Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio’s reputation in Western Art has acquired mythical proportions. This weekend, one of his masterpieces, Magdalene in Ecstasy, at the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum in Byculla will form the centrepiece of the conversation around this Italian Master’s life and works in the lecture, Caravaggio: Light in Darkness, by art critic, Girish Shahane.

The lecture will trace Caravaggio’s rise in Western Art as one of the most influential artists, his violent disposition and the eventual decline of his reputation among peers. Through the lens of his works, the talk will delve into the rise of Baroque, and the imitators and rivals of Caravaggio who furthered the movement. The event will also feature the catalogue presentation of the exhibition,  L’invenzione della luce — The Invention of Light: Caravaggio’s Magdalene in Ecstasy.