Caravaggio’s ‘Seven Works of Mercy’ in Naples. The relevance of art history to cultural journalism

Abstract The artistic heritage of the Catholic Church still attracts attention all over the world. For almost 2000 years, it has provided aesthetic access to spiritual meaning, together with the Church’s text communication, both spoken and written. Christian art and architecture, therefore, rank among the oldest communication media. Even today, they can empower a culture of reflection and high-content communication. This article about Caravaggio explains why Christian art offers opportunities for religious correspondents, Church media relations, as well cultural and arts journalists.

Especially during major Church events, like the Jubilee Year of Mercy (2015-2016), many media editorial boards will take an interest in art which refers to such events, fostering reader interest through current affairs. For the Jubilee Year proclaimed by Pope Francis, the communication of mercy seemed appropriate, because in God's pardon and mercy people can find the core of the Gospel. The works of mercy (Matthew 25:31-46) are a human response to this mercy of God. They are an important element of social responsibility for the poor in Christianity, and have also been depicted in art.
Readers of this article gain insights into the famous altarpiece by Caravaggio (1606/07) in Naples, which is a major example of the 'acts of mercy' in art. Research has found out that Caravaggio's light, amidst a dramatic chiaroscuro, can be decoded as a metaphor for mercy. It probably attests to the artist's own desire to receive pardon after killing someone in Rome (1606) as the result of a duel. This study aims to build a cultural awareness that Christian art offers a wide range of semantic meaning, and Caravaggio's painting in a very personal way. These references to human life can help the media audience to explore mercy in their own lives. The multiple meaning of Christian art is one more reason why Church events continue to provide prime time for cultural journalism.

Visual and verbal communications of Christian identity
Issues of aesthetics and creativity are essential to media communications. The Catholic Church is no exception. During its 2000-year history, the Church has been communicating with texts, both spoken and written. On the other hand, the Church communicates the Gospel through non-verbal means, in many cases with liturgical signs or artistic expressions, like paintings, sculptures or church architecture. 1 They rate among the oldest communication media of the Church.
The cultural heritage of the Church still attracts attention all over the world, confirmed by the inflow of an international mass tourism in churches, museums, sanctuaries and charitable institutions (Stausberg 2011;Galindo Garc ıa 2009;Vukonic 1996). This is a huge heritage, with which the Catholic Church has gained great experience. Since the third and fourth centuries, she has communicated meaningfully through sacred spaces and the visual arts, especially through images (Guastini 2014;Verdon 2012;Weitzmann 1979).
This use of images in 'religious instruction' and 'education' became generally established in the Church towards the end of the Late Antiquity. Its legitimacy was reaffirmed several times by authorities, at the latest in the two letters of Pope Gregory (599,600) 2 , who defended the right use of images as 'litterae laicorum', and again during the Middle Ages (Decretum Gratiani, 1140) 3 , the early modern era (Gabriele Paleotti, Discorso, 1582) 4 and contemporary times (Vatican II, 1962-1965 5 .
Even today, the Church should be aware of the tremendous potential in this complementary cooperation between visual and verbal communication. It permits an efficient provision of information about Christian faith and identity, which can effectively stimulate the external and internal communication of the Church. Unfolding the meaning of Christian art and architecture, might even inspire a new culture of dialogue within multireligious and secular societies. Distinguished works of Christian art, in particular, can grant aesthetic access to spiritual meaning, empowering a culture of reflection and high-content communication.

