Paintings that are rarely visible to the public and ones that will be exhibited in Italy for the first time through loans makes Caravaggio 2025 a must-see for culture vultures in the Bel Paese.

The exhibition is produced by the National Galleries of Ancient Art in collaboration with the Galleria Borghese.

Presented on Wednesday in Rome, Caravaggio 2025 will bring together about twenty paintings by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610).

There may be even more than twenty since, according to the director of the National Galleries of Ancient Art, Thomas Clement Salomon, “the last loans are being closed”.

Among the works on display will be the Portrait of Maffeo Barberini, recently presented to the public, and the Ecce Homo, currently exhibited at the Prado in Madrid.

Portrait of Maffeo Barberini by Caravaggio. (Credit: @xmuse_ on X)

“[The latter] is a work never seen before in Italy,” explains Maria Cristina Terzaghi, curator of the exhibition with Salomon and Francesca Cappelletti.

“It left Naples at the behest of the vicereine, wife of the Count of Castrillo, who when the plague broke out in the city decided to return to Madrid, taking the painting with her…

“[It] has never returned since; it belongs to a private collector who lent it to the Prado, which in turn generously lent it to us for this exhibition.”

The content of this exhibition “is pure Caravaggio” claims Cappelletti, director of the Galleria Borghese and co-curator of the exhibition.

“The Galleria Borghese,” she says, “is present with three important loans, from the Sick Bacchus to David with the Head of Goliath and then the Saint John the Baptist, paintings that probably accompanied the artist even in his final escape.”

Caravaggio, who was born in Milan, was compelled to flee Rome where he was accused of murder, in May 1606, and travel south through Italy, reaching as far as the island of Malta.

His exile spanned slightly over four years and concluded with his demise from illness in July 1610 at the age of 38.

ANSA