SONG OF SONGS
A musical interlude in which the spirit of the subject expressed in an idyllic landscape is like an hymn to sleep and to serenity. Rest during the flight from Egypt (Rome, Doria-Pamphili Gallery) is a rare example of Caravaggio using a musical element in a sacred composition. The canvas is dated 1596–1597.
Identified also by Camiz and Ziino, the musical text carried by Joseph and played by the angel violinist is a Marian motet by the Fleming Noël Bauldewijn on the Song of Songs. This choice reinforces the attention given by the painter to the theme of the sleeping Child and the protection of Mary.
An hymn to the Mother, to her divine comfort, the painting produces a real feeling of harmony which lulls one’s attention. Never in Caravaggio’s work was recourse to a musical element so intensely allusive as this.
Underlying this pictorial poetry, the presence of music produces a complete reconciliation. It makes audible the dreams of the drowsy and turns the subject depicted into a “waking dream”. Are not the angel musician and his accomplice Joseph a living music stand, the internal vision of Mary a miraculous vision
which is revealed to us thanks to the magic allowed by the painter’s brushes? The elegiacal plenitude which is emitted by the canvas realises the fusion of the arts to which the painting testifies. Poetry, painting and music agree. Their harmonised function creates a source of wonder. The presence of the score, a synechdoche in the work, enriches perception. Certainly a documentary, the choice of the melody and the reference to the Song of Songs, sublime homage to the Virgin, reinforce the poetic impact of the canvas. |
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