Review of the exhibition Dentro Caravaggio in Milan, Palazzo Reale

Announced as one of this year’s event-exhibitions and even sold out even before the official opening on September 29, with more than sixty thousand tickets sold (and sold out in advance), the visit to the exhibition “Dentro Caravaggio,” which Palazzo Reale in Milan is dedicating until January 28, 2018 to the art of the great Michelangelo Merisi, better known as Caravaggio, presupposed no small expectations. The general public has always been attracted to the figure of Caravaggio (Milan, 1571 - Porto Ercole, 1610), not only because of his undoubted artistic abilities, but also because of his biography that was by no means monotonous, his unruly existence, and his rebellious character... and it is known that the “rebellious and damned” exudes a charm that can hardly be contrasted with opposing characters.

One expected an exhibition that could compete with what was the most important exhibition dedicated to Caravaggio in the 20th century, namely the one that Roberto Longhi curated in 1951 in the same rooms where this year’s exhibition was set up. Also because very little information was possessed prior to the opening press conference regarding the choices of paintings to be displayed in the exhibition, as well as regarding the intent of the exhibition.

“Inside Caravaggio” builds on an extensive study campaign launched on the occasion of the Fourth Centenary of Michelangelo Merisi’s death (1610-2010). The archival research, carried out at the State Archives in Rome, led not only to the revision of all documents, but also to new documentary discoveries that led to a profound revision of the chronology related to the artist’s early Roman period.

But that’s not all: the investigations also involved the execution technique that Caravaggio employed in the creation of his works; diagnostic investigations, directed by Rossella Vodret, curator of the current exhibition, in collaboration with the National Committee for the Fourth Centenary of Caravaggio’s death, the Special Superintendence for the Roman Museum Complex and the Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione e il Restauro, which began in 2009 and then continued in 2017, thanks to the support of the Bracco Foundation, on the other works on display today at the Royal Palace.

Click here to read the full review...

Review of the exhibition Dentro Caravaggio in Milan, Palazzo Reale

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.