PAST EVENTS
CARAVAGGIO: FASHION AND FABRICS
The Sir Denis Mahon Foundation
Museum of the Order of St. John
3 October 2016 – 31 January 2017
The exhibition focused on fabrics in use during Caravaggio’s lifetime (1571-1610), with a spotlight on the painting by Caravaggio, The Cardsharps (1594), which the Sir Denis Mahon Foundation loaned to the exhibition, and which Sir Denis Mahon identified as being by the artist in 2006.
The curators, Francesco Gonzales and Flavia Fiori, selected a variety of textiles and religious vestments from the collections of the Diocese of Novara and the Rubelli Museum in Venice, which were woven into the context of the exhibition, allowing a comparison with the textures and colours of the elaborate costumes of the three protagonists in The Cardsharps, and other paintings by Caravaggio, and a rare opportunity to view contemporary fashions in Northern Italy of the late 16th and early 17th Centuries.
Not only was Caravaggio able to highlight the social status of the three characters simply by their designated costumes but we are left in no doubt as to who is the innocent victim, dressed soberly in a black-crimson silk velvet sagum (doublet) with lace collar and who are the two swindlers, without even taking into account their devious actions ; both dressed in ornate giubboni (short jackets), one dressed strikingly in the foreground like a pavone (peacock), and the other behind in intricately patterned but dishevelled clothing.
Such was Caravaggio’s minute attention to detail and acute observation of his surrounding daily life that his paintings, such as The Cardsharps, can be assessed as historical documents and an invaluable catalogue of textiles and fashions of his time, such as woollen felt, silk, damask, lace, lampas and velvet, for art historians and textile and fashion historians to research with extraordinary accuracy.
CARAVAGGIO: FASHION AND FABRICS PHOTOGRAPHS
RESOURCES
CARAVAGGIO: FASHION AND FABRICS SHOP
“CARAVAGGIO: FASHION AND FABRICS” CATALOGUE
“CARAVAGGIO, THE CARDSHARPS” TOTE BAG – LONG HANDLE
“CARAVAGGIO, THE CARDSHARPS” TOTE BAG – SHORT HANDLE
CARAVAGGIO, THE CARDSHARPS, OYSTER CARD WALLET
CARAVAGGIO: FASHION AND FABRICS
ALL PAST EVENTS
TIME {?} AND ETERNAL LIFE
5 October – 20 December 2020
The exhibition spans over five millennia, exploring the concept of time and of Eternal life from Antiquity to the Modern Era. This immense period is divided into three chapters, each a chronological step forward.
WILLIAM BLAKE AT FLAT TIME HOUSE
30 January - 8 March 2020
Organised by Flat Time House in partnership with the Sir Denis Mahon Foundation, and curated by Chris McCabe and Magnus Rena, the exhibition gave a unique opportunity to view Blake’s work in the domestic environment of John Latham’s home.
LUCRETIA CANTATA AT THE BOWES MUSEUM
13 November 2019
The Sir Denis Mahon Foundation was delighted to support The Bowes Museum on the occasion of their exhibition, The Power and the Virtue : Guido Reni’s Death of Lucretia (26 October 2019 – 20 January 2020), which highlights the theme of female beauty in Reni’s painting, particularly the depiction of devotional and legendary heroines such as Cleopatra, Saint Catherine, Saint Mary Magdalene, and specifically the suicide of Lucretia Romana.
VISIONARIES AND THE ART OF PERFORMANCE
28 June - 14 July 2019
Through the work of several artists, the exhibition suggests that visionary qualities are not exclusive to one period or personality, but they are enduring characteristics of artistic creativity.
VISIONS & VISIONARIES
11 December 2018 - 30 April 2019
They made the “visionary” into a poetic manifesto, the germ of an idea that is still relevant in the contemporary world with artists such as Geoffrey Fletcher, John Latham, Grayson Perry, or in art movements like Technomedioevo.
TECHNO MEDIOEVO STUDY DAY
14 June 2018
The Sir Denis Mahon Foundation and Museum of the Order of St John hosted a study day to explore The Language and Meaning of Time in Art & Science. The study day took place following a recent exhibition.
TECHNO MEDIOEVO: AGE OF FUTURE RELOADED
1 March - 16 June 2018
What would the past have been like in the Middle Ages if the future had happened before?
BICE VISCONTI: THE REASSEMBLED PAPERS: DRAWINGS AND SKETCHBOOKS FROM THE GREAT WAR
1 October – 20 November 2017
The exhibition was held during the events in remembrance of the Great War and presented part of the graphic corpus of works by the artist, Bice Visconti (1883-1962), who enrolled as a volunteer in the Italian Red Cross in 1915, working in a field hospital where she recorded moments in the lives of soldiers and medical personnel.
CARAVAGGIO: FASHION AND FABRICS
3 October 2016 – 31 January 2017
This exhibition put a spotlight on the fabrics used during Caravaggio's time, with a focus on Caravaggio's painting, The Cardsharps (1594), which was loaned to the museum by the Sir Denis Mahon Foundation. It also provided the opportunity to view ancient textiles and religious vestments from the collections of the Diocese of Novara and the Rubelli Museum in Venice.