Genoa, new lighting for Adoration of the Magi, Grechetto masterpiece

To mark the beginning of the Christmas season in Genoa, the Fondazione Spinola presents the new lighting of one of the city’s masterpieces, theAdoration of the Shepherds by Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione known as Il Grechetto (Genoa, 1609 - Mantua, 1664), which is located in the church of San Luca and is now illuminated by the lights of Francesco Murano, among the most sought-after Italian lighting designers in the service of art. On Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 5:30 p .m., after the pre-Church Mass, the canvas will be illuminated for the first time by the new lights, and art critic Giovanna Rotondi Terminiello will lead an in-depth reading of the painting, illustrating the work to those present. After that, fromDecember 8 to January 6, 2023, the altarpiece will be constantly illuminated and visible to all in its new guise.

The work, kept on one of the side altars of the single-nave church, is among the highest achievements of the Genoese Baroque, which is why it was lent to the Scuderie del Quirinale for the exhibition Superbarocco. Art in Genoa from Rubens to Magnasco that concluded on July 3. In Rome it was illuminated for the first time by Francesco Murano, who oversaw the lighting design for the entire exhibition. The surfacing of all the details of the painting and the peculiarities of the work done in Rome meant that the Fondazione Spinola commissioned Murano to come up with a new lighting design for the work once it returned to its home, inside the church of San Luca.

“At first the work was frontally lit,” says Francesco Murano, “on two focuses of light coming from the top of the church. The result was problematic for a frontal view of the painting because of the reflections produced on the canvas. Through the technique of sampling, this problem was remedied, and the seven silhouettes that now illuminate The Adoration of the Shepherds, in addition to eliminating all the reflections of the oil painting, camp every detail of the enormous masterpiece, allowing a perfect overall view from the entrance to the church.”

To see it, St. Luke’s Church opens Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and then, for the duration of Mass only, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Genoa, new lighting for Adoration of the Magi, Grechetto masterpiece

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