Integrating the Christian message into media culture
In this regard, the Italian Bishops' Conference in 2004 published some encouraging statements about the inclusion of artistic language in pastoral practice in its 'Directory on Social Communications in the Mission of the Church'. 6 The first section of the directory ('Communicating the Gospel in Media Culture', nos. 1-92) sets out the principles, with Subsection III devoted to the integration of the Christian message into media culture (nos. 47-72). Communicators of the faith 'should be able to pull out all the stops of communication: verbal and also non-verbal language' 7 . Particular attention should be paid to the cultural heritage of the Church, states the directory: Italy, e.g. 'is privileged to possess an extraordinary wealth of artworks, mostly of religious content '. 8 According to this, the catechesis and institutional communication of the Church present good opportunities 'to draw on the cultural, historical and artistic patrimony, proposing to explore the religious traditions and expressions.' 9 Therefore 'beauty as a way to the mystery' should be a 'constant dimension of every catechesis'. 10 The Italian directory relates this to cultural and religion journalism, given that the artistic and architectural heritage (cathedrals, churches, abbeys, monasteries) as well as museums and music can be experienced (physically and virtually) through the media (photographs, audio and video files, cinema and television movies). 11 Finally, the second, operational section of the directory ('Pastoral ways and initiatives ', nos. 93-203) recalls that 'taking into consideration the existing heritage … easily becomes an opportunity for evangelization and deepening of the faith'. 12 3. Communicating the core of the Gospel during the Jubilee of Mercy These proposals from the Italian Bishops, e.g. with reference to the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy (8 December 2015-20 November 2016 13 and its relevance to the history of art, indicate how explaining the centuries-old Christian culture through journalism and multimedia communication can motivate the audience 'to open heart and mind to the contents of faith and to religious experience' 14 .
The communication of mercy seems especially appropriate in this respect, because in God's pardon and mercy people can find the core of the Gospel and of Christian faith. 15 Nevertheless, the culture of our day seems to have lost sight of mercy, as St John Paul II described in his Encyclical 'Dives in misericordia' in 1980: The present-day mentality, more perhaps than that of people in the past, seems opposed to a God of mercy, and in fact tends to exclude from life and to remove from the human heart the very idea of mercy. The word and the concept of 'mercy' seem to cause uneasiness in man, who, thanks to the enormous development of science and technology, never before known in history, has become the master of the earth and has subdued and dominated it. This dominion over the earth, sometimes understood in a one-sided and superficial way, seems to have no room for mercy. 16 In the Christian tradition, however, mercy is a major component of God's plan of salvation. In this spirit, the Holy Year of Mercy began on 8 December 2015 with its motto 'Merciful Like the Father'. Pope Francis, in his bull of indiction of the Jubilee Year, reminded all people of good will that they too, touched by God's mercy towards mankind, can show mercy to others day by day. 17 Here, Francis desired 'that, during this Jubilee, the Christian people may reflect on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy' 18 .
The Pope's suggestion offered a prime time opportunity for religious correspondents, the media relations and communications offices of the Church, as well as for cultural and arts journalists. By reporting and discussing current events or special features of Christian art, they keep the public informed and could also raise aspects of the Good News. Cultural journalists can raise matters, which would otherwise never be present in the media, particularly today, when the 'landscape of arts journalism is changing, with fewer full-time critics' (Groves 2010). At international level, the cultural journalism is gradually disappearing from traditional media [Green 2010;Zanchini 2009Zanchini (2013; Zanchini 2016]. Nevertheless, cultural and arts journalism can still provide useful information on faith and religion to a broader audience. While sharing the core issues of the Church, it can strengthen the identity of its members, which is an important consideration for the communications offices of the Church. Moreover, media editorial boards will take an interest in quality journalism devoted to current affairs, because it will preserve the audience's attention. The anniversaries of important artists and works of art, or the openings of exhibitions or newly built architectures offer sufficient opportunities. In what follows, this approach will be performed by analysing and interpreting a masterpiece painting by Caravaggio in Naples (Figure 9).
Caravaggio, a native of Lombardy who operated primarily in Rome, is one of the most significant painters in the history of European art. As Mannerism gave way to the Early Baroque, this artist 'revolutionized' the contemporary style of painting [Strinati 2010;  Strinati and Vodret 1999].
In his painting for Naples, Caravaggio represented the seven works of mercy simultaneously, and not in a picture cycle as otherwise customary for this theme (Figures 2  and 3), sometimes even in the 16th century ('Christ with the Cross and the Six  [B€ uhren 1998, 74-78, 260-261, 291-292 (figs. 48-49)].
