MAJOR EXHIBITION OF CARAVAGGIO TO BE PRESENTED IN MILAN

VITTORIO SGARBI RETURNS TO MILAN TO PRESENT A MAJOR NEW EXHIBITION THAT ILLUSTRATES THE BIRTH OF THE GENIUS CARAVAGGIO. RECONSTRUCTING HIS ARTISTIC TRAINING, FROM SIMONE PETERZANO TO THE VENETO AND LOMBARD MASTERS, THIS FASCINATING SHOW EXAMINES THE PRECURSORS AND CONTEMPORARIES OF MICHELANGELO MERISI (1571-1610), HIGHLIGHTING THE WORKS THAT THE ARTIST WOULD ACTUALLY HAVE SEEN AND WHAT HE WOULD HAVE WITNESSED IN THE ARTISTIC CLIMATE THAT DOMINATED THE AREA FROM VENICE TO MILAN BEFORE HE MOVED TO ROME, WHICH ACCORDING TO THE MOST RECENT STUDIES WAS LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN AROUND 1595-96. CURATED BY VITTORIO SGARBI, THE EXHIBITION 'THE EYES OF CARAVAGGIO. HIS FORMATIVE YEARS BETWEEN VENICE AND MILAN' IS PRODUCED AND ORGANIZED BY ARTHEMISIA GROUP IN COLLABORATION WITH THE MUSEO DIOCESANO DI MILANO, PROMOTED BY REGIONE LOMBARDIA AND STAGED THANKS TO THE VITAL SUPPORT OF BANCO POPOLARE DI MILANO AND TERNA. THE EXHIBITION GATHERS AROUND SIXTY MASTERPIECES BY THE GREATEST PAINTERS OF THE DAY, WHICH ARE EXHIBITED IN THE MUSEO DIOCESANO FROM 11.MARCH TO 3.JULY. WORKS BY GIORGIONE, TITIAN, TINTORETTO, LORENZO LOTTO, JACOPO DA BASSANO, MORETTO DA BRESCIA, GIOVAN BATTISTA MORONI, GEROLAMO SAVOLDO, VINCENZO AND ANTONIO CAMPI, AND MANY MORE, SOME OF WHICH HAVE NEVER BEEN EXHIBITED BEFORE, DOCUMENT THE FORMATION OF A GROUNDBREAKING AESTHETIC AND AN INNOVATIVE CONCEPTION OF THE HUMAN FIGURE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH SPACE AND LIGHT, WHICH WAS FUNDAMENTAL TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE YOUNG MERISI. NATURALLY CARAVAGGIO HIMSELF COULD NOT BE LEFT OUT, AND THE EXHIBITION INCLUDES SOME EXTREMELY SIGNIFICANT WORKS. ONE OF THESE IS THE SO-CALLED 'MURTOLA MEDUSA', THE FIRST VERSION IF THE FAMOUS SHIELD IN THE UFFIZI GALLERIES, WHICH TAKES ITS NAME FROM THE POET WHO WROTE A POEM ABOUT IT IN 1600. THE EXHIBITION ALSO INCLUDES TWO OTHER SEMINAL MASTERPIECES BY CARAVAGGIO: THE OUTSTANDING 'REST ON THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT', FROM THE DORIA PAMPHILJ COLLECTION IN ROME, AND 'THE FLAGELLATION OF CHRIST', IN ALL ITS HARROWING AND SENSUAL BEAUTY, FROM THE MUSEO DI CAPODIMONTE IN NAPLES, IN MILAN FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 1951. DIVIDED INTO SIX SECTION, THE EXHIBITION ILLUSTRATES THE ARTISTIC CONTEXT OF CARAVAGGIO's EARLY YEARS AS AN ARTIST.