SCUDERIE DEL QUIRINALE PRESENTS HISTORIC CARAVAGGIO EXHIBITION

THE MASTER OF LIGHT, SHADOW AND EMOTION IS BACK ON CENTER STAGE AFTER 400 YEARS. AN EXHIBITION OPENING THIS WEEKEND IN ROME COMMEMORATES BAROQUE MASTER CARAVAGGIO, WHO REVOLUTIONIZED THE ART WORLD WITH HIS REALISM AND INTENSITY. THE SHOW BRINGS TOGETHER 24 PAINTINGS, FROM MUSEUMS ACROSS EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES, OF UNDISPUTED AUTHENTICITY ON THE 400th ANNIVERSARY OF THE PAINTER'S DEATH. CURATORS SAID THEY AIMED TO PRESENT THE TRUE MICHELANGELO MERISI DA CARAVAGGIO (1571-1610) AFTER A CENTURY IN WHICH MANY WORKS OF OTHER ARTISTS HAVE BEEN FALSELY ATTRIBUTED TO HIM. THE EXHIBIT TAKES PLACE AT THE SCUDERIE DEL QUIRINALE, A MUSEUM FASHIONED FROM THE STABLES OF ROME'S QUIRINAL PALACE, AND RUNS THROUGH 13.JUNE. BY FRIDAY, SOME 50,000 RESERVATIONS ALREADY HAD BEEN MADE FOR WHAT NEWSPAPER CORRIERE DELLA SERA DUBBED ROME'S 'EXHIBITION OF THE YEAR'.
THE ROME EXHIBITION IS ORGANIZED CHRONOLOGICALLY AND DIVIDED INTO THE THREE MAIN PERIODS OF CARAVAGGIO'S SHORT CAREER. CARAVAGGIO, WHO DIED WHEN HE WAS 39, PAINTED FOR 18 YEARS AND PRODUCED RELATIVELY FEW PIECES. PERIODS OF INTENSE CREATION WERE INTERSPERSED WITH LONG PERIODS OF ARTISTIC REST. IN HIS FIRST STAGE, 1592-1599, CARAVAGGIO OFTEN USED GREEN AS A PREDOMINANT BACKGROUND COLOUR. IN THE SECOND PHASE, 1607-1610, DUBBED 'FLIGHT', FIGURES ARE OFTEN SET IN GREY. 'FLIGHT' REFERS TO CARAVAGGIO'S BEING FORCED TO FLEE ROME IN 1606 AFTER RECEIVING THE DEATH PENALTY FOR KILLING A MAN IN A DUEL. HE SPENT THE LAST YEARS OF HIS LIFE IN NAPLES, MALTA AND SICILY. IN THAT LATE PERIOD, CARAVAGGIO PRODUCED A REMARKABLE 'DAVID WITH THE HEAD OF GOLIATH', PORTRAYING HIS OWN LIKENESS IN THE DECAPITATED HEAD OF GOLIATH. DAVID SEEMS ALMOST COMPASSIONATE AND MOVED AS HE LOOKS AT THE SEVERED HEAD, 'ALMOST AN ETERNAL ADMONITION AGAINST THE ABSURDITY OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT', CURATORS WROTE IN AN ACCOMPANYING TEXT. OTHER WORKS ON LOAN INCLUDE 'THE MUSICIANS', WHICH DEPICTS FOUR MALE YOUTHS PLAYING MUSIC, FROM THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK AND 'AMOR VINCIT OMNIA' SHOWING A WINGED CUPID, FROM BERLIN'S GEMAELDEGALERIE MUSEUM.