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Egypt Independent
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Egypt Independent
Humanity and Honesty
Lord Francis resides in a beautiful estate about an hour outside central London. Each year, he invites me to a very special dinner where he gathers guests from literally around the world. Last year his dining table hosted 36 guests and although I didn't count this time, it must have been a similar number, if not more. It is a black-tie event and even though I am not fond of those I complied each year and arrived at 6:30 pm on the dot, as per the invitation. After being welcomed by Lord Francis, who inquired about my family and Egypt, and following a 45 minute reception where I mixed with many of the guests, we were then led to the dining hall. The sight of it never ceases to amaze me, with its sheer size, high ceiling, and intricately detailed walls featuring his ancestor's portraits alongside a dozen Rembrandts, Caravaggios and Gérômes, plus a huge Deutsch depicting the Egyptian 'mahmal' going to Saudi Arabia. Lord Francis had been to Saudi, Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait on multiple occasions and also had a home in Morocco that he would visit frequently with his extended family. My seat at the dinner was between Jeff Randall, an American asset management firm owner and Elizabeth Sanderson, an Australian Senator. Facing me was Osman Sakur, a Turkish industrialist. Dinner was was beautifully choreographed, served by at least 40 servers with at least two orchestra conductor-type leaders impressively managing the servers incoming and outgoing. The menu was brimming with options, and I chose salmon to start of, followed by a grilled Dover sole and steamed vegetables, and finishing with a mouth-watering chocolate fondue. Conversation during dinner was light and entertaining. At the end of dinner, Lord Francis gave an amazing recognition of all his guests in a light but insightful manner. The group include: Rose, a Belgian author and academic Ramadan, an advisor to the Emir of Qatar Ezra, an Israeli media CEO Alex, a Russian energy billionaire Soliman, a Saudi investor David, an American journalist Penny, a Singaporean hotel owner Yulia, a Ukrainian model and agency owner in Paris Giuseppe, an Italian politician Andreas, an Argentinian IT entrepreneur Yuanyun, a Chinese EV company owner Patrice, a South African mine owner Rahul, an Indian data center owner Reza, a former Azerbaijani Minister of Investment Laila, a Moroccan parliament member Josef, a German industrial defense owner Sandro, a Brazilian crypto leader and former hacker Gloria, a Kenyan real estate owner Ralph, a Canadian aircraft charter owner Cindy, a Swiss heiress Pierre, a French senator I lost track of the guests after Pierre was introduced. Lord Francis thanked us for attending, and as the huge clock in the hallway noisily indicated it was nine pm with nine string gongs, we were invited for coffee, tea, cigars and sage conversation. We walked across the massive hallway to another large hall with an ordained ceiling and heavy wood paneling on the walls, where two imposing marble fireplaces faced each other across the room. Servers appeared with coffee, tea, liqueurs, cognac and cigars. I took a green tea and sat in a large semi-circle of plush sofas and large seats ordained with Lord Francis' crests. As most in the room were regulars, we knew what was to follow. A candid discussion of the state of the world and what we expect to occur in the immediate future. Chatham House rules, careful language, no speeches and precise moderation by Lord Francis were the carefully crafted mannerisms of the after-dinner discussion. Lord Francis turned to Rose and asked her if she could name how many conflicts exist in the world today. Rose's answer, precise to the point, was that as of May 2025, numerous armed conflicts were ongoing worldwide, impacting millions and contributing to widespread humanitarian crises. The Geneva Academy's Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts (RULAC) project monitors over 110 active armed conflicts involving at least 55 states and more than 70 non-state armed groups. I was taken aback, as many in the room were more or less shocked by the figure of 110. Gloria erupted 'Oh my God!' and David shook his head, commenting that the global population did not have such a figure in their perception. Osman, holding an unlit cigar, stated that, 'The worst conflicts were in Sudan, Palestine-Israel and Ukraine-Russia.' 'Don't forget Myanmar, Ethiopia and Somalia,' Yuanyun added. Reza said, 'Political violence increased by 25 percent globally in 2024 compared to 2023, with one in eight people exposed to conflict and over 250,000 people killed.' Lord Francis turned to Jeff and asked, 'What is the financial cost of these conflicts?' Jeff demurred and admitted he could not provide an answer but that it was in the trillions. Laila stood up and exclaimed, 'It's not only the killing, it's the maiming, the injured, the starvation and destruction that the world does not see…' She took two steps towards a table to place her coffee cup and continued, 'I went to Gaza to receive the body of a Moroccan journalist killed by a shot to the head and could not believe the hell I saw.' Before Lord Francis could take back the mantle of the discussion, Giusippe reflected in a quiet but audible voice, 'We have lost our humanity and our moral compass has become mired in a blind fog.' Lord Francis noted Laila's emotional state and said, 'We all have seen different challenging circumstances, but Laila has seen humanity at its worst.' Laila said, 'I pray you never see children's body parts in the rubble rotting outside a morgue.' I could sense that the conversation was touching a chord amongst most of the group. Josef interjected that the world was a better place during the Cold War. All players knew the rules and played by them. Now it was a free for all and killing, bombing, massacring, injuring and destroying is an everyday sport. 