Who is the artist of the Kiss of Judas in Dresden. Caravaggio’s painting “The Kiss of Judas”: the history of painting and the meaning of the canvas
On July 30, 2008, Caravaggio’s painting “The Kiss of Judas” (“Taking Christ into custody”) was stolen from the Odessa Museum of Western and Eastern Art. It is known that she was found last summer. In Germany. With the help of a secret agent.
As it turned out, almost anyone can become a secret agent. The set of recipes is simple - for example, to be in in the right place and in right time; meeting with an old friend - remember, I helped you, now you take part - we have a dead end, a painting of great value has been stolen, all hope is on you, help me find it.
Why me? I have no experience, no money...
So you’ve been interested in art for a long time and deeply, with a legend thought out in detail and we’ll provide you with money for entertainment, no question, but we need a middle-aged man of undeniably respectable appearance. You look just right, you look convincing, trust my experience. And the person in our case is not exposed, no one will suspect.
This or approximately the same conversation took place with an old friend of mine, let’s call him A. (There were no objections to the publication, but I promised not to name specific names. I won’t).
How to become a millionaire
Everyone has their own idea of what an American millionaire looks like, but a type, something like an identikit, can nevertheless be created. Imposing, self-confident, calm in appearance, impenetrable in his gaze, he does not lose composure under any circumstances, even if momentary troubles are not at all pleasing, in a word, he is the master of life even in moments of strong mental turmoil.
The Cold War continues inside Germany; German artists in the western part of the country reject everything that is being done by their eastern colleagues. The Frankfurt Stadel Museum was very lucky at the end of December last year - the spouses Barbara and Eduard Boukamp donated to the museum unique picture famous master Baroque era Giovanni Guercino "Madonna and Child", dated approximately 1621.
A. corresponded 100% to these and others, if anyone had any, signs. I myself once teased him about being an American millionaire, in a good way this phrase, of course.
Now A. had to work with this image, given by nature, take risks for the sake of a common cause and get used to the image of an American millionaire collector, prone to adventurous acquisitions. Which a real man will he refuse?
For some time, A. was given a new name, thoughtful information was posted on the Internet, he became the owner of an office in big city USA (staff responded clearly to phone calls criminals looking for a market, checking the accuracy of information on the Internet), a collector of rare works of art, everything is clear, a mosquito will not undermine your nose.
Roman holiday
In Rome, A. underwent art history training for a whole week so that the original Caravaggio would not be confused with a fake. Well, the color exactly the same red as Caravaggio’s is not reproduced by copyists, because it has a special component, the secret of the mixture has been lost, and now it is almost impossible to reproduce the paint.
But special lamps, under certain lighting, determine the presence or absence of a compound instantly.
The good Romans replenished the equipment of the “millionaire, a lover of painting,” with research glasses and portable light bulbs for them. At the same time they said that in Italy record number museum robberies. And their detection rate is record high.
How many masterpieces of old masters do you have in Ukraine? - asked the Italian professionals.
Well, somewhere around ten,” answered A.
No, you have eight of them. Total. And we have many, many thousands. They steal about ten a year. Five or six are found, or even all seven. It turns out to be a very high percentage. But if they don’t find one in Ukraine, it will be a 100% defeat.
To prevent the defeat from being so devastating, the Ukrainian pathfinders took almost everything into account; their creative minds worked brilliantly.
So, for A. now it’s easy to distinguish the original Caravaggio from a fake, he began to go to noisy biennales, painting fairs, significant exhibitions, attended significant events, accustoming potential sellers to his imposing persona.
To enhance the resemblance to a wealthy Western collector, ready to replenish the collection at any cost, he was provided with a proper car, a decoy secretary - an employee of the secret services, Brioni suits, a Breguet watch and a ring with a modest diamond of about one hundred and fifty American money, representative props, a traveling art connoisseur would stay exclusively in prestigious hotels, preferably in suites. (He even got a room with a private elevator, he showed me a pen from Steigenberger, I have the same one.)
The criminals were nervous
And A. visited Amsterdam several times; the painting was first sent there, then to Berlin. Complicated story the creation of a masterpiece, the theft of a masterpiece - the geography is twitchy.
