Go! go! caravaggio! see his sacred game

16th c. Italian master-dramebaaz Caravaggio's 1606 painting 'Magdalene in Ecstasy' (MiE), stumbled upon in a private collection in 2014, was to be on display at Delhi's Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA) till May 18. Now, it's staying till May 30. So, if you haven't already gone to see it, then 'Go, go, Caravaggio!' and see it. If MiE were a film, it would open in slo-mo, drenched in chiaroscuro, as the Bible's 'Other Mary' collapses into divine rapture. Cue Ennio Morricone's haunting score. Forget delicate Renaissance Madonnas - this is full-throttle Baroque drama mixed with Kill Bill.

Magdalene is caught mid-swoon, her head tilted back, her body slack, as if she's just been hit by the full force of divine revelation - or, the final episode of a Netflix revenge saga. The lighting is pure Scorsese. A single beam cuts through the darkness, illuminating the Big M in a way that screams 'final showdown'. And talk about ambiguity. Is this spiritual ecstasy? Or something more visceral - shall we say, 'European art house'? Caravaggio, ever the provocateur, blurs the line between sacred and sensual, making this the perfect poster child for our OTT, maximalist era with its perfunctory statutory warnings. MiE is the OG (visual) climax, proving that centuries before Anurag Kashyap et al, Caravaggio was already rolling the credits on Sacred Games.