Spotlight on Caravaggio in Paris

Charting Caravaggio’s career from the early days apprenticing in Rome’s most prestigious workshops to his tumultuous relationships with his contemporaries, ‘Caravaggio’s Roman Period’ will offer a rare glimpse of the man behind the art.

More than a monograph, the exhibition organised by the Musée Jacquemart-André and Culturespaces will explore his dealings with collectors, writers and fellow artists against the background of 17th-century Rome. Born Michelangelo Merisi in 1571, the sword-wielding visionary revolutionised Italian painting with his unflinching realism, mastery of chiaroscuro, not to mention the haunting ‘beheadings’ featured throughout his work – a running motif no doubt linked to a pivotal event in his own life. He was sentenced to death in Rome for killing a man during a brawl, forcing the artist into exile in Naples. He never set foot in Rome again.

The exhibition will feature masterpieces on loan from a flurry of international museums, including the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica di Palazzo Barberini and Galleria Borghese. The Hermitage in St Petersburg will even part with the iconic The Lute Player for the occasion.

Musée Jacquemart-André, 158 Boulevard Haussmann, 75008 Paris. Open every day from 10 am to 6 pm, with a later evening closure at 8:30 pm on Mondays. Full ticket price is 11 €. The show runs from September 21, 2018 to January 28, 2019. www.musee-jacquemart-andre.com

From France Today magazine