Monet did as much for France, its self-description and sense of self, buried within powerful historical currents and impulses, as much as he did for the formation Russian literature and social thought Leo Tolstoy. What literature was for Russia, and music and philosophy for Germany, painting became for France: the main mirror and measure of the national spirit. A metaphor for the social state, finally. Finding and comparing equal-sized figures different cultures, you finally begin to understand the deep similarities and differences, however, sometimes lying on the surface. The French celebrate Monet's 150th anniversary this year, and we... round dates, associated with Anton Chekhov’s birthday in Taganrog and his dying death from Yasnaya Polyana Leo Tolstoy. The flight of Lev Nikolaevich, which happened a hundred years ago, is perceived by us as a metaphysical drama that is still ongoing, influencing the destinies of people.
Why? Yes, there was a scandal between the robbers, I’ll state the essence briefly.
The Odessa theft was ordered by a man, let's call him B. - a Russian art critic who moved to Kyiv on the occasion of his marriage to a Ukrainian beauty, she wanted a lot of money.
So he came up with a plan for the crime; Georgian burglars became the perpetrators. They moved to Kyiv for no reason at all, they were in need there and could not get out of financial difficulties. Art critic B. promised one hundred thousand from the sale of the stolen masterpiece.
A close relative of the art critic settled in Amsterdam many years ago, and the travels of the Odessa “Kiss of Judas” began. But sell a work of art there and to a simple artist It’s not easy to install, let alone an old master’s masterpiece. The Georgian-Ukrainians began to murmur, they demanded that the painting be sent to Germany, where their accomplice was listed as a German citizen and promised to help.
To drag a picture from place to place is to help the investigation. And so it happened. B. is a cool guy, he consulted with a fortune teller about every step. She gave him permission to steal, allowed him to be transported to Amsterdam, but didn’t want to hear about Berlin, not to mention the person of our brave resident. He immediately starts screaming, rolls his eyes, and prophesies misfortunes.
But it turned out that the combined forces of the Ukrainian secret and German criminal police successfully completed the operation. They cut off other buyers in the bud.
Only on the horizon will the real “rich Pinocchio” appear - they give information in the press that the picture has already been found. The buyer immediately becomes a mirage in the desert, disappears into thin air, as if he never existed.
One A., a decoy, remained a loyal client, and they decided to sell to him and Caravaggio. (After four exhausting meetings, the sound was carefully written onto the chip, like in a movie, have you seen? Like this. They tell me here:
How come they didn’t suspect it?
It’s unbearable! Need money now! - just like if a drug addict is going through withdrawal, he doesn’t have time to be careful. Something like “oh, it wasn’t, those who don’t take risks, then...” - and further in the text, probably).
One deviation from Hollywood scenarios: on the eve of the purchase, A. suffered a serious attack and woke up in a hospital bed. The thieves of the masterpiece entered the clinic with tentacles - they wondered if the disease was real. Real.
Mission Possible
This happened last year, I remind you. Exactly on June 22, German doctors decided to operate on poor fellow A. Then he rebelled, rebelled: “I won’t give in to the Germans on June 22!” he declared.
He suggested that the illness be calmed down for a while and that medication be used. “And they will cut me at home. There I can talk to the doctors, and personal acquaintance is reassuring.”
They dressed and argued for a long time, the seller’s representatives were confused... conferring... finally decided: the painting would be handed over to the “millionaire’s” assistant, a decoy - the secretary, therefore. The criminals are already desperate to get money, after all, they agreed with an underground collector for 30 million! (insurance value is 100 million, they started the auction at fifty, twenty million A. easily knocked it down, he knows how to do it).
The German police caught many of them red-handed and tied them up on the spot. But not everyone. Art critic B. is still at large. It’s quite possible that he’s up to no good again.
So, look around, be vigilant.
The criminal is also not asleep.
Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi comprehended in his art what death is and how a Christian appears in its face, where is the guiding thread that will lead him to salvation.
