'The Fortune Teller' by Caravaggio
If you’re in or around Louisville, Kentucky, get down to Speed Art Museum by June 5th.
The museum, in association with the Foundation for Italian Art and Culture, has brought to the US a few paintings by the Italian master Caravaggio.
These pieces are rarely seen outside of Italy, so it’s quite a treat. Especially exciting is his masterpiece entitled The Fortune Teller, created in 1595.
On loan from the Capitoline Museum and Picture Gallery in Rome, it depicts a young woman reading the palm of a foppish young man, while surreptitiously slipping a gold ring off his finger.
It looks like there’s been unscrupulous types in this business for some time now.
Though it might portray the worst of the trade, it’s a gorgeous painting and well worth seeing in person.
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And if you’re interested in themes of fortune-telling in art, you might want to check out Mary K. Greer’s webinars, Cartomancers in Western Art, Part 1 and 2 (available for download), or cruise around her website. She’s done a lot of incredible work on the subject.
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