The Culture Enthusiast: March 2013

On the highway to hell: The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis

Books 5:06 PM

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The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio

Art 4:14 PM

A little bit of history

Date: 1602

Located in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.

Caravaggio’s painting is a vivid portrait of one of the first scenes of Christ’s Passion. It depicts the moment when Judas betrays Jesus by pointing Him out to the Pharisees’ soldiers with a kiss.

Saint John (the figure on the left) runs away from the scene in utter fright. Christ is motionless, sad but dignified, in the middle of an agitated, moving crowd.

This painting has a rather funny story.

Everybody thought it was lost.

It had actually been with the Jesuit priests in Dublin - in their dining room! - for over 60 years. They didn't have the slightest clue that it was a real Caravaggio.

It was only discovered and recognized when the priests called a specialist from Dublin’s National Gallery to look at other paintings they had.

A little bit of technique

What attracts people to Caravaggio’s paintings is at the same time what’s make people dismiss them: his realism awes and repels. It puts us right into a scene and then makes it unbearable.

It is as if, at any moment, the crowd will proceed to our left, taking Christ away, and in a fleeting moment the canvas will be empty.

I understand the complaints that Caravaggio can lose sight of the sacred sometimes but I don't think this happens in this painting.

I like the proximity between the guard’s cruel hand in Christ’s throat, which anticipates all the brutality and violence of the Passion, and Judas’ lips, which in a gesture of love and friendship betray and deceive.

The shiny black armors also call my attention, looking strangely modern and menacing.

A little bit of enthusiasm
Easter is fast approaching and art offers so much material for meditation. This painting in particular is no exception.

For starters, it is said that the men on the right is a self-portrait of Caravaggio. Why paint himself on the scene where Christ is captured? It reminds me of Mel Gibson who is the hand that nails Christ to his Cross.

It’s no secret that despite his highly spiritual paintings, Caravaggio was a wretched bar brawler, dying at the age of 38 under mysterious circumstances. Everybody is surprised at this, but how can a man who paints with such vigor, drama and emotion not be a brawler?

And that's just the thing: our hearts are just as inconstant and paradoxical as Caravaggio’s life. They are a battle ground where we can easily lose perspective on everything.

Look at Saint John running away. He was the disciple Jesus loved the most.

This is why I like Caravaggio’s paintings. They pull me closer. Sort of an antidote to indifference towards Christ's suffering.

Caravaggio grabs us by the collar, puts us right next to him and acts as a wakeup call, urging for a mindset proper for Easter

What do you think about Caravaggio's realistic style?

Image via Wikipedia

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1 year anniversary speech

Uncategorized 9:13 AM

Yesterday my little blog turned one!

I might be exaggerating, but I think that calls for a celebration. So, as you read, imagine I’m spraying you with champagne, the way those pilots do after they win a Formula 1 race.

This could be the imaginary champagne talking, but I want to thank everybody for reading and supporting the blog. Your comments make my day and I’m thrilled to find other people that share my passion for culture.

***

You know, in January I was reading this article about a New Year’s detox diet

I used to be a big fan of detox diets. Just like the Cat Woman in that disapointing Batman movie, I would really like to clean the slate: she committed one too many crimes, I ate one too many ice cream sandwiches.

So, I decided to go on the New Year’s detox diet. I bought everything: kale, collard greens, apples, bananas, parsley... And that was all for one smoothie.

When I was almost dying drinking that, it hit me.

This diet takes a gigantic amount of will power and energy. And what for? Wouldn’t it be much more rewarding to go to all that trouble to detox my mind? I’m the Culture Enthusiast, after all. I ought to go on a cultural detox too.

And so I did.

My cultural diet, just like my regular diet of potato chips and coke, was unhealthy. I knew I had hit rock bottom when I memorized a Justin Bieber song (show you off…).

In my defense, I didn’t memorize it on purpose. It’s just that I listened to it over and over in stores, at the gym and pretty much everywhere. But still... Justing Bieber didn’t put a gun to my head and made me watch reality shows. I was the one spending hours consuming mind numbing, brain cell killing cultural material.

So, I got back on track. I picked up the dusty copy of Guy the Maupassant’s short stories. Did a little research on classical music and finally discovered the name of a composer I long loved. Revisited some of my childhood favorite movies.

In the beginning it took a lot of effort, but it was worth it. Much more worth it than drinking kale.

Because it's much easier to go back to a healthy diet than it is going back to a healthy cultural diet. I don't want to sound drastic, but once you get used to a diet of cultural junk, there’s no telling you’ll ever come back.

I’m laughing right now, but it's dangerous exposing yourself to certain things inadvertently.

The other day I saw that actress from Harry Potter saying she was watching a lot of reality shows to prepare for a movie.

She said: "I was doing an English course [at Brown University]. So I would go from reading Virginia Woolf to [watching] Kim Kardashian. I kind of loved it, this mix of super-high and super-low culture. I think it was a nice balance."

While I can totally relate to what's she is saying, I don't think it's a "nice balance", I think it’s risky business. It's not like math, where you can mix a high number with a low number and get an average number.

I see it as Kim Kardarshian pulling you from one end and Virginia Woolf from the other, as if they were participants of a Tug of War game where you are the rope and the prize is your mind.

Since it takes much less effort to go to Kim’s side, you might find yourself one day spending hours and hours with Kim and never wanting to visit Virginia ever again.

As they say, a mind’s is a terrible thing to waste. Cultivating good cultural habits involves effort, but it’s what feeds your intelligence and soul.

And that’s why I like writing for this blog. It's when I remember I have to educate myself because no one is going to that for me. It's an extra motivation to turn off the Tv and open a book. It's an encouragement to think and talk about things that I like and that really, really matter. Unlike my New Year’s detox diet.