Caravaggio's painting (Figure 9) summarizes the acts of mercy within a tight frame. Twelve characters gathered on a dark street corner play their parts on a narrow stage against a monumental architectural backdrop. The result is a crowded composition in the foreground where the works are arranged in dense sequence. 24 For the viewers of the painting, the various actions seem to be almost inevitably a 'hidden object game' [Brauchitsch 2007, 98;Held 1996, 23, 75, 162-166, 185, 207 (pl. 13), here 163-164]. 'Seen above the flickering candlelight of the altar in the dark interior, the painting makes the church appear to have been invaded by the crowded, animated Neapolitan street squalor that must have impressed Caravaggio, newly arrived from Rome' [Moir 1982, 28, 44, 136-138 (fig.), here 136; cf. Spike 2010, 188, 190].
Dispensing in this way with spacious landscapes or urban settings (Figures 2-7) was new in the iconography of the works of mercy. Caravaggio had to respect the upright rectangle dictated by the shape of an altarpiece around 1600 ( Figure 8) (Hecht 2008, 323-325). That is why he also opted against the composition scheme of a picture cycle.

The seven corporal works of mercy in the lower section
The upper section of the painting shows the Virgin and Child with two angels (Figure 10), while the lower section describes seven works of mercy ( Figure 9). There in the foreground, a beggar on the ground is given half a cloak by a young man. The benefactor is dressed as an officer or nobleman. He wears a red cloak, a yellow-sleeved tunic with long dark stripes, yellow breeches, a feather hat and brown gloves ('clothing the naked' following the example of St Martin of Tours cutting his cloak). This welldressed figure could also be meant as 'an alter ego for the seven young Neapolitan noblemen who had founded the Pio Monte. Like them, he is an aristocrat helping those who have been struck down by sickness and poverty' (Graham-Dixon 2010, 343). As if emphasizing this connotation, the naked beggar in the foreground may derive from antique sculpture, e.g. the Hellenistic statue of the 'Wounded Galatian', also known as 'Wounded Gaul' (Naples, Museo Archeologico Nazionale) [Papa 2009, 126, 173, 202-214, here 204 (fig.), 206], which is a Roman copy of a Pergamum original. Behind the lower part of the officer's body, brightly lit, one can see a leg. It belongs to the second of two pilgrims in the mid-ground, who are standing opposite a stout innkeeper. The landlord, recognizable from Caravaggio's 'Emmaus' paintings, points their way left to the inn. Behind St Martin, the hidden foot traveller on the right can only be detected by parts of his upper body. On the left another traveller is recognizable. On his head with shoulder-length hair he wears a hat displaying the scallop shell of St James the Greater and the pilgrim's cross. He clasps his staff with both hands. His bearded, dignified face resembles some contemporary depictions of Christ: 'sheltering the homeless', perhaps with Christ in disguise, taken from the example of the disciples and the resurrected Christ on their way to the inn at Emmaus (Luke 24:28-29). 'This is an appropriate reference to the gospel wherein Christ identifies himself with the needy' (Spike 2010, 188).
Behind the landlord, an athletic man with a beard is drinking water ('giving drink to the thirsty', based on the example of Samson, whoafter the battle against the Philistineswas able by a divine miracle to quench his thirst from the jawbone of an ass; . X-ray images, taken after the cleaning and restoration by E. Masini (1962)(1963) at the Capodimonte in Naples, reveal that during the first stage of this work Caravaggio planned to place Samson at the centre of the composition [Spike 2010 (CD-ROM "Catalogue", 300); Pacelli 1984, 76 (fig.)], just below the 'protecting' hand of the angel in the upper section.
On the right edge of the picture, a young woman leans against the barred window of a prison. She is offering her bare breast to an old man who has stuck his head through the bars. The scene is conspicuously bright, as if to highlight a key motif. The woman turns her head away, worried that her secret deed might be discovered ('visiting the imprisoned', 'feeding the hungry' and 'giving drink to the thirsty' as exemplified by a legend known in Ancient Rome as the story of Pero breast-feeding her aged father Cimon, also called 'Caritas romana', or 'Roman Charity', told by Valerius Maximus (A.D. ca. 30) and Pliny the Elder (A.D. 77). 25 The classical scene is an example of filial piety which can be seen as a secular prefiguration of the Christian spirit of mercy (Graham-Dixon 2010, 345).
