Monday, February 7, 2011

The fleeing Caravaggio: a paper for Dunedin

Beheading of Saint John the Baptist
1608
Oil on canvas, 361 x 520 cm
Saint John Museum, La Valletta


Last week the Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (2-5 February 2011) has organized a conference in Dunedin at the University of Otago, where I have happily participated with a panel entitled: Artists and Travel.  

Who better than Caravaggio? He fled to Naples and then to Malta, in order to escape decapitation following his conviction for the murder of Ranuccio TomassoniHoping in the Pope's forgiveness, he departed from the conventions of his time to paint works evoking acts of clemency to receive the permission of the Pope to come back to Rome. 

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist is a clear example of Caravaggio's changes, almost a testimonial to his own destiny: his death! 


To know more about the other papers presented at the conference, 
this is the link: 
anzamems 2011 conference



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