A painting by the baroque painter Caravaggio, which has been in a private collection since it was found over 60 years ago, is making its public debut in a Rome museum.
Michelangelo Merisi, better known as Caravaggio, was a master of the chiaroscuro lighting technique, which gives his works a sense of life. After a stormy life, he passed away in 1610 in his late thirties.
In 1963, he was given credit for painting Monsignor Maffeo Barberini, who would become Pope Urban VIII in the 17th century. He was a big patron of the arts and had sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini as one of his protégés.
It will be on display from November 23 to February 23, 2025, and is one of only a few surviving Caravaggio portraits, as the majority have been lost or destroyed, according to the museum.
The image of Barberini, which is said to have been painted at the beginning of the 17th century, depicts the future pope, who assumed office in 1623, sitting and apparently issuing commands with his right hand.
According to Reuters, the artwork is on display at the museum in Palazzo Barberini, which was constructed by Bernini and fellow baroque architect Carlo Maderno under the pontificate of Urban VIII and was owned by the family until the end of World War Two.
