Meraviglia & Stupore | Caravaggio – Bernini. Baroque in Rome

Teacher or professor: Rijksmuseum
Subject: Arts
Content of the Lesson: Caravaggio’s Narcissus spies his reflection in the water and is unable to tear his gaze from the wonder of his own beauty. From the Renaissance on this story was interpreted as the mythical birth of art. For to look at art is to experience that spark of wonder, meraviglia. Artists working around 1600 thus sought above all to evoke a sense of wonder and amazement (stupore) in their viewers. The influential poet Giambattista Marino (1569-1625) forcefully articulated this artistic objective in a verse of 1619: The aim of the poet is to arouse wonder (I speak of the excellent, not the ridiculous): Let him who cannot arouse wonder go work in the stables! 'Caravaggio-Bernini. Baroque in Rome' (14 February to 7 June 2020) is an exhibition of more than 70 masterpieces by Caravaggio, Bernini and their contemporaries. The paintings and sculptures are on loan to the Rijksmuseum from museums and private collections around the world. www.rijksmuseum.nl/caravaggio-bernini The Caravaggio-Bernini. Baroque in Rome exhibition is made possible in part by Ammodo, ING, Kvadrat, Rijks Patrons and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.


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