An early 17th-century portrait by the Italian Baroque artist Caravaggio is now on public display for the first time. A new exhibition at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome unveils the forgotten painting, which was hidden away for centuries before its re-emergence in the 1960s. The Caravaggio portrait will be on display through February 23, 2025.
Caravaggio Portraits Are “Extremely Rare”
The newly unveiled Caravaggio portrait dates back to the early 1600s. It depicts Maffeo Barberini, the son of a Florentine nobleman who later became Pope Urban VIII in 1623. Barberini wears a black biretta and green cassock, which were typically worn by clergymen. He holds a folded letter in one hand and gazes intently off to the side. The Caravaggio portrait was unknown until the 20th century, at which time it was finally attributed to the Italian Baroque painter. However, the painting had never been seen by the public until its first-ever exhibition opened this month in Rome.
“It is not a rediscovered painting,” explained art historian and exhibition co-curator Paola Nicita to ANSA. “It has been known about since the 1960s, but since then it has only been seen by five or six specialists. Not to mention that portraits of Caravaggio are extremely rare; some have been lost, and others have never been traced.” Gallery director and exhibition co-curator Thomas Clement Salomon said, “It is the Caravaggio painting that everyone has wanted to see for years…. This work is fundamental because you can count the number of portraits by Caravaggio on the fingers of one hand.”
Experts Agree Forgotten Portrait Is Authentic
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Sign up to our Free Weekly NewsletterThe forgotten Caravaggio painting was discovered by leading Italian art historian Roberto Longhi, whose 1963 article identified it. According to Longhi, the Caravaggio portrait appeared in Rome in the 20th century without any documentation. He concluded that the painting had been kept in the Barberini family’s art collection for centuries. It finally ended up in a private collection in the 1930s after the Barberini estate was dispersed. The Caravaggio portrait’s current owners, an unnamed Florentine family, acquired the painting in the 1960s, around the time Longhi attributed it to the famous Italian Baroque artist. Several other experts on Caravaggio and 17th-century painting have since confirmed Longhi’s attribution.
Clement Salomon also noted that there is documentary evidence from the 17th century indicating that Caravaggio was commissioned to paint Barberini’s portrait, as well as more recent diagnostic analyses that support Longhi’s claims about the painting’s provenance “beyond any doubt.” He added, “Showing this work 60 years after experts first attributed the work to Caravaggio is something incredible.”
Who Was Caravaggio?
Caravaggio was born Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio in 1571 in Milan, Italy. After training as an artist in his hometown, Caravaggio moved to Rome, where he quickly gained a reputation as a prodigious painter, especially of religious and mythological scenes. With his action-packed compositions, striking realism, and dramatic chiaroscuro, Caravaggio shaped the Italian Baroque style of the Counter-Reformation era. Caravaggio was also notorious for his violent temper. Following a particularly nasty brawl during which his opponent was killed, Caravaggio fled to Naples, where he found new patrons. A few years later, following some travels around Italy and a few more bouts of erratic behavior, Caravaggio died at age 38.
