This article about my expedition Caravaggio, like a play in earlier times, consists of several acts. The scenery will change in between and where necessary I will take a moment for a changement.
The first act: Caravaggio in Utrecht
Via via, I receive an invitation to a special event at the Centraal Museum in Utrecht in early 2019. There, the exhibition “Utrecht, Caravaggio and Europe” will take place, where 3 works by the famous Italian painter Caravaggio will be on display in the Netherlands for the first time.
I must confess that at that moment I don’t really know who Caravaggio is, but as we are invited to visit the exhibition after closing time, I see images like in the movie “Night at the Museum” before me. It is one of my first ‘art jobs’.
There are three works by the Italian master on display, as mentioned above, and I particularly remember the chiaroscuro (light-dark contrast) with which this painter made his name, well before Rembrandt. Many other painters, including the Utrechters Gerrit van Honthorst and Hendrick ter Brugghen, traveled to Rome and were inspired by that style. These painters therefore also play an important role in this exhibition.
Of the three Caravaggio’s present, at that moment his Medusa impresses me the most. Yet this is not yet the moment when I become a true lover of his work.
Brief interlude: who is Caravaggio?
It might be good at this point to briefly introduce the protagonist of this piece.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (born Sept. 29, 1571 in the village of Caravaggio near Bergamo – died July 18, 1610 in Porto Ercole), better known as Caravaggio, is an Italian painter who worked most of his artistic life in Rome. The last four years of his turbulent life he moves between Naples, Malta and Sicily. His paintings have been characterized by art critics as combining a realistic observation of the human condition, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of chiaroscuro, which was a formative influence on Baroque painting.
Chiaroscuro is a technique from painting, film and photography in which light-dark contrasts are depicted more strongly than they often are in reality. In chiaroscuro, the background is dark and the foreground is light. The light source itself is usually not clearly identifiable; it could be the sun, but also a lamp or a candle flame (source: wikipedia).
The second act: mural of Paul’s conversion in the Cenacle Church
Here we need to make a changement in between. It is now late 2020, in the middle of corona time, and we are in Gelderland To be precise, in the Cenacle Church in a village near Nijmegen with the wonderful name: Heilig Landstichting. This particular church is richly decorated with mosaics and murals.
I get talking to one of the volunteers present who points out a detail, a donkey lying on its back. ´Why is he lying on his back?” he asks me. ‘No idea,’ I say. Neither does he. Then he points me to another part of the mural. ‘That’s the moment of Paul’s conversion, who is struck by lightning and falls off his horse,’ he says. ‘But if you want to see something really beautiful, go to Santa Maria de Popolo in Rome. There you can see a beautiful work by Caravaggio about the same event.’ My interest is piqued, because at that moment I remember that exhibition I saw in Utrecht two years ago. So I resolve on the spot – if the opportunity ever arises – to go here to see that with my own eyes.
Entr’acte: the phone call with Wouter from Rome
Almost two years later again, I call Wouter. I am working with him on a project about coffee subscriptions for home workers and we get talking about other things. Wouter has been living in Rome for a few years and turns out to be a huge fan of Caravaggio. “You know what seems fun to me now,” Wouter says, ”to see all of Caravaggio’s works in Rome once in one weekend. He has suggested it to a friend, but he does not share his interest. ‘I’d like that too,’ I say impulsively, thinking back to the story of that elderly volunteer in the Cenacle Church. Wouter responds enthusiastically and we spontaneously agree to look for a weekend in the spring to put his idea into practice. We end up with the first weekend in May in 2023.
The third act: on my way to Rome
It is early May when the time actually comes. By now I have done a little reading and made a rough schedule for my weekend so that I can make the best use of the time. I plan to spend all of Friday in Vatican City, visiting the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s. Saturday, I’ll go on a tour with Wouter of various museums and churches in Rome that feature works by Caravaggio. And Sunday I will then visit the works that may not have succeeded on the earlier days.
