A new journey into the world of Caravaggio and international caravaggism

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, one of the most appreciated, yet one of the most controversial painters, has always been linked in some ways to the city of Florence. To celebrate the 4th centenary of his death an exhibition is held at the Palatine Gallery in the Pitti Palace and at the Uffizi Gallery. The exhibition represents the opportunity to present more than one hundred paintings, both famous and less famous, in the light of research, documents and new attributions that have modified the critical panorama and the taste of the public.

Nowadays, Florence boasts the biggest collection of Caravaggio’s paintings in the world, after the collection that can be found in Rome. Although the presence of Caravaggio in Florence is still a mystery, the Court of Florence managed to gather an extraordinary number of Caravaggio’s works, as well as of his followers and admirers. The presence of important artists in the city such as Artemisia Gentileschi, Battistello Caracciolo and Theodoor Rombouts, and the direct dealings with artists like Gerrit Honthorst, Bartolomeo Manfredi and Jusepe de Ribera gave rise to an intense Caravagesque period which left an extraordinary number of paintings at the Florentine court and in the city.

We know that splendid paintings by Caravaggio - the Bacchus and the Medusa - reached the Uffizi already towards the end of the XVI century. Others (two or three) were in time purchased by the Grand Dukes who thus proved to be early and staunch admirers - especially Cosimo II - of the controversial Lombard painter and of his followers and imitators.

Giovanni Antonio Galli, detto lo Spadarino (Roma 1585 - 1652), Altre attribuzioni: Van Honthorst Gerrit detto Gherardo delle Notti, Dei che bevono l’ambrosia (‘Brindisi in Olimpo’), 1620-1630, olio su tela. Firenze, Galleria degli UffiziArtemisia Gentileschi (Roma 1593 - Napoli 1653), Santa Caterina d’Alessandria, 1618-1619, olio su tela. Firenze, Galleria degli UffiziOrazio Riminaldi (Pisa 1593 - 1630), Martirio di Santa Cecilia, XVII secolo (1620 ca.-1625 ca.), olio su tela. Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Galleria Palatina ed Appartamenti RealiAlessandro Turchi, detto l’Orbetto (Verona 1568 - Roma 1649), Allegoria della città di Verona, 1610-1620, olio su pietra di paragone. Firenze, Galleria degli Uffizi, DepositiJustus Sustermans (Anversa, Belgio 1597 - Firenze 1681), Ritratto di cacciatori della corte medicea, XVII secolo (1637 ante), olio su tela. Firenze, Gallerie degli Uffizi, Galleria Palatina ed Appartamenti RealiBartolomeo Manfredi (Ostiano 1582 - Roma 1622), Carità romana, 1620 ca., olio su tela. Firenze, Galleria degli UffiziOrazio Riminaldi, Amore vincitore, Galleria Palatina
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Caravaggio and caravaggeschi in Florence

Palatine Gallery, Pitti Palace, and Uffizi Gallery, Florence

22 May 2010 – 09 January 2011

Exhibition curated by Stefano Casciu, Antonio Natali e Gianni Papi

Exhibition catalogue published by Giunti Editore (available only in Italian)

Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, Direzione Regionale per i Beni Culturali e Paesaggistici della Toscana, Soprintendenza Speciale per il Patrimonio Storico, Artistico ed Etnoantropologico e per il Polo Museale della città di Firenze; Galleria Palatina, Galleria degli Uffizi, Firenze Musei, Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi, Comitato Nazionale IV Centenario della Morte di Caravaggio