Some of the most important works of the Baroque painter Caravaggio have returned to Rome for a major exhibition after decades, even centuries. The exhibition titled "Carvaggio 2025" brings 24 masterpieces to the Palazzo Barberini in Rome. It offers a new perspective on the artistic and cultural revolution created by the painter known as the "Master of Light" and invites the viewer to discover the entirety of Caravaggio's works.
Rome's iconic Palazzo Barberini building has opened its doors to visitors with the exhibition "Caravaggio 2025". The works of the Baroque master, which have not been seen much in Italy since the 19th century, are being introduced to the public for the first time.
“It is an extraordinary exhibition full of masterpieces, giving you the opportunity to see works that were close to each other in the early 17th century and later took very different paths,” said Francesca Cappelletti, curator and director of the Borghese gallery in Rome.
Among the 24 paintings in the exhibition, which opened on Thursday, is “St. Catherine of Alexandria” on loan from the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid.
The work is now back in the rooms where it remained until it was sold in 1934, when Mussolini’s government decided to distribute most of the Barberini collection.
The exhibition includes “The Cardsharps” from the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, “The Concert” from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as well as works from the National Gallery of Ireland, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Uffizi Museum in Florence, the Pinacoteca di Brera, the national contemporary gallery in Milan and private collections.
For many visitors, the biggest attraction will be the opportunity to see two paintings, “Ecce Homo” and “Portrait of Maffeo Barberini”, up close for the first time. The first is thought to have been painted in Naples between 1606 and 1609 and is exhibited again in present-day Italy four centuries later. One of the last works attributed to the Italian painter Caravaggio, depicting Jesus wearing a crown of thorns being presented to the crowd by Pontius Pilate, the painting was attributed to an unknown Spanish painter when it was listed in an auction catalogue in Madrid with prices starting at 1,500 euros. With the spread of the painting to the international scientific community, some scientists have identified Caravaggio’s hand in the painting.
On the other hand, the painting “Portrait of Maffeo Barberini”, which has been lost for half a century, was recently introduced to the public. Maffeo Barberini, a supporter and admirer of Caravaggio, was also the first owner of the palace where the retrospective exhibition is currently held.
The two works, probably exhibited alongside others created in the same period, will allow for a previously unknown comparison and help scientists debate issues such as the time of creation of the works.
"This is also an exhibition for researchers. We want to give them the opportunity to test different hypotheses that have been formulated for these paintings, especially those that we had not seen until a few years or months ago," Cappelletti explains.
In the case of the "Portrait of Maffeo Barberini", the exhibition could be a kind of test for whether it will be permanently displayed in the museum in the future. The painting is from a private collection, but the Italian state is in talks to purchase it.
"We hope that all these paintings in private collections can be exhibited to the public and researchers, it would be a dream and we are working to achieve it." "But it is extraordinary that we now have the opportunity to admire 24 of Caravaggio's masterpieces," says Thomas Clement Salomon, curator and director of the National Gallery of Ancient Art.
The exhibition also offers a special opportunity for another comparison of the works “St. Catherine of Alexandria”, “Marta and Mary Magdalene” and “Judith and Holofernes”. It is thought that Caravaggio probably used the same model for these three paintings, and that this model was Fillide Melandroni.
Melandroni was a prostitute who was thought to be Caravaggio’s friend and owner. She was Ranuccio Tomassoni, whom Caravaggio killed on May 28, 1606. This murder forced him to flee Rome to avoid the death penalty.
The exhibition, which offers a new perspective on the artistic and cultural revolution created by the painter known as the "Lord of Light", directs the viewer to discover the entirety of Caravaggio's artistic heritage. It begins with his arrival in Rome around 1595, where he was initially forced to paint for very little money and where he painted masterpieces such as "The Young Sick Bacchus" and continued until 1610 with "The Martyrdom of St. Bacchus". His last work before his death is "Ursula".
"There is still much to discover about Caravaggio." We have not yet found all the known paintings that historical sources tell us about, and there are gaps in his history, documentary history and the possibility of reconstructing his biography. Caravaggio is a painter who began his artistic life in Rome for us, but he came to this city as an artist who had painted for many years in Lombardy, and we still have not been able to find any of his works from that period. "There is still much to work on, much to be worked on," said Cappelletti, co-curator of the exhibition.
The artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio died in July 1610 at the age of 38, while returning to Rome after being pardoned by the Pope for his crimes.
The exhibition "Caravaggio 2025" will be open to visitors at the National Gallery of Ancient Art in Rome until July 6.
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Source: https://www.koha.net/en/index.php/kulture/kryeveprat-e-caravaggios-hapin-boten-e-mjeshtrit-te-drites