David e Caravaggio. La crudeltà della natura, il profumo dell’ideale

Gallerie d’Italia, Naples

On display at Gallerie d’Italia in Naples, Caravaggio’s The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula – thought to be the artist’s last, dramatic painting – often provides opportunities for insights and exhibitions on themes linked to the great Lombardy-born Maestro’s work and fortunes.

One such example is the themed exhibition “Davide e Caravaggio. La crudeltà della natura, il profumo dell’ideale”. It was inspired by an exact replica of one of Caravaggio’s greatest masterpieces, The Entombment of Christ, from the Basilica reale pontificia di San Francesco di Paola, Naples; now in the Vatican Museums, the original was previously displayed in the Church of Santa Maria in Vallicella, Rome. This first-class copy was painted in 1824 by the Neapolitan artist Tommaso De Vivo when the original, requisitioned for the prestigious collections of the Musée Napoléon, returned to Rome and was transferred to the Vatican Museums.

These vicissitudes led us to retrace the fortunes of the masterpiece at a time when Michelangelo Merisi, although not held in great esteem by art historians and critics, had captured the attention of Neoclassical French painters residing in Rome as part of their training. A vital role in this sense was played by Jacques-Louis David, whose works feature specific references to the style of Caravaggio.

The highpoint of the exhibition is the evocative juxtaposition between The Entombment of Christ and The Death of Marat, recalling this fascinating and lesser-known moment in Caravaggio’s fortunes.
Since these two immovable originals cannot be displayed, we decided to display the Neapolitan copy of The Entombment of Christ – restored for the occasion – next to one of four copies of The Death of Marat produced by the French Maestro’s pupils under his supervision. This exquisite painting is on loan from the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Reims.The exhibition is enriched with masterpieces by the great Neoclassical artist – including The Fortune Teller and The Death of Seneca – as well as early 19th-century books on the Vatican collections, which place particular emphasis on Caravaggio’s The Entombment of Christ.

 

Date
from 05.12.2019 to 28.06.2020
Past
Opening hours
from 11.00 am to 7.00 pm Last admission: 1 hour and a half before closing. Closed on Mondays.
Prices

– Online ticket
– full-price: €5.00
– reduced: €3.00
– free entry for pass holders, schools, under 18s, customers and employees of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group

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