‘Caravaggio. La Cappella Contarelli’
Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia, 118 Via del Plebiscito, Rome
March 10th to October 15th 2011
Further celebrations to mark the 4th centenary of the death of Caravaggio. This exhibition is centred on the three paintings on the theme of Saint Matthew the Evangelist housed in the Contarelli Chapel of the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome.
The works have been subjected to a bombardment of innovative techniques – digital radiography, infrared reflectography, x-ray fluorescence – all with the aim of understanding the working methods and techniques of the Baroque master. This exhibition shows off these results across enlarged high resolution photographs and interactive guides and film, granting the visitor the opportunity to gaze upon previously unseen details of these three great works, usually only glimpsed inside the dark spaces of the church.
One notable ‘find’ was exposed in the Martyrdom of St Matthew work, where it’s now clear that the original drafts have very little in common with the finished composition.