I visited the Caravaggio 2025 exhibition earlier this year in Rome and had a number of issues with it. One of my peeves was the organization of painter's oeuvre. In a series of posts, I am attempting to place the paintings from the 2025 exhibition, and Caravaggio works that I have seen post that visit, into a more easily understood framework. This post continues that series.
Caravaggio's work in the Contarelli Chapel received widespread acclaim and lifted him up on a wave that he rode with gusto until he came crashing back to earth in 1606.
The first evidence of Caravaggio's newfound fame was a commission from Monsignor Tibero Cesari -- Treasurer-General to Pope Clement VIII -- to provide two paintings for the side panels of the Cesari Chapel of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Popolo. Cesari had recently bought the patronage rights to the chapel and commissioned Carracci and Caravaggio to provide the necessary artwork. Caravaggio's two paintings were supposed to commemorate Saints Peter and Paul but his first two submittals (Crucifixion of Saint Peter, c. 1600 - 1601 and Conversion of Saul, c. 1600 - 01) were not accepted. It is thought that Caravaggio painted the pieces prior to getting accurate measurements and the finished paintings did not fit the space.
![]() |
Basilica di Santa Maria del Popolo |
![]() | |
|
![]() |
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Conversion on the Way to Damascus, 1601 (Basilica di Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome; viewed in situ, 9/24/2025) |
![]() | |
|
![]() | |
|
The Taking of Christ was painted for the Roman Marquis Ciriaco Mattei and continued the flurry of commissions that fell into Caravaggio's lap following his Contarelli Chapel success. The figures, according to the National Gallery of Ireland (the home of the painting), are placed close to the picture plane and "a strong light-and-dark contrast" gives the scene an" extraordinary sense of drama." In the painting, Judas has identified Jesus with a kiss and the Temple Guards are moving in for the arrest. John The Evangelist flees the scene in disarray at the far left while Caravaggio peers in on the far right.
![]() | |
|
This painting has led a storied life. It remained in the Mattei Family for over 200 years. By the second half of the 18th Century a number of the Mattei paintings were reattributed, including the Caravaggio which was attributed to a Dutch Caravaggiste named Gerrit van Honthorst. In 1602 the painting was sold to William Hamilton Nisbett, a wealthy Scottish art collector doing business in Rome. The painting remained in his family for 119 years after which it was sold at auction in 1921 and again in 1922. Post the final auction it was held by Major Charles Hubert Francis Noel. In 1924 it was acquired by Dr Marie Lea-Wilson who brought it to Ireland. In the 1930s Dr Lea-Wilson presented the painting to the Jesuit Fathers of Leeson Street in Dublin where it hung in their dining room for 50 years. In 1990 Father Noel Barber contacted the National Gallery of Ireland to have its holdings assessed. Three years of careful study followed and the painting was once again attributed to Caravaggio and was placed on long-term loan to the National Galley of Ireland.
Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness, 1602 - 04, is one of about eight Caravaggio paintings dealing with this topic. The painting was initially commissioned by the banker Ottavio Costa who thought to send it to a small church in Liguria. He was unable to let the painting go, however, and kept it with him in Rome all his life.
The subject is shown "sitting on a rock, leaning on his reed cross, caught in. a moment of deep meditation. Light and shadow, engulfing the ribcage and falling across the eyes, wrestle on the figure of this saint ..."
![]() | |
|
![]() |
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Sacrifice of Isaac, 1603 - 04 (Uffizi, Florence; viewed in situ, 10/2/2025) |
![]() |
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, John the Baptist (John in the Wilderness), c. 1604 - 1606 (Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome; viewed at the Caravaggio 2025 exhibition, 7/18/2025) |
![]() |
Basilica di Sant'Eustachio |
![]() |
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Madonna of the Pilgrims (Madonna of Loreto), 1604 - 06 (Sant'Eustachio, Rome; viewed in situ, 9/24/2025) |
- He was in and out of prison
- He carried a sword
- He loafed about taverns
- He did not pay his rent for 6 months
- He harassed women
- He harassed anyone who slighted him
- He assaulted waiters, notaries and public officers.
No comments:
Post a Comment