The Vatican museums: the Entombment of Jesus
On the advice of Saskia, host from the Italy website Ciao tutti, I booked tickets online for the Vatican Museums early because it’s always crowded there, especially at iconic sites like the Sistine Chapel. I have a very early flight from Rotterdam and am already walking towards the entrance of the Museums around 10 o’clock. Indeed, I see a huge line there, but thanks to Saskia’s handy tip, I can walk straight to the entrance.
Only one work by Caravaggio hangs here, but now I want to see the rest of these museums as well. For half a day I wander through these beautiful museums, also visit the (crowded) Sistine Chapel and see beautiful art by famous artists. Only at the end do I “score” my first Caravaggio: “The Entombment of Jesus” in the Pinocoteca.
And you know what’s funny? I find out only now while writing this piece that this work was thus also one of the three works in Utrecht that I had already seen back in 2019! So I didn’t actually have to go through all these museums at all. Whether I with hindsight regret that? Absolutely not.
Also, my visit to St. Peter’s Church (with Michelangelo’s fantastic Piéta) and climbing the dome of this church, are highlights for me. Literally and figuratively.
With the electric Fiat 500 across Rome
The next morning I am picked up by Wouter. This is the first time we meet in real life. He owns an electric Fiat 500 and he just got a permit that week that allows him to go anywhere in the city. That works out well for our expedition Caravaggio today!
We start at the Santa Maria de Popolo. I’ve done my homework and thanks to this article on Ciao tutti, I know where all the places are with works by Caravaggio. These are not only in numerous museums, but also often in the place they were originally made for, usually a church (in situ is what they call it in art circles). So like the Santa Maria de Popolo church. But luck is not with us, because just as we arrive, the church closes for us due to a wedding.
On to the next place then, the Santa Maria della Concezione. There we see our first Caravaggio of the day: John the Baptist. It is an interesting place anyway because here you can also see all kinds of bone chapels with bones of old Capuchin monks. A bit sinister, but certainly no less interesting.
Wouter’s electric Fiat 500 turns out to be a godsend because we can get to many places where other cars are not allowed, and parking is a breeze with such a small car.
The second disappointment
At the Palazzo Barberini, a second disappointment awaits us. This is the museum where two works by the master are normally on display. One of those two is one that I would have liked to see: ‘Judith beheading Holofernes’. But unfortunately, this work is currently on loan to a museum in Minneapolis. As consolation, I buy a postcard of the missing painting.
But there is no use complaining now, and in good spirits we drive from one place to another. Thanks to my preparation, we know exactly where we need to be. We visit the San Luigi dei Francesi church, the Sant’Agostino church and also in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj we enjoy some fantastic paintings by Caravaggio and with him some other great masters.
Back to the Santa Maria de Popolo
Mid-afternoon we return to the Santa Maria de Popolo. Fortunately, we are now allowed inside. And then I finally see with my own eyes why that older man tipped me off years ago in the Cenacle Church to go here. The two paintings by Caravaggio hanging here in the chapel are indeed overwhelming. The Conversion of Paul and especially The Crucifixion of Peter impress me greatly.
As did his works on Matthew in the Contarelli Chapel in San Luigi dei Francesi earlier this afternoon. I also now understand why.
These are exactly the places these paintings were made for. The light on the paintings matches the light in these chapels and the dimensions are impressive. Just like the Mystic Lamb in Ghent. Actually, you should be able to see all the paintings in the place they were once made for. In addition, the realism of this painter is unprecedented. No embellishments, just hard reality. And the already mentioned chiaroscuro is in excellent hands with Caravaggio. Caravaggio is a painter who, with his realism and perfect use of light-dark contrasts, manages to touch my soul directly.
It is already late in the afternoon when we sit down on a terrace near the Musei Capitolini (which, by the way, we are no longer allowed to enter because it is already too late). We look back with satisfaction on a very successful day. While I enjoy my very first Limoncello Spritz ever in a lovely Roman afternoon sun.
Sunday, not a day for resting
On the last day of this Caravaggio expedition, I am on my own again. There are still a few places I want to go before returning home. And even today it will not be possible to see everything I had wanted because Galleria Borghese, where no less than 6 Caravaggio´s hang, is completely sold out today. Definitely a good reason to take a turn toward the Trevi Fountain during my walk through the center. I tossed a coin over my shoulder here almost 30 years ago during my very first Rome visit, and it apparently helped, because after all, I returned. But since I still want to see some of Caravaggio’s paintings in Rome, I will have to come back again. So once again I invest a coin that I toss over my left shoulder into the fountain.