Beyond the prison wall, a young man carries a corpse, of which we see only the small feet and the shroud. He is accompanied by a bearded priest (cleric regular) or deacon, singing probably the funeral office, in a biretta and white tunic who lights the way with a double candle ('burying the dead'). The candle is the only clue to the hour at which this work of mercy is carried out: here it is night. The work of 'visiting the sick' appears to be missing, although art historians [Pacelli 2014, 73-78 (with further references); Spike 2010, 188; Graham-Dixon 2010, 343; K€ onig 1997, 120-123 ( fig.), here 123; Held 1996, 163;Hibbard 1983, 217;Dell'Acqua 1971, 133-134 (C 12), 197-198 (note 484-494), pl. XXIX-XXXII, here 134; Wagner 1958, 143-146, 219, here 144;Friedlaender 1955, 131, 207-210, pl. 49, 49 a-d, here 209] debate whether it is personified by the barely discernible figure in the left half of the painting: the young man with his hands clasped in supplication lying in the shadow. He has put down his crutch, but his legs seem to be twisted. Probably this is why 17th-century sources refer to the painting as the 'Seven Works of Mercy' [Pacelli 2014, 35;Marini 1987, 494-495 (testified   The two angels are truncated by the frontal perspective so that only their upper areas are visible. By spreading their wings they form a compositional 'plinth' for the Madonna and Child, who appear in a bust-like format. As if catching his balance, the angel on the left reaches out with both arms towards the two groups of works on the right. The gesture of his right hand seems to express a kind of benevolent protection [Zuffi 2010, 200-203 ( fig.), here 201; Mariani 1973, 106-110, pl. 49-50, here 108]. Maybe this gesture, derived from Michelangelo's fresco 'Conversion of St Paul' in the Cappella Paolina (Vatican), also refers to the transmission of God's grace that inspires people to be merciful [Spike 2010, 190 (CD-ROM "Catalogue", 300)]. The other angel looks down in an attitude of embrace. Both pairs of wings fan out with feathers of white and brown.
It is correct to assume that the embracing angels represent a 'celestial vision of fraternal love' [Graham-Dixon 2010, 344;Cf. Puglisi 1998, 262-268 (fig. 133), here 264]. Furthermore, it might be possible to recognize in the baldachin-like form of the outspread wings a reference to the iconographic tradition of the 'Madonna della Misericordia' ('Virgin of Mercy'), a devotional image especially popular among charitable institutions in Italy during the Middle Ages (Biscottini 2015). The 'Madonna della Misericordia' (1364) by Bartolo di Fredi is such a painting (Figure 1), where the suppliant people crowd beneath the outspread mantle of the Virgin Mary and two angels assist with holding up her cloak. In Caravaggio's painting, the wings of the angels take the place of the cloak, which the iconography of the Virgin of Mercy usually represents spread out over the sheltered supplicants. This is why the drapery of Mary's cloak is ostentatiously hanging downwards (Figures 9 and 10).
The painting has also been known since 1743 as 'Nostra  [Pacelli and Forgione 2012, 394;Spike 2010 (CD-ROM "Catalogue", 297); Caraffa 2007, 122;Bologna 2004, 24;Marini 1987, 494-495;Friedlaender 1955, 207-208]. 'Nostra Signora della Misericordia' or 'Santa Maria della Misericordia' is also the title of the church for whose main altar Caravaggio painted the 'Seven Works of Mercy'. In both theology and popular piety, Mary is known as 'mater misericordiae' [Pacelli 2014, 82-84, 87, 90;K€ alin 1994], as it was the Son of God, to whom she gave birth, who revealed God's mercy (cf. John 3:16-18). Jesus Christ is, after all, the very incarnation of God's mercy. 27 Accordingly, in Caravaggio's painting the good works are performed beneath the benevolent gaze of the 'Mother of Mercy' (B€ uhren 1998, 199-200). Her subsequent incorporation may have been influenced by the traditional hymn: Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To you do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us, and after this exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary (Sz€ ov erffy 1964, 376-377).

