With mourners, pilgrims and tourists gathering in Rome at this time, I hope many will also find the time to visit Caravaggio 2025, the landmark exhibition of 28 works by the baroque master brought together as the artistic highlight of this Jubilee year.
While many of the works are usually at home in Rome’s museums, the joy of this exhibition is seeing a number of works from private collections and US institutions, including this stunning image of the Conversion of Saint Paul (Saul) from the Nicoletta Odescalchi collection.
In 1600 Tiberio Cerasi asked Caravaggio for two paintings: the Crucifixion of Saint Peter and the Conversion of Saul for his chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. When Caravaggio obtained the commission, the chapel had not been built yet, so it was impossible for him to know what the space would be like. The first version Caravaggio painted of the two religious episodes on precious cypress panels was in fact ill-suited to the chapel’s narrow, cramped structure, so Caravaggio had to repaint both episodes, which we are still able to admire in the church today. Unfortunately, the initial version of the Crucifixion of Saint Peter was lost, whereas, fortunately this magnificent Conversion of Saul was conserved.
The Arts of Golden Age Spain and the Hispanic World 