'It must stop,' he finished. As I heard the discussion continue, detailing how tribes in Ethiopia are slaughtering each other, the way Sudan's civil war was fueled by outside players and hearing of Yemen's famine and mass displacement, my mind went to the better days where human beings cooperated to make the world a better place. I remembered how I saw strangers help one another during the 1967 war, how I, standing in pouring rain in Austria, experienced a female driver stopping to drive me to a youth hostel in Vienna. There were no homeless people that I saw in the 70s in major cities, as I see everywhere now. My mind returned to the discussion as Sandro was saying, 'The world is experiencing an unprecedented number of conflicts, which appear increasingly intractable. Violence from conflicts has risen dramatically by over 37 percent from 2023 to the end of 2024. If you want peace,' he added,' go to Iceland, but remember President Trump's words!' Lord Francis turned to David and asked 'how is the US?' Before David could respond, Yulia responded promptly, 'Unstable. President Trump's manner of ruling, opting for rule of the jungle rather than rule of law has created instability internally and globally,' she explained in perfect English, with no accent. David conceded that even though he is a Republican the Trump/Musk duo has created an atmosphere of uncertainty, stress, worry and tension. 'It's amazing,' he mentioned, 'that Trump's shock and awe policies framed in America's Supreme Court's decision to grant President's total immunity for official acts, is the new norm in Washington DC.' Cindy, usually a very quiet observer, said to Lord Francis in her Swiss-German accent, 'As the world is losing its humanity let's not forget in parallel, we are losing our honesty. Fraud,' Cindy gestured, 'has increased in an unprecedented manner globally, driven by technology and evolving tactics used by fraudsters.' Ralph agreed the increase was evident in both the volume of fraud attempts and the financial losses incurred by individuals and businesses. David interjected as he shuffled in his seat, stating that Americans in 2024 were defrauded to the tune of a billion dollars in an abundance of illegitimate schemes. My mind wandered again. I remembered in the 70's and 80's when I concluded successful business transactions based on a handshake, whereas today with a battery of lawyers and auditors you were faced with shocking dishonesty and fraud on multiple levels, regardless of written contracts. The clock in the hallway announced that it was 11pm. Lord Francis stood and we all followed. The next 15 minutes were warm goodbyes and exchange of last minute comments. I saw Lord Francis, expressed my sincere appreciation and found my driver hovering at the entrance. As I was driven home, I was worried that the coming generations will face the complications of increased conflicts, a lack of wise leadership, more dishonesty, enhanced technology, a greater dark web, more complicated crypto tools and AI tools defining a new world with less humanity, and greater difficulty in defining fact and fiction.
New York Times
07-03-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Caravaggio, Baroque's Bad Boy, Gets a Blockbuster Show in Rome
Some 430 years after the Lombard artist Michelangelo Merisi, better known as Caravaggio, swept into Rome to enchant, and land, well-placed patrons with his bold yet intimate artistry, Caravaggio is again grabbing the spotlight, with a blockbuster exhibition at the National Gallery of Ancient Art at Palazzo Barberini. Chronologically organized, the exhibition, titled 'Caravaggio 2025,' tracks the artist's meteoric career from his arrival in Rome, when he could only afford to use himself as a model, to more flush times, when he was feted by wealthy bankers and cardinals, to his final years on the run, after killing a man, and attempting through art to gain a papal pardon. Thomas Clement Salomon, the director of the National Gallery, said that with its four Caravaggios and what he called the most important collection of Caravaggesque paintings in the world, the institution was a natural choice to host a Caravaggio extravaganza. Back to the palazzo after centuries away are three works — 'The Cardsharps,' owned by the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth; 'Concert' (or 'The Musicians'), from the Metropolitan Museum in New York; and 'St. Catherine of Alexandria,' from the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid — that were once part of the collection of Cardinal Antonio Barberini, one long-ago resident of the 17th-century palace. More than 60,000 tickets have already been sold to the exhibition, which opens Friday and will run through July 6, a testament both to the appeal of Caravaggio's fierce originality as well as his reputation as Baroque's sword-bearing bad boy. Of the 24 works on show, nine are from foreign lenders (five from the United States alone). 'There's a lot of America in this show,' Salomon said in an interview. 