Where is Caravaggio located?
The 2023 exhibitions and the museums in Italy where you can admire the works of the undisputed master of the 17th century.
Caravaggio on display
The masterpieces of Caravaggio in Italy can be admired in various museums and cultural institutions. The works are housed both within permanent collections and as part of exhibitions.
The Capodimonte Museum in Naples is hosting until January 7, 2023 the exhibition “Beyond Caravaggio“ with as many as 200 works coming solely from the permanent collections of the Neapolitan museum. “Beyond Caravaggio“ is one of the most visited exhibitions of 2023. Among the exhibits are works such as The Flagellation from 1607.
From Naples to Rome, where Caravaggio interacts with Pasolini in the exhibition Pier Paolo Pasolini. EVERYTHING IS HOLY. The works of the 17th-century master, such as Narcissus, are displayed alongside photographs and stills from Pasolini and his films.
Caravaggio in museums
Rest on the Flight into Egypt and Penitent Magdalene at the Doria Pamphilj Gallery in Rome
The Doria Pamphilj Gallery in Rome houses an enviable collection of paintings. The palace, still owned by the eponymous family, holds two works by Caravaggio: Rest on the Flight into Egypt and the Penitent Magdalene.
Rest on the Flight into Egypt is a work from 1597 attributable to Caravaggio’s early period. It is an example of extraordinary beauty and the canvas is made even more precious given the originality of the composition with the winged angel seen from behind, the Madonna with the child, and Saint Joseph holding the score.
The Penitent Magdalene is a work from 1597. It depicts a girl sitting on a low chair with her hands folded in her lap. She has a distressed expression and on the floor, abandoned jewels can be seen.
The Basket of Fruit at the Ambrosiana Gallery in Milan
The Ambrosiana Gallery in Milan has in its collection the Basket of Fruit by Caravaggio.
Thanks to the Basket, Caravaggio earned the title of precursor of the still life genre. A similar subject was not common at the time, and the artist faced numerous criticisms for choosing it.
The work for the first time centers an inanimate object on the canvas that is no longer just a complementary accessory to the human figure, but is entirely the protagonist.
The Basket of Fruit also enriches itself with various religious meanings, one above all being the relentless passage of time.
Seven Works of Mercy at Pio Monte della Misericordia in Naples
Seven Works of Mercy is one of the most enigmatic works by Caravaggio, created in 1607 on commission for the decoration of the Church of the Monte. The protagonists of the artwork are – as the title suggests – seven acts of mercy each interpreted by a different character.
Among these, for example, the act of feeding the hungry and visiting the imprisoned is represented by Cimone and his daughter Piero, while hospitality to pilgrims is depicted by the figure of Saint James (the man with the shell on his head) who is welcomed by the man in front of him.
The Seven Works of Mercy represents a true masterpiece in the use of light and shadow and opens the new seventeenth-century season of naturalism in Naples.
