Rome is incredibly rich in masterpieces: painting, sculptures, monuments ... Everybody knows that. But it is less obvious that a lot of those treasures are visible without queuing and without having to pay entrance tickets. In fact, many of them are not closed in museums where you have to fight with crowds of tourists. At the contrary, very often they still are on the places where they were originally, in their "natural surrounding": in the churches.
It is particularly the case of one of the most extraordinary artist of the whole history of painting: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573- 1610), the great master of the "chiaroscuro" and the pioneer of realistic painting. Seven of his works are exposed in four different roman churches, not very far one from the other.
The most intensively moving experience is perhaps to discover his St Mathieu triptych (painted between 1599 and 1602) in "Saint Louis des Français", the French church of Rome with a beautiful and austere Renaissance facade (end of the 16th century) and a very rich late baroque interior decoration (beginning of the 18th century). In the fifth chapel on the left of the altar, the Contarelli Chapel, you can admire "The Calling of St Mathieu" facing "The Martyrdom of St Mathieu" (with a self-portrait of the painter on the left side of the painting) and, in the middle, the marvellous "St Mathieu and the Angel" called also "The Inspiration".
It is particularly the case of one of the most extraordinary artist of the whole history of painting: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573- 1610), the great master of the "chiaroscuro" and the pioneer of realistic painting. Seven of his works are exposed in four different roman churches, not very far one from the other.
The most intensively moving experience is perhaps to discover his St Mathieu triptych (painted between 1599 and 1602) in "Saint Louis des Français", the French church of Rome with a beautiful and austere Renaissance facade (end of the 16th century) and a very rich late baroque interior decoration (beginning of the 18th century). In the fifth chapel on the left of the altar, the Contarelli Chapel, you can admire "The Calling of St Mathieu" facing "The Martyrdom of St Mathieu" (with a self-portrait of the painter on the left side of the painting) and, in the middle, the marvellous "St Mathieu and the Angel" called also "The Inspiration".
Caravaggio - St Mathieu Triptych - Saint Louis Des Francais
With the eyes still full of the magic contrast between light and dark that makes the Caravaggio paintings so alive, you are ready to see other works of the great artist. Just a few minutes walk is necessary to go to another church of the same part (Campo Marzio) of the old roman "centro storico", "St Augustine". When you enter into the church and look on the left side, you find yourself in front of a luminous and though very human "Madonna del Loreto", called also "Madonna dei Pellegrini" (Madonna of the Pilgrims). The model that Caravaggio used for this unusual Madonna was a girl friend of him, Lena, a roman prostitute.
Caravaggio - Madonna Dei Pellegrini - St Augustin Basilique
As you are already in that church, have a look to the third pillar. You'll be touched by the beauty (and a marvellous blue colour!) of "The prophet Isaiah", a fresco painted by Raphael a hundred year before the Caravaggio's barefoot Madonna.
Raffaello - The Prophet Isaia - St Augustin Basilique
The third church where you can see two other Caravaggio is "Santa Maria del Popolo", on the famous "Piazza del Popolo (a quarter of an hour walk from the St Augustine) where "The Conversion of St Paul" and " The Crucifixion of St Peter" are one opposite the other in the Cerasi chapel. But, before that, you can have a look to the place where Caravaggio lived and worked, just near St Augustine, at the number 19 of a little street, the Vicolo del Divino Amore.
Caravaggio - The Crucifixion of St Peter - Santa Maria Del Popolo
Caravaggio - The Conversion of St Paul - Santa Maria Del Popolo
There is a fourth church, the "Santa Maria Immacolata" (via Veneto) where you can admire, in the sacristy of the church, a "Saint Francis in Meditation" that was considerate until recently as a copy. According to different experts, that is the original painting and not the very similar one exposed in the museum of Palazzo Barberini!
After these splendid experiences, you will probably want to see all the other Caravaggio's paintings exposed in roman museums (the third of all his work is in Rome). The richest one is the Galleria Borghese (with 5 paintings!). But there are some Caravaggio also in Capitoline Museum, Palazzo Barberini, Palazzo Corsini, Doria Pamphilij Gallery and the Vatican Museum.
After these splendid experiences, you will probably want to see all the other Caravaggio's paintings exposed in roman museums (the third of all his work is in Rome). The richest one is the Galleria Borghese (with 5 paintings!). But there are some Caravaggio also in Capitoline Museum, Palazzo Barberini, Palazzo Corsini, Doria Pamphilij Gallery and the Vatican Museum.
Caravaggio - Saint Francis in Meditation - Santa Maria Immacolata
That is not all. In the Villa Ludovisi (near via Veneto) you can discover the only ceiling that he ever painted: an allegory of the Paracelsus alchemical triad where Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto are, in fact, Caravaggio's self portraits.
And, last but not least, from the 24th March to the 3 July, you can make an extraordinary sensorial journey, a total immersion in the Caravaggio's world with the "Caravaggio experience", at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni (via Nazionale). Thanks to a video installation with the use of a sophisticated multi-projections system, original music and even fragrances, created by the famous Florence's pharmacy "Santa Maria Novella" that existed already in the Caravaggio's days.
And, last but not least, from the 24th March to the 3 July, you can make an extraordinary sensorial journey, a total immersion in the Caravaggio's world with the "Caravaggio experience", at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni (via Nazionale). Thanks to a video installation with the use of a sophisticated multi-projections system, original music and even fragrances, created by the famous Florence's pharmacy "Santa Maria Novella" that existed already in the Caravaggio's days.
Caravaggio - Jupiter, Neptune And Pluto - Villa Ludovisi