Baroque art
Caravaggio is a representative of Baroque art, which made death a fact of life. It cannot be separated from violence and suffering. Death and its image took possession of the painter’s feelings and subjugated them. Caravaggio's paintings are often the ecstasy of saints, their prayerful union with God in love and death, their highest pilgrimage in front of her face. This is no longer a quiet and peaceful event, as during the Renaissance. In the Baroque it becomes not a personal, but a public fact, a part of life, inspiring fear and horror. A person not only dies quietly, but is torn out of it by violence or evil fate. Examples of this are Caravaggio’s paintings: “David with the Head of Goliath”, “Sacrifice of Isaac”, “Beheading of John the Baptist”.
Life of Caravaggio
Caravaggio was born into the family of an architect. He early mastered the basics of craftsmanship and studied in Milan with the artist Peterzano. The Lombard school gave the artist a sense of life and the desire to convey it. The artist’s fate was so difficult that his very personality prompted reflection. In search of his path in life and painting, Caravaggio leaves Lombardy and, having visited all the cities of northern Italy, comes to Rome, where he has no patrons. With considerable difficulty, he gains the attention of influential church dignitaries. It is difficult to judge Caravaggio as a man of faith. There is no documentary evidence of this. As a man, he was worried about the prospect of eternity.
Paintings by Caravaggio such as “The Martyrdom of St. Matthew”, “Entombment”, “Salome with the head of John the Baptist” are confirmation of this. The theme of frailty (vanitas) runs through the entire work of the painter from youth until his death.
Milestone work from the Borghese collection, 1591
“Sick Bacchus” is a work that did not appear by chance. The artist became seriously ill, was admitted to the hospital, and then transferred to the basement, where there was no longer any care for him, and he was truly on the verge of death. By chance he was noticed there by a priest who knew Caravaggio. The artist was taken to the wards, provided with care, and he survived.
After recovering in a semi-ill state, he painted the painting “Sick Bacchus”, in which it is believed that he depicted himself while still in a state of illness. This is evidenced by the cold coloring of the picture, and the theme of death is played out by fading leaves in the foreground, which remind the viewer that all life is only temporary. After this, he increasingly includes in his still lifes, which carry a taste of mortality, a reminder not only of life, but of what is directly opposite to it.
Prayer as pilgrimage ecstasy
A person’s initiation into faith occurs, among other things, through prayer. An example of this spiritual feat for believers of the 16th century there was St. Francis of Assisi. "Ecstasy of St. Francis" (1598) for ordinary people was an example of the comprehension of faith. He depicts a prayerful ecstasy equal to death. This is not physical death, but spiritual rebirth, the birth of a man of faith and love. The angel supporting his head holds, in order to later present, the stigmata of St. Francis. But later (1600) we see another saint. Francis, as a poor wanderer, as a pilgrim. He has a rough cassock and a hole in his shoulder. He is worried about what he will appear before God with, so he holds a skull in his hands.
The image of "St. Jerome" (1606) is an example of asceticism, which is instilled in the heights of the spirit through a departure from worldly temptations to cave life. His reward is divine revelation. The artist tries to remind his viewer of this. The still life - a book, a pen - shows that the saint became a conductor of the divine word.
The face of death
IN early years creativity writes traditional work by Caravaggio- “Medusa” (1593-1594) in the form of a round shield. She was very often depicted on wooden shields covered with leather and given to men in significant events their lives.
Without departing from tradition, he depicts Caravaggio’s monster in its death throes. The artist’s jellyfish is not yet dead; its last seconds have arrived. A transitional state is written, when life is still present, but is leaving drop by drop, and Medusa feels it. The face is still alive and screaming, but pallor is already covering it, and life is about to disappear forever. The depiction of Medusa is very naturalistic because one should be frightened by the nightmare of disappearance. And at this time, live snakes sway around her head. This and other rather cruel scenes run through the art of Caravaggio.
Feats of Faith
"Judith and Holofernes" (1595-1596). The story is like this. Holofernes and his army besieged his native Vettulia, where Judith lived. The girl snuck into the commander's tent. The beautiful Judith and Holofernes are feasting. The fearless girl drinks him with wine and cuts off his head. Taking it with her, she returns outside the walls of the city, and the head of Holofernes is displayed on a spear for everyone to see. The army retreats and the people are saved. Caravaggio depicts overt violence.
