ROME SHOWS MARK 400 YEARS SINCE CARAVAGGIO'S DEATH
ROME SHOWS MARK 400 YEARS SINCE CARAVAGGIO'S DEATH
(ANSA) - Rome, October 29 - The Italian capital is staging two large Caravaggio exhibitions to mark four centuries since the maestro's death.
The first show compares Caravaggio's work with that of 20th-century British artist Francis Bacon, while the second offers an array of the Italian's top works from museums around the world.
'Caravaggio-Bacon', which also coincides with the centenary of the latter's birth, provides visitors with a highly unusual approach to the work of both artists.
There is no suggestion that Bacon was ever influenced by Caravaggio and no direct link between their work.
However, curators hope the exhibit draws out indirect ties between the two, spotlighting the revolutionary approach adopted by both in their representation of the human body and their focus on carnality above spiritual and religious convention.
The exhibit showcases works by each man side-by-side, drawing out accidental echoes, reflections and similarities, and asking visitors to consider the ideas behind the art.
The Bacon works are mainly on loan from London's Tate Collection, while the Caravaggio pieces will include some of the Borghese Gallery's most famous Caravaggio works.
'Boy with a Basket of Fruit', 'Young, Sick Bacchus' and 'David with the Head of Goliath' will all go on show but there will also be loans from further afield.
New York's Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art will lend 'The Denial of St Peter', Florence's Palazzo Pitti will loan its 'Portrait of Antonio Martelli', while 'The Martyrdom of St Ursula' will come from Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano in Naples.
The exhibition runs in the Borghese Gallery from October 1 to January 24 and will be followed by the second exhibition a few weeks later in Rome's Scuderie Quirinale, which opens on February 18.
The details of the second event have not yet been finalized but the exhibition will seek to introduce visitors to some of Caravaggio's very best pieces.
'Bacchus' will travel from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, 'David with the Head of Goliath' from the Borghese in Rome, 'The Musicians' will be on loan from the Met and 'Supper At Emmaus' from the National Gallery in London.
Born Michelangelo Merisi, Caravaggio (1573-1610) is considered by critics as the most revolutionary artist of his time. He is probably best known by non-experts for his mastery of chiaroscuro lighting.
He abandoned the focus on spirituality and idealized depictions of the human body that guided Renaissance artists in favour of more realistic and dramatic atmospheres, mixing street characters with religious subjects. photo: Caravaggio's 'David with the Head of Goliath'