'American museums were very generous,' giving 'very important loans,' including a 'St. Francis in Ecstasy' from Wadsworth Atheneum of Art in Hartford, Conn., a 'Martha and Mary Magdalene' from the Detroit Institute of Arts and a 'St. John the Baptist' from the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Mo., that allowed the curators to bring together three of Caravaggio's four known depictions of St. John the Baptist. 'It's not everyone who can get to Kansas City,' said Salomon, who is one of the curators of the exhibition. The loans have permitted some interesting juxtapositions. Caravaggio was known for using people he knew as his models, often from low social classes and including courtesans, like Fillide Melandroni of Siena, who was famous in Rome at the time. She has been identified by scholars as the model for the 'St. Catherine of Alexandria' from Madrid, the woman holding the mirror in 'Martha and Mary Magdalene' from Detroit and the protagonist in the Barberini's 'Judith Beheading Holofernes,' which are shown here together. 'For me what's exciting is to see how Caravaggio acts like a director,' said Maria Cristina Terzaghi, also a curator of the exhibition, describing how Caravaggio could use the same model in different costumes and lighting to create dramatically different works. The curators said that getting so many works by Caravaggio under one roof should allow scholars to settle several open questions — some more technical, like the dating of some pieces, but also trickier issues where scholarship is split on attribution. In the case of two works where Caravaggio's authorship is in doubt — a 'Narcissus' and a 'Portrait of Maffeo Barberini as Protonotary Apostolic' — the comparison alongside universally accepted works may determine if they pass muster. The show also includes two paintings that have recently emerged from private collections. One is another portrait of Maffeo Barberini, made public last year, that the National Gallery is negotiating to buy. 'It would be a dream,' Salomon said. The painting's inclusion here, along with a 'Portrait of a Knight of Malta,' underscores the void in Caravaggio studies when it comes to portraiture. Archival sources suggest that Caravaggio painted many portraits, but very few works remain. 'It's part of his output that's been very hard to nail down,' said Francesca Cappelletti, director of the Borghese Gallery in Rome and another curator of the show. The other painting is an 'Ecce Homo' that emerged at auction in Madrid in 2021. The suggested starting bid was set at 1,500 euros, or about $1,800, but the Spanish government pulled the painting after several Italian dealers and art historians tentatively identified the work as a Caravaggio. After it was restored, the painting was bought by an anonymous client who has lent the work to the Prado Museum in Madrid, which in turn sent it to Rome. The attribution appears to have held since the painting has become public, but the show will permit scholars to view it in the context of other works. 'This is a very scientific exhibit; it's very much for scholars,' Cappelletti said. Other questions — over attribution, copies and provenance, to name some — are discussed in the catalog, a compendium of sorts of recent Caravaggio scholarship. ''Caravaggio 2025' wants to take stock of what we know today about the master and of the idea that we have of him today,' Terzaghi said. Scholars concur on about 60 paintings that can be definitively attributed to Caravaggio, said Terzaghi, and a little more than a third of them are included in the show. Several more are visible in Roman museums and churches. 'If we calculate them all, I'd say that two-thirds of his work is now in Rome, so if one wants to study Caravaggio, they must come during this period,' she said. The Borghese Gallery lent three works to the show, but still has three more at home thanks to Cardinal Scipione Borghese, an early fan of Caravaggio. And Rome's Doria Pamphilj Gallery has two works. Altarpieces by Caravaggio are found in four Roman churches, though in the case of one, a copy of a 'Deposition' hangs instead of the original, which now belongs to the Vatican Museums. Three altar paintings for the Contarelli chapel are in the French church of San Luigi, his first, important religious commission which made him the talk of the town. His second religious commission consisted of two lateral paintings in the Cerasi Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo. The first versions, of the 'Crucifixion of Peter' and 'Conversion of Saul' (both 1604-05), were rejected, scholars say, because they were painted while the chapel was being built, and didn't fit the space. He repainted both subjects. Subsequently, the 'Crucifixion' was lost, but the first version of 'Conversion,' which belongs to a private collection in Rome, is included in the show at the Barberini. 'We didn't ask any churches to loan their paintings; it's a Jubilee year,' said Salomon, referring to the Roman Catholic Church Holy Year that takes place every 25 years and is expected to bring millions of faithful to Rome and the Vatican in 2025. Come the end of March, visitors to the show will also be able to get tickets on weekends to see Caravaggio's only known mural, depicting 'Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto,' in the Casino Boncompagni Ludovisi a short stroll away. In addition to this Caravaggio fresco — which he painted for the villa's first owner, Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte, in 1597 — the villa has ceiling frescoes by other Baroque masters, including Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, better known as Guercino. Although the show was difficult to pull together, Salomon said, 'Our greatest joy is to be able to offer this exhibit in the difficult times that we live in today.'