Meanwhile, I am enjoying this eternal city while walking this morning. I walk past the huge rows at the Colosseum, spontaneously attend a mass at the magnificent Pantheon and enjoy a delicious pasta on a sunny terrace.
The last two museums I visit, which happen to be free admission today, are Palazzo Corsini and Musei Capitolini. There I see his last works for this weekend.
Enjoying Trastevere
Palazzo Corsini is in the Trastevere neighborhood, a cozy area where it’s good to hang out. If I ever return to Rome, I’m going to try to find a place to sleep here. Today I enjoy my cultural expedition and also walk into some churches. Santa Maria de Trastevere, for example, is another gem where I even see a work by a Utrecht Caravaggist, Gerard van Honthorst. One of the painters at the center of that first exhibition in 2019. The circle is complete and I go home completely satisfied.
The fourth act: returning to Caravaggio in Naples and Rome
It is January 2025 and I have signed up to several facebook groups about Caravaggio. There, one fine day, I see an announcement that makes my heart beat faster. From early March until July, there will be a unique exhibition at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome that will feature dozens of works by Caravaggio from Italy as well as abroad. I immediately realize: this is a unique opportunity that I cannot miss. I send a message tot Wouter, who still lives in Rome, and he responds immediately. We have to go there!
Wouter buys tickets as soon as possible because this will be a very busy exhibition, especially in this Jubilee year. And I arrange tickets for the Galleria Borghese because it won’t happen to me again that I can’t get in there.
Palazzo Barberini
The tickets are quickly arranged, but I still need to book my trip. I’m seriously considering going by train, but after figuring that out, I realize it will cost at least 4 extra days. I think that’s too much. In the end, I book the outbound flight to Naples and will fly back from Rome. Naples, I see you frowning thinking? Yes indeed. Because Naples is also home to works by Caravaggio. And the flight is half cheaper than to Rome.
Of the three Neapolitan works, two turn out to be on exhibition in Rome, but the very best, “The 7 Works of Mercy,” is fortunately on display in the church Pio monte de misericordia. This work may never leave that church. Thank goodness, what a masterpiece this is. You can read all about it in my other article about this city walk in Naples.
From Naples, I catch the train to Rome and check into my hostel in, yes, the Trastevere district. I meet up with Wouter the next morning at Palazzo Barberini. Full of anticipation my heart is beating, because over the next few days I am going to see a lot of Caravaggio. By now I also dare to call myself an (amateur) connoisseur, because I have seen the pictures of all his works and also read his life story and other books about his work.
We meet in line at Palazzo Barberini. Good thing we bought tickets early because everything is sold out. It is crowded, very crowded, but still it will be an unforgettable experience.
The lifecycle of Caravaggio
The exhibition is structured according to Caravaggio’s life cycle. It is particularly interesting to see the development of his style. In total, there are no less than 24 works. And finally I see my favorite work: ‘Judith decapitates Holofornes’ which I missed two years earlier.
I know the work inside out by now because I bought a postcard on my previous visit that I look at regularly. But to now see this horrifically beautiful painting in real life does give me extra satisfaction.
There are some very impressive paintings hanging here today and I consider myself lucky to be able to witness this. Wouter is also visibly impressed. After a few hours, we both walk out with big smiles on our faces.
We must celebrate this and we do so with a delicious pasta tartufo that tastes exquisite. Not least because of that bottle of tasty Pinot Grigio to go with it.
World record Caravaggio’s-in-a-day
After lunch I say goodbye to Wouter. We will meet again the next day at the entrance to Galleria Borghese. I still have a good part of the afternoon ahead of me and decide that I will once again visit the 3 churches where I so enjoyed 2 years ago, seeing all the paintings in the places they were originally created for
And so it happens. As I settle down with my tired feet on a terrace in Trastevere that evening, I realize that I have done something special. I think I have set the world record for Caravaggio’s-in-a-day. I challenge any reader who want to challenge my record. There are as many as 30 in all! Unless someone is as crazy as me, I don’t think this record is going to be broken anytime soon. Certainly when the exhibition at Palazzo Barberini is over, I will probably remain that record-holder for a long time.
