A woman, draped in a loose white robe, leans back, eyes almost closed, mouth slightly parted, a single teardrop escapes her eye. Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy바카라a rare, once-lost canvas by the 17th-century Italian Baroque master Caravaggio바카라was on view for the first time in India.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, born in Milan in 1571, was a disruptive force in European art. Rejecting the polished elegance of late Renaissance mannerism, his figures바카라biblical, mythological, or otherwise바카라were drawn from the street: common people with dirty fingernails, tensed muscles, and unidealised skin. His use of chiaroscuro바카라the violent interplay of darkness and light바카라brought Baroque art바카라s visceral theatricality to his canvas. As critics have long noted, Caravaggio바카라s work is intensely emotional, fluid, and turbulent.
His life mirrored his work. In 1606, after killing a man in a tavern brawl, Caravaggio fled Rome under threat of execution. It was during this exile, cut off from patrons and estranged from the city, that he painted Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy. Unlike earlier depictions that showed the saint ascending amidst angelic choirs, Caravaggio바카라s Magdalene sits alone in shadow, her face tilted upwards in an ambiguous rapture. Her isolation mirrors the artist바카라s own.
On 12 April 2025, the painting made its way to New Delhi, where it was jointly unveiled by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) and the Italian Embassy Cultural Centre(IECC). The timing바카라coinciding with a state visit by Italy바카라s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani바카라underscored a deeper diplomatic subtext: the symbolic use of culture as soft power in strengthening bilateral ties between Rome and New Delhi.
Tajani opened the preview by emphasising art바카라s power to transcend borders and foster mutual understanding. 바카라In sharing this masterpiece,바카라 he said, 바카라we are strengthening the bonds between our nations.바카라 Roobina Karode, KNMA바카라s director and chief curator, described the moment as 바카라a rare opportunity for Indian audiences to engage directly with Caravaggio바카라s vision.바카라 Museum founder Kiran Nadar admitted she was moved to tears. 바카라The expression on her face, the intensity of emotion바카라I felt it through the canvas,바카라 she said.
The painting is striking and emotive. But it also invites a pause: what does it mean to present the grandeur of European art history in contemporary India, still negotiating the aftershocks of its colonial past? Can such an exchange be disentangled from the global hierarchies that shape which artworks are circulated, and which remain peripheral?
None of these questions undermine the poignancy of the moment바카라the power of standing before a Caravaggio in India is undeniable. But it does invite a more layered reading. Art, like diplomacy, rarely moves without consequence. And in this case, the masterpiece from Rome tells not just a story of emotion and light, but also one of power, privilege, and the continuing challenge of whose stories get to be told바카라and revered바카라on the world stage.
While Caravaggio바카라s work was at the centre of dialogue, it was not the only piece on view at the embassy. Opposite the Magdalene hung How Can You Sleep Tonight (1937) by Gulammohammed Sheikh, a founding member of the artist collective Group 1890. Sheikh is no stranger to themes of estrangement, displacement and turbulence, known for works like Riot (1973) and Speechless City (1975), inspired in the wake of the 1975 Emergency, his work engages directly with the psychic toll of political rupture. His style바카라narrative figuration infused with myth, memory, and ideology has long sought to make sense of both collective trauma and isolation.
Karode notes that Sheikh바카라s generation of Indian modernists viewed oil painting not merely as a technique but as a dialogue with European art. 바카라Sheikh even got his start in Italy, there바카라s a kind of return happening here.바카라 She said.
That idea of return took another form just outside the exhibition room. Mounted on the back wall where Tajani had spoken was Claire Fontaine바카라s neon installation Foreigners Everywhere / Stranieri Ovunque (2004바카라2024). In glowing orange multilingual text, the phrase lit up the space. 바카라Wherever you go, you will always encounter foreigners바카라and at the same time, you are always, in some way, a foreigner yourself,바카라 said Andrea Anastasio, director of the IECC.
Originally conceived in Paris, the Italian-British duo바카라s work has travelled across cities and contexts. Its Delhi iteration바카라unveiled during India Art Fair 2025바카라 reflected themes of queerness, exile, and outsiderdom.
In the Indian context, however, this piece raises questions about the nature of cultural exchange, where race, caste and class all impact the distinctions between insiders and outsiders. The phrase stranieri ovunque바카라foreigners everywhere바카라flashes in the midst of a diplomatic gesture that, in many ways, upholds old hierarchies that privilege European art.
Caravaggio바카라s Magdalene, Sheikh바카라s politically charged dreamscape, and Fontaine바카라s glowing provocation form a triptych of estrangement and belonging. They gesture toward exile, mystery, and the effort to carry one's visual language across new terrain. They offer a dialogue across space, time, and cultures. But they also carry a shared reflection: how do we navigate the complex terrain of cultural exchange, where power, privilege, and legacy often shape the conversation?
The Magdalene does not offer answers. She remains suspended in grief, pleasure, or perhaps both. What endures is not clarity, but resonance: the persistence of images that move across borders, finding new meanings in unfamiliar rooms.
( Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy will be on display at KNMA Saket from 18 April to 18 May. Sheikh바카라s How Can You Sleep Tonight has been on view since 6 February and runs through 30 June)
