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Italian stuns talent show with 'living Caravaggio' paintings

The Local Italy
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Italian stuns talent show with 'living Caravaggio' paintings
This is not a Caravaggio painting, it's real people. Honest. Photo: Screengrab/Italia's Got Talent

A contestant on 'Italia's Got Talent' was given a standing ovation after presenting the judges with his 'living Caravaggio' paintings.

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Angelo, a literature student from Avigliano, in the southern Basilicata region, presented the four-judge panel with the incredible act in a show aired on Wednesday night.

The impressive act used live actors and clever lighting to almost perfectly recreate three of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio's most famous Baroque masterpieces: 'The Crucifixion of St. Peter', 'The Calling of Saint Matthew' and 'The Death of the Virgin'.

“In Avigliano, the tradition of living paintings – known as quadri plastici – is part of the popular tradition,” Angelo told the judges, explaining where he found his inspiration.

The performance saw 23 actors, aged between 13 and 61, wearing period costumes and make-up, re-enact Caravaggio's painted scenes live on stage, inside three specially made boxes.

Each box was then lit up in a way that perfectly captured Caravaggio's iconic use of shadow and light, known as chiaroscuro.

As if by magic, the lighting transformed the on-stage actors into near-perfect replicas of the 400-year-old paintings.

Unsurprisingly, the act was given four 'yes' votes from the judges. A video of the act can be seen below – the performance starts at 0.58

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