The painter Michelangelo Merisi is better known to history by the name of the small Italian village in which he grew up: Caravaggio. He lived from 1571-1610, and was a key figure in Western art. He was a painter of extreme realism who incorporated everyday, non-idealized people as his models, and was an absolute master of using the interplay of dark and light to produce gripping, dramatic effects. Before he was 30, he had made his way to Rome and was being celebrated as the greatest painter of his age.
He died young, and in rather mysterious circumstances. “His was a tempestuous life,” explains a British journalist, “blighted by violence, brawls, and trouble with the authorities.” He was forced to flee Rome at the height of his reputation after he killed a man. In 2010, forensic analysis indicated that some bones unearthed in Tuscany were very likely to be his. The high concentrations of lead discovered in the bones contributed to his poor health, bouts of depression, and erratic behavior. (Lead poisoning was a consequence of using the standard lead-based paint: Van Gogh and Goya suffered similar effects from their working environment.)
From now until early July, there’s a significant exhibit of his paintings up in Rome at the Palazzo Barberini, hosted by the National Gallery of Ancient Art. Italy Magazine calls it “a blockbuster pairing of Baroque painting’s biggest superstar with Baroque Rome’s prototypical palace.” It’s arranged chronologically and incorporates the four Caravaggio’s from the Palazzo Barberini’s permanent collection with 20 loans from around the world, some well known, others rarely even seen.
There’s a painting from the Prado Museum in Madrid that’s back in Italy for the first time in centuries. There are several pieces on loan from museums in the United States. There’s Saint John the Baptist from the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City. There’s Saint Francis in Ecstasy from the Wadsworth Atheneum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut. And there’s one of the absolute treasures of the Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth, popularly known as The Cardsharps. So if you go to the Kimbell right now, that one won’t be there.
You’ll recognize some of the same faces in these paintings. He used his favorite models over and over.
One look at some of these paintings can remind you of the power that a masterful work of art can have. Having cause to revisit Caravaggio is always a worth it.
