Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Consulate General of Italy in Mumbai, Istituto Italiano di Cultura di Mumbai present the catalogue of the exhibition L’invenzione della luce–the invention of light: Caravaggio’s Magdalene in Ecstasy, followed by “Caravaggio: Light in darkness”, a public lecture by Girish Shahane.
Girish Shahane traces Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s rise to becoming the most influential artist of his era, the violent disposition which shadowed his life, the decline in reputation following his death, and the dramatic rebound in popularity in recent decades. He discusses the split in Christianity that led to the rise of the baroque style, and the rivals and imitators of Caravaggio who worked in that form. The artist’s depictions of boys, men and women provide a take-off point for an account of gay subcultures and women’s rights in seventeenth century Rome. Pointing to citations of Caravaggio in literature, video and film, Shahane suggests these have proliferated because Caravaggio’s paintings feel more contemporary than those of his peers and predecessors.
Girish Shahane is an independent writer and curator based in Mumbai. A Rhodes Scholar, he holds degrees in English Literature from Elphinstone College, University of Bombay, and Oxford University. He has served as Editor and Consulting Editor of Art India magazine and has written columns for Time Out, Scroll.in and Mint Lounge. He has been Director of the Skoda Prize for Indian Contemporary Art, Artistic Director of Art Chennai, and Artistic Director of the India Art Fair. Recent exhibitions curated by him include A Bold Step Sideways (Delhi, August 2024), Gaitonde / Souza (Mumbai, November 2024), Dhruvi Acharya: The Journey is Home (Hampi Art Labs, Jun 2025), and a retrospective of Naina Dalal’s paintings, drawings and prints that just concluded at NGMA, Mumbai.
The exhibition, curated by Andrea Anastasio and Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, is on view till 2nd November.
Venue: Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai
Date: 31 October 2025
Timings: Tea/Coffee at 5:30 p.m. | Lecture at 6:00 p.m
Register here
Museum entry tickets applicable