Galleria Borghese and that one fresco
I also know that there is 1 more work by Caravaggio in Rome that I won’t get to see these days. Unless? Unless I pass it and there happens to be someone at the gate kind enough to let me in. You see, this is a fresco in a vacant villa not far from the Galleria Borghese. I leave my hostel well in time so I might have a chance.
By bus I ride from Trastevere toward the Borghese Gardens and get off a few stops early. At the villa Aurora in Via Aurora, I see mostly very high walls. A few years ago this city villa was for sale for a sloppy 470 million euros. It did not sell then. Inside the villa, on one of the ceilings is a fresco by Caravaggio that remains hidden from the rest of the world. I walk all the way around the meter-high walls and come out to a fence. But it looks very dense and uninhabited. I am not going to get to see this Roman work by Caravaggio during this visit.
Why so many nudes in a papal residence?
I continue walking through the leafy Borghese Gardens and see Wouter already standing at the entrance to the Galleria. Yesterday at the exhibition we have already seen three works that normally hang here. But there is much more to see in the Galleria Borghese. Once this was a palace for a pope, Scipione Borghese. I think the latter could have learned a lot from the message of simplicity of the recently deceased Pope Francis. What splendor flaunts here. Sculptures by Bernini and paintings by a host of Italian masters such as Raphael, Botticelli et cetera. And the Palazzo itself is also quite something. And why are there actually so many nudes here in such a papal residence?
Here hang the last three Caravaggio’s of my expedition. Somehow, after yesterday, those three feel a little bit like an anticlimax. But wait a minute? According to my list, there should be one more here, a portrait of Pope Paul V. We walk through all the rooms again and ask all kinds of staff members. One says it hangs at the exhibition in Barberini, another thinks it is on loan to Galleria Doria Pamphilj. No one really knows for sure. It remains a mystery. There does hang a portrait of this pope that was initially attributed to Caravaggio, but later people changed their minds.
When I get back home later, I get a message from someone on Facebook stating that the portrait is nowhere to be seen because it is in the Borghese family’s private collection. The last time it could be seen in public in Rome was in 2011. The portrait you see now in Galleria Borghese is indeed a copy, by Padovanino.
Fifth and final act? Expedition Caravaggio not over yet
Is this the final act of my expedition Caravaggio? I don’t think so! There are a number of works that I would like to be back in real life. A week after I return from Rome, I read that the frescoed villa will be opened on weekends and that visitors with a ticket to the Barberini exhibition can still go there. Grrrrrr…
Who knows, maybe next time. But unfortunately, I didn’t manage to toss a coin over my shoulder at the Trevi Fountain this time because it was not accessible at the time I walked by it. But there are other works I would much rather see than this Roman fresco. In Italy itself of course (Milan, Genoa, Palermo, Florence, Cremona, Syracuse, Messina), but also in Germany, the United States, Austria, England and last but not least Malta. In short, still plenty of places to vacantasize about. My Caravaggio Expedition is far from over.
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Practical information
The information in this article on Ciao tutti formed the starting point for my first Caravaggio weekend in Rome in 2023. That story also includes a handy link to a city walk that takes you past Roman Caravaggio’s.
The special Caravaggio exhibition at Palazzo Barberini in Rome featuring 24 unique works from around the world will take place from March 7 to July 6, 2025.
Don’t feel like finding out everything yourself in Rome? At Get your guide you have a rich selection of guided walking tours and private tours, all dedicated to Caravaggio.
I traveled to Rome and Naples with Transavia. On Booking.com you will find a wide range of hostels and hotels where you can stay. The last weekend I stayed in this nice hostel in the Trastevere quater.
Collaboration
I would like to thank my expedition-mate Wouter for our two joint Roman Caravaggio adventures. The final editing was in the hands of Astrid van Unen of U-productions.