Caravaggio's Masterpiece
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There he lay on the foul smelling uneven sandy ground,
Dead by beheading, blood seeping underneath the severed head,
An atrocious act urged by a drunken adulterous queen.
He was already dead, but the head had to be totally severed.
A sharp knife did the trick and a wanton tart had a plate
Ready to receive the Baptist head. Looking on only one showed any pity,
The rest indifferent were just ready to please their queen.
The dungeon was not even lighted as behoved a condemned man.
What makes this painting remarkable, one might ask?
Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio was in Malta and the painting
Was commissioned by the Order of the Knights of Malta,
And hanged in an Oratory for criminal trails.
Caravaggio lifted traditional religious scenes and cast them
With his own dark interpretation. Thus light and darkness
Played a big part in the painting. All main characters are bathed in light,
The rest is in darkness as befitted a dungeon.
A masterpiece of chiaroscuro still to be admired in Malta.
Copyright © Victor Buhagiar | Year Posted 2021
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