REMBRANDT'S 'OLD MAN WITH A GOLD CHAIN' AND RUBENS' 'THE CAPTURE OF SAMSON'.
CARAVAGGIO'S 'THE SUPPER AT EMMAUS', PAINTED IN 1601, DEPICTS A DIM TAVERN THAT FORMS THE BACKDROP FOR A MOMENT OF PROFOUND REVELATION. TWO MEN EATING AT A TABLE, SERVED BY AN INNKEEPER, REALIZE THAT THE GUEST WHO JOINED THEM AT THEIR MEAL IS NONE OTHER THAN CHRIST HIMSELF, REAPPEARING TO HIS DISCIPLES AFTER HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. THE PAINTING IS RECOGNIZED AS A SUPERB EXAMPLE OF CARAVAGGIO'S STYLE AT ITS MOST MATURE AND DEVELOPED. CARAVAGGIO HAS REPRESENTED THIS SCENE WITH HIS SENSE OF UNCOMPROMISING REALISM, PUNCTUATED BY HIS SIGNATURE CONTRASTS OF LIGHT AND DARK, WHICH LEND A DEEPLY DRAMATIC SENSITIVITY TO THE PAINTING. THE MOMENT OS THE DISCIPLES' REALIZATION IS PICTURED WITH RADICALLY FORESHORTENED GESTURES OF SHOCK AND DISBELIEF: ONE DISCIPLE SPREADS HIS ARMS WIDE, DEMARCATING THE DEPTH OF THE PAINTING; THE OTHER LEANS FORWARD ABRUPTLY, AS IF HE WERE TO JUMP OUT OF HIS CHAIR, SHOULDERS HUNCHED AND HANDS GRIPPING THE ARMS OF HIS SEAT. CARAVAGGIO HAS RENDERED ALL OF THE DETAILS -- THE FOOD ON THE TABLE, THE WORN WRINKLES IN THE GARMENTS OF THE MEN -- WITH CRISP PRECISION AND AN ALMOST CLINICAL HANDLING OF PAINT. AGAINST THIS STARK REALISM IS COUNTER-POSED THE MOMENT OF RELIGIOUS EPIPHANY, THE SACRED MANIFESTING ITSELF WITHIN THE MUNDANE SETTING OF A DINING ROOM.