Light as a metaphor for mercy
Two important questions now arise: Why do the heavenly company not interfere in the earthly proceedings? We can only see, on the prison wall on the right, the great shadow of the angel's wings, but nobody notices. Why do the earthly figures not react to the heavenly manifestation? The candle flame, in the centre of the painting, is being pushed aside by the drapery of Mary's cloak (Figure 10). The cloth does not catch fire, which indicates the metaphysical difference between both spheres. Without displaying amazement, making devotional gestures or turning their gaze towards heaven, they continue to practice the works of mercy. 28 Maybe the multiple meaning of light offers answers, because Caravaggio did, indeed, present this deeply traditional theme in an entirely new light.
The light descends from the upper left. Through the powerful contrasts afforded by chiaroscuro, Caravaggio's light makes bodies more realistically visible, letting them stand out in a three-dimensional manner. The picture is painted in a 'full-bodied, sharply defined style', so the 'contrast between light and shade' is 'without half-measures and without "sweetening" the context' [Strinati 2007, 146-148 ( fig.)]. But the composition does not include the path of the falling light, it shows only its white reflections on skin and cloth. Hence, the relief that is granted to the poor and distressed, which would remain in the dark were it not illuminated in this manner, is brought to light. It is this spotlight, which indicates -'Zeigelicht' (Sch€ one 1954, 137-142)and allows mercy to shine as a virtue (B€ uhren 1998, 201-202, on the rhetorical meaning 208-209). With the aid of his compositional light, Caravaggio introduced a major innovation to the iconography of the works of mercy.
At this point, the Holy Scriptures must be mentioned as a literary source. Caravaggio's light is in many ways a metaphor for mercy: 'He who loves his brother abides in the light' (1 John 2:10). The relationship between light and physical objects is that of a flare rather than a glow. This flare might be interpreted as a metaphor for Divine Grace. The merciful helpers play a part in God's Grace. They can be like a bright light of solace for the beggars and those who suffer in wretched darkness. The merciful are not, however, the source of this light. Rather, they pass on a light they have received, for in the painting the source of light manifests only indirectly in the form of a dazzling reflection (B€ uhren 1998, 201-202;Wagner 1958, 168-170).
Caravaggio, of course, refrained from idealizing the saints in any way when performing his commissions for the Church. This realism also applies to the works of mercy (Robb 2001, 392-398, here 393). The artist combined the strong contrasts of chiaroscuro with muted colours (Prater 1992, 105, 109;Sch€ one 1954, 137-138). Besides, the emotional mood among the poor and their benefactors is serious. 'No one looks up in hope or joy' (Langdon 1998, 330). Possibly their earnest expressions indicate the human need for redemption, as creatures dependent on material and spiritual support (B€ uhren 1998, 197, 202-204;Prater 1992, 109-112).
The same can be said for receiving God's Grace. Significantly, the origin of the consoling light in Caravaggio's painting lies outside the field of artistic depiction. In the words of Isaiah 58:6-8 it is the 'gloria Domini': Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 29 The altarpiece 'Works of Mercy' is one of the few Caravaggio paintings to include an internal source of illumination [Brauchitsch 2007, 98;Varriano 2006, 48;Hibbard 1983, 213-219 (fig. 138-141, 143), here 219; Moir 1982, 44]. This is also the case with the single-lighted candle burning on the altar in 'Martyrdom of Saint Matthew' (1599)(1600) in the Contarelli Chapel of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome, and also with the lantern held by the man at the right in the painting 'The Taking of Christ' (1602; Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland). In the Naples painting, the 'earthly' light of the candle flame ('Burying the dead') is opposed, maybe intentionally, to the 'consoling' light as a metaphor for life and mercy which descends from the upper left, in fact from outside the field of depiction.
One last thought: the Madonna and the angels do not bring their own heavenly light, distinct from the light of the earthly benefactors. They are painted in the same stylistic mode and subject to the same relationship between light and dark as the humans (B€ uhren 1998, 197-198;Prater 1992, 104, 106). In this respect, Heaven and Earth merge into a unified composition painted in 'realist' fashion. This metaphysical unity expressed in the composition is not visible to the characters in the painting, only to us as viewers. In other words, Caravaggio's art visualizes something that Christian benefactors cannot see, but only grasp in faith (cf. Romans 8:24; 2 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Peter 1:8): no good work is performed beyond the gaze of Heaven.