On the canvas, Judith cuts off her head with disgust and disgust, keeping her distance from him. Caravaggio is one of the first to depict the very moment of this beheading, which is purely physiologically very unpleasant: the eyes pop out of their sockets, Holofernes’ mouth is open, he is screaming. It is believed that the head of Holofernes is a self-portrait.
“David and Goliath” (1596) is very similar to it. In the foreground is the brutally severed head again. This is even more evident in the later work of the same name, when the artist depicted his head being severed by Goliath (1605). With a theatrical gesture, David pushes to the foreground scary head like the face of death.
The same thing was depicted in a work from the Borghese Gallery, where the artist absolutely painted himself (1606). There is a subtle and complex intonation of tragic acceptance of death here. These are Caravaggio's paintings depicting terrifying moments of death.
Last years, wanderings
The motif of death is repeated in his later works, after he was forced to flee Rome because he accidentally killed his opponent during a game and in an argument. The artist was condemned by papal decree. He wanders around Malta from 1606 to 1610, and then dies in Tuscany. It was during these years that he created his most tragic and profound works. He writes several versions of “Salome with the Head of John the Baptist”, “The Beheading of John the Baptist” (1608, Cathedral of San Giovanni, Valletta). These are undoubted masterpieces of Caravaggio, which no one could adequately imitate.
"The Beheading" is a huge work that depicts a common subject. Its unusualness is that we seem to really be standing in a huge deserted courtyard with its colossal arch made of stone. The frankness of what is depicted is emphasized by the fact that the executioner chopped off, but did not yet raise his head. That is, the moment of transition from living to nonliving is repeated again, when the threads of life still connect the body and head. But what is most shocking and tragic about the image is that in the blood that spreads from the body, Caravaggio signs his name. With this blood he unites himself with the sacrificial death of John the Baptist.
Lighting in Caravaggio's paintings
For Caravaggio, light is not just a tool with which he models form, gives volume and plasticity. The artist's light is dramaturgy. It identifies the main components of content and creates it. The artist uses light to highlight certain main points, placing emphasis on them. According to documentary sources from old authors, it is clear that he wrote in a shaded workshop and used artificial lighting.
An unexpected find
Been considered for a long time lost picture Caravaggio "The Kiss of Judas". In Dublin in 1990, St. Ignatius's monastery approached the National Gallery of Ireland. The monks needed restoration of a painting that they had had since the 30s of the 20th century.
The restorer immediately understood who the author of this masterpiece, which was known only from copies, was. The artist created it by order of his regular customer Mattei. His descendants then considered the painting a copy and sold it in 1802 to Scotland, where it remained until 1921 and was resold to Ireland pediatrician. Then it was donated to the monastery, where it hung in the refectory. After restoration, the painting remained on permanent loan at the National Gallery. The plot is based on the Gospel text. Judas kisses the Savior as he emerges from the Garden of Gethsemane to indicate to the guards who should be arrested.
Biblical stories: The Kiss of Judas through the eyes of artists
Judas Iscariot. This biblical name and the story associated with it have become a symbol of betrayal. Thirty pieces of silver, for which Judas agreed to tell about Jesus, is payment for this betrayal. All biblical stories have been inspiring representatives for two thousand years different types art. The story of Judas, along with others, often appears on the canvases of artists.
History of the painting Caravaggio"The Kiss of Judas" is amazing in itself. The master painted it by order of Chiriaco Mattei in 1602. However, two centuries later the work disappeared. It was discovered quite recently, when in 1990 the painting was identified by the chief restorer National Gallery Ireland Sergio Benedetti. For a long time Caravgio's painting hung in the Society of Jesus, Dublin. It was considered a copy of a painting by the Dutch painter Gerard van Honthorst. The work is now in the National Gallery of Ireland.
An Italian artist, one of the the most prominent representatives Siena school Duccio di Buoninsegna. Main job The altar image of the Siena Cathedral "Maesta" is considered to be the master's. Its creation dates back to the beginning of the 14th century.
The betrayal of Jesus' disciple was included in the series of works "Great Passions" Albrecht Durer. On the engraving German painter and graphics we see how the Savior is taken into custody. Judas sits and stretches out next to him. There is suffering and pain on the face of Jesus, while the traitor nervously and hastily tries to explain himself to the teacher.
