Oliviero Rainaldi: The Eight Works of Mercy

Curated by Maria Savarese

On July 18, Oliviero Rainaldi will present his latest work The Eight Works of Mercy with which the artist revisits one of the greatest artistic masterpieces in the history still kept inside the church of Pio Monte della Misericordia, The Seven Works of Mercy (1607) by Caravaggio. In this new project Oliviero Rainaldi proposes the addition of an eighth work of mercy to the seven works depicted by Caravaggio at his famous painting. These are: Refreshing the thirsty, Sheltering the homeless, Visiting the sick, Feeding the hungry, Clothing the naked, Visiting the imprisoned and Burying the dead. To this list Rainaldi adds Being merciful to oneself, and to one’s inner being, which is the place of welcoming, forgiveness and charity, as a preparation for attaining knowledge and reconciliation with one’s own interior qualities.

The Eight Works of Mercy have thus been brought together, no longer as descriptive narrative representations of each separate work of mercy, but in order to express their deepest and most meaningful essence. Suspended somewhere between the sacred and the profane, mysticism and the investigation of human nature, the sculpture created for the show is inspired by the flame that is a symbol of the Spirit, in reference to the torch that appears in the centre of Caravaggio’s canvas, in the apse of the Church of Pio Monte della Misericordia.

Rainaldi’s intention is to complete Caravaggio’s work—as if his own work were a natural extension of the light of the painting—by investing it with a further set of mystic signs and deep meanings.

Caravaggio’s painting—which was the first work commissioned from the artist by Luigi Carafa-Colonna, whose family protected and sheltered him following his escape from Rome fleeing a charge of murder—expresses through strong contrast of light and shade a direct vision of reality and truth emerging from the sentiment of compassion and the actions that it leads to.

Oliviero Rainaldi’s works can be admired in several prestigious institutions in Italy and abroad. They include Caduti in the UN Building in Geneva; the bass-relief Neptune created for Maserati; the sculpture The Tribute specially commissioned by the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Michigan. 

The exhibition The Eight Works of Mercy has been produced by a cultural collaboration between Oliviero Rainaldi and the Pio Monte di Misericordia of Naples, with the participation of Genus Bononiae, of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Shanghai (MoCa), of the Venice International University, the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park (Michigan, USA) and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Cassino.

The exhibition will be accompanied by catalogue published by Allemandi with texts by Maria Savarese, Qilan Shen and Claudio Strinati.

Opening hours
Monday–Saturday 9am–6pm; Sunday 9am–2:30pm

Information for the public
segreteria [​at​] piomontedellamisericordia.it

Press office
Della Sala, ads [​at​] arthemisia.it / T +39 345 7503572