caravaggio

The Sleeper. El Caravaggio Perdido

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Although I have a lot of blog posts on film, I have remarkably few on documentaries (other than on Minimalism, and on the Camino).

Ok, this is the story: My friend Jaime’s daughter is good friends with a family that for years had Caravaggio hanging in their dining room, which they thought was a bad imitation of a Murillo, and would have been happy to get 1,500 euros at auction.

This is a documentary on the story of that painting, it is very well done. I recently saw it on the plane ride back to the US and I really enjoyed it!

While narrating the story of this painting, the documentary delves into the world of art dealers, art historians, auction houses, and art restorers. It offers a fascinating glimpse into this normally secretive world. And it all revolves around Caravaggio, who is not only an amazing painter, but who had a fascinating life; there are not that many world-class painters who killed someone!

Apparently, it is available on Prime Video, so if you have the possibility of seeing it, and you like art, definitely see it. You are welcome.

Humanities, Caravaggio, and Artificial Intelligence.

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Am I the only one who is sick and tired and bored of AI? And this nightmare has only just begun? Yes, let’s eradicate Cancer and streamline flight traffic, and all that good stuff, but do you really need an AI generated picture of whatever nonsense you think of? and you certainly do not need it for that high school or college essay. Sorry.

This comes to mind because AI is already everywhere we look, but also because as every cloud has a silver lining, folks are hungry, thirsty for meaning. The solution? more Humanities, more arts, music, theatre, literature, more stories, more narrative.

Everybody has an opinion on AI. Some more positive, like Spanish writer Irene Vallejo, who thinks AI will “push” us towards the Humanities, and some more pessimistic, like French philosopher Éric Sadin who wisely explains that AI will not generate new jobs -at any rate not enough to cover those lost to AI.

So what does Caravaggio have to do with all this? Well, I was thinking about AI when I unexpectedly “bumped” into a brilliant Caravaggio at the Colecciones Reales recently (read about that here) and I was so deeply moved, that I understood how art and the humanities are the antidote to AI. A few days later I saw two more Caravaggios at the Prado, including a lost one which was in the attic of a Madrid family. I then basked in the memory of other Caravaggios I had recently seen: one in the Cathedral of Toledo, and a couple at the Doria Pamphilj Gallery in Rome. The evidence was evident: AI can “paint” just like a Caravaggio with the amazing 3D effect and the chiaroscuro, but it will never be a Caravaggio.

Caravaggio only painted about 60 to 105 paintings, and the story each one tells, the drama, the humanity, is moving. You can see where each painting is on this Wikipedia page.

So, if you are hungry, thirsty for meaning, for purpose, for humanity, find a Caravaggio near you and go enjoy it. If you can’t find one, you can read a good book, watch a good film, listen to a symphony, etc. You are welcome!

Colecciones Reales, musings on new museums

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New museums are rare, most of the stuff worth seeing is already being shown. Another key issue is that for most modern museums the building is more interesting than what is inside -think of Guggenheim Bilbao, or even NY- It is rare to find a new museum where both the container and what it contains are both at the same level of excellence. One such exception is the massive collection of “stuff” the Spanish Royal family has -which technically belongs to all Spaniards, as it is part of the national heritage which is being shown in the brand new Colecciones Reales Museum in Madrid.

This museum has been pending since 1934 with the advent of the Second Republic, but it was finally constructed right above the Royal Palace gardens and next to the Cathedral. It opened in June of 2023. Celia and I finally got a chance to go, and it was free since the museum was celebrating the 10th anniversary of the crowning of King Felipe VI. I liked it so much, I returned the next day with my niece!

The museum is massive all in concrete and granite with some wooden accents, it is really cool. The collection has artifacts from the Trastámara dynasty, the Hapsburgs, and the Bourbons. The collection includes carriages and cars, a ton of tapestries, a fountain! some religious items, books, a set of Solomonic columns, dinning sets, and obviously a ton of paintings, including a huge Velazquez horse, and oh, a Caravaggio!

The museum includes the de rigueur coffee shop and gift shop, and it is worth the visit, even if it is not free when you go.

The best present ever, Rome.

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Confession time: I had never been to Rome before last week when my girlfriend invited me for a few days. I had been to Milan, Lake Cuomo, and Sicily, I spent a lot of time for work in Florence. But I had never been to Rome.

My mind was blown. The absolute beauty, even in the apparent anarchy and chaos of traffic, mopeds, rental scooters, and tourists. Every little piazza, every big piazza, every sculpture, every cobble stone street, one is surrounded by inebriating beauty.

We stayed at a cute and quirky hotel on Largo de Torre Argentina, where Julius Caesar was assassinated, and although Celia had been there before, she was still game to walk all over town to the Pantheon, Forum, Jewish neighborhood, Piazza Venezia, Colosseum, Trastevere, Isola Tiberina, Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps, Trevi, Villa Borghese, the Vatican, St. Peter’s, Piazza del Popolo, Castel St. Angelo, and church after church, you name it, we saw it!

We had delicious meals: my first real carbonara, my first real Jewish artichokes, amazing! Excellent coffee, great wines, an Aperol Spritz when evening started, lick your fingers pastries and gelato, you get the idea.

Two memorable experiences were seeing Velazquez’s Inocencio X at the Doria Pamphili Gallery and Michelangelo’s Pieta in St. Peter’s. Although I was a bit disappointed in the Sistine Chapel: the crowds and the noise make it difficult to enjoy, if on top of that the Vatican cops are yelling “Silenzio!!” and “Move along!!” on their megaphones, then the moment is totally lost, sad.

Overall, I am still in awe. My senses are still aglow with the beauty, tastes, and sounds. I can’t wait to go back, which I should because I dropped a coin in Trevi fountain.

My favorite? Michelangelo’s Pieta in St. Peter’s, but that might merit its own blog post.