In the Prado Museum in Madrid there is “The Kiss of Judas”, written by a representative of the Neapolitan school Giordano Luca. The traitor gazes desperately into the face of Jesus. But the eyes of the son of God are closed, his head is turned, his hand reaches to his heart.
On the fresco Giotto Di Bondone drama unfolds. Illustrating biblical story, the author uses all means artistic expression to emphasize the significance and greatness of Christ and contrast him with the ugliness and meanness of Judas. The artist confronts the high and the low, morality and its absence. The calm and confident gaze of Jesus meets the repulsive and unpleasant eyes of the traitor. Giotto enlivens the composition by surrounding the teacher and student, frozen in tension. Staticity and concentration in the center contrasts with the dynamics around.
After crying in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ descends from the mountain and at this time the guards appear, and with them Judas Iscariot. He told the guards, “Whoever I kiss is Jesus.” Judas kissed Jesus, betraying him, after which Jesus Christ was arrested. For this Judas received 30 pieces of silver.
In Russian culture :
Precedent situation Betrayal of Judas.
Judas- symbol of betrayal ( For example : You are a real Judas, you deceived and betrayed me).
Thirty pieces of silver– situation attribute ( Why did you decide to go over to the side of my enemies? For 30 pieces of silver? Did they pay you?).
Hang on an aspen tree- an attribute of the situation (according to legend, Judas, after the betrayal of Jesus Christ, hanged himself on an aspen tree.
Kiss of Judas– Judas betrays Jesus Christ to the guards, kissing him on the cheek so that they understand that this is Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Peter, as Jesus Christ predicted in the Last Supper, also denied Jesus three times even before the first rooster, saying that he did not know him (A.P. Chekhov in the story “The Student” compares the act of his student hero with the act of Peter, who repents of having betrayed his teacher) (Chekhov “Student”).
ICON"The Last Supper, Washing of the Feet, Prayer for the Cup, Tradition Judas"Double-sided icon-tablet Late XV - early XVI centuries. 24 = 19.5 cm Novgorod.
Nikolay Ge. Conscience. Judas. (1891 ).
Nikolay Ge. "Conscience. Judas" (1891). Judas here is no longer the same as in the work “The Last Supper” of 1863. Pitiful, as if diminished, he stands on the road and watches as the guards take away the One Whom he betrayed. At first Ge thought about how to convey the face of Judas, and then decided to show him from the back. Here is what the artist himself said about this: “The face of Judas is not important (...) It is impossible to understand Judas if his crime is not before us, the meaning of which for him is moving away from the Ideal.”
M. Caravaggio. Taking Christ into custody (kissing Judas)
circa 1598, Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland
Christ on trial before Pontius Pilate (“Behold the man”).
The guards arrested Jesus, who was feared by the Old Testament priests and King Herod of Judea, and brought him to trial before Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator (governor) in Judea. Pontius Pilate talked with Jesus for a long time, and then said that Jesus was not guilty of anything and wanted to let him go. But the high priests raised up the people against Jesus and began to demand that he be crucified in shame. wooden cross along with two robbers. Pontius Pilate said famous phrase: “I am not guilty of the blood of this righteous man” and sent him to be crucified.
Nikolay Ge."What is truth?" Christ and Pilate
Bright sunlight illuminates the figure of the Roman procurator in Jude e e P O ntia Peel A ta. Pilate asks questions of Jesus. Christ, exhausted by torture, stands with his hands tied against the wall - the artist raises the historical theme of the lack of rights of the people before the authorities. The color of the picture is based on the contrast of dark and bright spots. The unpleasant figure of the judge, Pontius Pilate, is highlighted in bright colors, but all the sympathies of the audience are on the side of the suffering, but not broken Jesus. The artist emphasizes the superiority of the rejected individual over the authorities (the theme of people and power, relevant for the end of the 19th century).
