CARAVAGGIO, THE MAN

"Caravaggio, the Man" by Alberto Macchi, the first theatrical text in the world about the painter's life. The play "L'Uomo Caravaggio" by Alberto Macchi was performed not only in Italy but also in various European countries, in different langages.

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KONTYNENT WARSZAWA Theatrical performance by Alberto Macchi and the Italian Theatrical Group “Esperiente” from Warsaw The performance “L’uomo Caravaggio” (The Man Caravaggio) took place in Warsaw to commemorate 400th death anniversary of the painter from Milan. Although the play was performed in Italian, it attracted a wide Polish-Italian audience. The splendour was added to this evening by the presence of Aldo Mantovani, the Italian Ambassador to Poland, with his wife; Paola Ciccolella, the director of the Italian Institute of Culture in Warsaw; Alicja Wolska, an actress, and many other representatives of cultural circles. “Esperiente” was formed in Warsaw on the initiative of the Association of Italians in Warsaw in Poland. It consists of artists from Italy, Poland, Russia and Romania, and is open for people of all nationalities. Alberto Macchi, the author of the play and its director, said: ‘The performance had its premiere at the Teatro Centrale in Italy in 1992 but over the course of years it was worked on. The painter’s life is an inspiration for showing a story of a man in all his psychological complexity. That’s why I decided to give it a title “The Man Caravaggio”, just as I entitled my book published by AETAS in Rome in 1995, written in liaison with professor Mina Gregori and opened with a foreword by professor Stefania Macioce. In the performance I also wanted to focus more on a man than a painter. A man who abhorred stupidity, which often led to being isolated „only in the company of his loneliness”. The artistic circles of that time described him as “more of a ruffian than a painter”. However, he wasn’t a man apt to violence or an “accursed painter”: his outburst were usually a reaction to the aggression of others. The themes presented in his paintings weren’t deprived of holiness – quite the contrary, he sanctified what was human. Anyway, my work is not a work of a critic, historian or an art historian, but a man of theatre, an explorer of the deepest recesses of the human soul and of the caves of emotions, who, after persistent investigation, reached the bottomless mine – the heart and soul of Caravaggio. This performance is a theatre of words and images at the same time, of various atmospheres and oneiric references in which you can find inspirations from Pasolini’s works when Shakespearean characters appear from the depths of the stage, stuck in space and lit by spotlight. Giovanni Genco - Translated by: Iwona Białek (From: https://kontynent-warszawa.pl/en/columns/culture/468-success-of-l-uomo-caravaggio)   

List of some of the libraries in Italy, Europe and the world where you can consult the book "L’Uomo Caravaggio" by Alberto Macchi, written in Italian:  

Public Library – New York (Stati Uniti d’America) The Library of Congress - Washington (Stati Uniti d’America) British Library – Londra (Gran Bretagna) Bibliothèque Nationale de France – Parigi (Francia) Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Berlino (Germania) Biblioteka Narodowa – Varsavia (Polonia) Biblioteka Uniwersytecka – Varsavia (Polonia) Biblioteca dell’Istituto Italiano di Cultura – Varsavia (Polonia) Biblioteka Jagiellońska – Cracovia (Polonia) Biblioteka Jezuitów – Cracovia (Polonia) Biblioteca dell’Istituto Italiano di Cultura – Cracovia (Polonia) Biblioteka Gdańska Polskiej Akademii Nauk - Danzica (Polonia) Miejska Biblioteka Publiczna – Tarnów (Polonia) Biblioteka Wysza Szkoła – Tarnów (Polonia) Biblioteka Muzeum Okręgowego – Tarnów (Polonia) Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana (Stato Città del Vaticano) Biblioteca Vaticana – Vaticano (Stato Città del Vaticano) Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Vittorio Emanuele II – Roma Biblioteca di Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte - Roma Bibliotheca Hertziana - Roma Biblioteca Casanatense – Roma Biblioteca Universitaria Alessandrina – Roma Biblioteca Pontificia Università Gregoriana - Roma Pontificio Istituto di Studi Ecclesiastici - Roma Biblioteca Comunale Rispoli – Roma Biblioteca Angelica – Roma Biblioteca Vallicelliana – Roma Biblioteca e Raccolta Teatrale del Burcardo - Roma Biblioteca della Camera dei Deputati - Roma Biblioteca dell'Accademia di San Luca - Roma Biblioteca Romana Sarti - Roma Biblioteca Comunale Rispoli - Roma Unione Romana Biblioteche Scientifiche - Roma American Academy Library - Roma Biblioteca della Fondazione Marco Besso – Roma Archivio dei Padri dell'Oratorio della Chiesa Nuova – Roma Biblioteca Scolastica Multimediale Alberto Savinio del Liceo Artist. St. Giorgio De Chirico – Roma Biblioteca Istituto Polacco di Cultura – Roma Biblioteca Accademia Polacca delle Scienze – Roma Biblioteca Fundacja Rzymska im. Margrabiny J. Z. Umiastowskiej - Roma Biblioteca Comunale – San Vito Romano/Roma Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria - Torino Biblioteca Università degli Studi - Trento Biblioteca dell'Unione Femminile Nazionale – Milano Biblioteca Queriniana - Brescia Biblioteca del Centro di Documentazione Ricerca e Iniziativa delle Donne – Bologna Biblioteca Panizzi - Reggio Emilia Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale – Firenze Biblioteca Riccardiana – Firenze Kunsthistorisches Institut - Firenze Biblioteca Comunale - Arezzo Biblioteca Accademia Etrusca - Cortona Biblioteca Comunale – Patrica /Frosinone Biblioteca "San Tommaso d'Aquino" del Convento P.P. Domenicani - Cagliari And so on ...