America's Caravaggio Fever

AOA NEWS
By Tahlib

"The Sacrifice of Isaac" (1590-1610) by Caravaggio;
Oil on canvas, on display at Kimbell Art Museum

America is caught up in Caravaggio fever this year. There is a major exhibition at the Columbus Museum of Art in Ohio and also at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. For those who think those museums are too far to visit, you can still watch this summer's PBS series on artists produced by Thirteen/WNET, and now there is a new biography by Andrew Dixon-Graham which in novel-like style tells how this original "master of light" became a favorite of priests, patrons and prostitutes. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) died during an attempt to escape from pursuers at the age of 38 years of age.