However, the Bible tells the story of the trial of Jesus Christ differently. According to the Gospel of John, it was Pontius Pilate who at the trial recognized the innocence of Jesus Christ, calling Him not the self-proclaimed king of the Jews and not a man who considers himself God, as He was accused of, but simply a man. At the trial, Pontius Pilate uttered the famous phrase: “ This man » - « This is a man" ("Here is a man" ), in Latin - Ecce Homo. It was with these words that the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, showed the people of Jerusalem Jesus Christ, weak and beaten, dressed in scarlet and crowned with a crown of thorns (crown of suffering), wanting to arouse the compassion of the crowd for him.
On this day, Good Friday, Jesus Christ was crucified.
In world art, this biblical story is being actively developed, where it was important to show the suffering of Jesus Christ as a person. In particular, in Caravaggio’s painting, which is called “Behold the Man.”
« This is the man" Caravaggio , OK. 1605, Palazzo Rosso , Genoa
Jesus is depicted suffering, wearing a crown of thorns, digging into his skin with thorns, bloodied after scourging, in his hands a scepter (here a cane stick), on his shoulders a purple robe (royal symbols). The scene features Pontius Pilate pointing to Jesus Christ and saying the phrase “Behold the man.” His hands are folded like a cross, tied with rope. The expression of Christ's face was a problem for artists - they sought to convey his clinging to his enemies (in the Early Renaissance he could cry). Caravaggio shows His resignation to fate, loneliness, suffering, but also strength of will.
"Kiss of Judas"- a painting by Caravaggio, the original of which is in Dublin, and the repetition was the subject high-profile theft from the Odessa Museum.
Plot
The plot of the film is based on the messages of the evangelists about last days earthly life of Jesus Christ. Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' disciples, betrayed him by revealing his whereabouts and pointing him out to the guards when Christ was leaving the Garden of Gethsemane.
Story
The painting was created by the artist at the request of his regular client Chiriaco Mattei. The painting was believed to have disappeared in the 18th century. In 1990, the lost masterpiece was identified by National Gallery of Ireland chief conservator Sergio Benedetti in a painting hanging in the Society of Jesus in Dublin. The discovery was published in 1993. Benedetti identified the painting and cleaned it up.
The painting, which hung in the Jesuit refectory since the early 1930s, was long believed to be a copy of a lost original by Gerard van Honthorst, one of the Dutch Caravaggists. With this attribution she came from the legacy of the Mattei family, who sold her as Honthorst in 1802 to William Hamilton Nisbet, in whose Scottish house she remained until 1921. She was then sold to Irish pediatrician Maria Leigh-Wilson, who donated her in the 1930s (probably 1934) to the Dublin Jesuits in gratitude for their support following the murder of her husband Captain Percival Leigh-Wilson by the Irish Republican Army in 1920.
IN present moment The Jesuits provided the painting to the gallery on perpetual loan.
Repetition in Odessa
The Odessa painting required restoration after its return
The painting “The Kiss of Judas” was stolen from the Odessa Museum of Western European and Oriental Art on July 30, 2008. For a long time it was considered an author’s repetition or even an original (with which the Dublin Museum did not agree).
It was discovered in Berlin. On July 25, 2010, the German Federal Criminal Police detained 4 members of an international gang (1 Russian and 3 Ukrainians). About 20 more possible accomplices of the theft were arrested in Ukraine. The canvas was found when thieves tried to transfer the purchase to an underground collector. The crime was solved thanks to the introduction of a “millionaire” straw buyer.
In 2012, the Ukrainian museum agreed that the Odessa “Kiss of Judas” is not the author’s repetition of the Dublin painting. Ukrainian experts announced that now, after research, they agree with this fact, which representatives of the Irish museum had previously insisted on. Tatyana Bychko, deputy director of the National Research Center for Restoration, in whose department the painting is now located, told reporters that they had to go to the Hermitage to establish the truth. The St. Petersburg Museum, which has its own original of the great Italian (the famous “Lute Player”), in 1954 was engaged in the restoration of “The Kiss of Judas” in Grabar’s workshops and confirmed this assumption. Most likely, the picture was painted Italian artist Giovanni di Atilli 10 years after the death of Caravaggio. I ordered it brother Chiriaco Mattei, owner of the original, Asdrubal Mattei (the fact that such work was done is evidenced by the entries in his