Helping the audience to explore mercy in their own lives
This reality is what Pope Francis wanted to confirm when in 2015 he convoked an extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, because 'not only in history, but for all eternity man will always be under the merciful gaze' 30 of God. From this point of view, the Holy Year of Mercy has been an excellent opportunity for cultural and arts journalism, and this for a very specific reason which should be mentioned here in closing.
Caravaggio's picture confirms the timelessness of mercy, which is a great virtue. It is a painting 'that collapses time and space, drawing the whole world and all the world's history into its dark centre. Classical antiquity, the Old Testament, the New Testament, the early Middle Ages and the present dayevery epoch is symbolically represented in the different episodes that crowd the canvas. "Naples is the whole world", Capaccio wrote, and in Caravaggio's painting a corner of the city has been transformed into precisely that' (Graham-Dixon 2010, 344).
At the same time, the painting includes some matters very personal to Caravaggio. He himself had hope for mercy on his mind, since he had killed Ranuccio Tomassoni in May 1606, maybe unintentionally, as the result of a duel between the two men in Rome. Outlawed, he asked for pardon from the Roman authorities and fled to Naples, where he arrived in late September 1606. From there he went to Malta in July 1607.
The possibility cannot be ruled out that the altarpiece attests Caravaggio's own urgent desire to receive pardon. For a social outsider, being commissioned by the 'Confraternit a del Pio Monte della Misericordia', a noble and public authority in Naples, was already a kind of benevolence. Maybe this favour inspired the artist to give his best. And in fact, the 'Seven Works of Mercy' are the artist's most important Neapolitan altarpiece, as already indicated.
Looking at the centre of the painting (Figure 9), it can even be assumed that the merciful officer (or nobleman), with a thoughtful face while drawing his sword, might hint at the said incident in Rome. If so, this benefactor with a dark red cloak holds a 'concealed or disguised symbolism' 31 , whose personal meaning could be decoded only by the artist himself as a 'secret pictorial script or cryptogram' [P€ acht 1977 (english ed. 1999, p. 71)].
Drawing on the preceding analysis, Caravaggio's painting could be useful for arts journalism. The reference of the picture to human life can help the audience to explore mercy in their own lives. Someday everybody needs help or mercy, especially common people, who live on the 'periphery' or 'fringes' of society and are 'in need of the light of the Gospel' 32 . Indeed, in Caravaggio's painting the charitable works are taking place with common people andprobablyamong the busy streets of Naples as a kind of metaphor for the tumultuous human condition (Spike 2010, 188, 190). Even though arts journalism is usually concerned, in an objective way, with reporting and discussing cultural works, it does not preclude exploring the subject in greater depth. In Caravaggio's case, giving air to the artist's own desire to receive the grace of mercy is helpful for the journalist's audience. It can build a cultural awareness, that works of art in christianized societies offer a wide range of semantic meaning, and sometimes in a very personal way.
Major Church events will doubtless, therefore, continue to provide prime time for arts and cultural journalism. In 2015 and 2016, the 'Jubilee Year of Mercy' issued a call to journalists, multimedia experts and social media communicators to report on facts, people, ideas and evangelization by using Christian art to explore benevolence, pardon, and mercy.

Disclosure statement
The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Notes on contributor
Ralf van B€ uhren is Associate Professor at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce in Rome (School of Communication) and lecturer at the School of Theology of the same university. His research is focused on how art history and architectural history could empower a culturechanging dialogue in secular society. Publications and teaching specialize on cultural journalism and the visual rhetoric of Christian art. Currently van B€ uhren is involved in various projects that explore the correlation of aesthetics and spirituality in the liturgical space after the Council of Trent and the Vatican Council II. In 2014 van B€ uhren was appointed by Pope Francis as consultant to the Pontifical Council for Culture.