Caravaggio and Caravaggesque in Florence.

From May 22 to October 10 at the Palatine Gallery in Palazzo Pitti and the Uffizi Gallery - Florence and Caravaggio—a daring connection? Did Caravaggio come to Florence ? Did he, as has been suggested, see Jacopo Ligozzi’s stunning botanical watercolors in the Medici collection?We know that he was a visitor at Palazzo Firenze in Rome, where the ambassador Cardinal Del Monte carried out business with Grand Duke Ferdinando de’ Medici. While these questions are still unanswered, we do know that towards the end of the 16th century two of Caravaggio’s paintings—Bacchus and Medusa—reached the Uffizi. Another two (or perhaps three) were purchased over time by the Grand Dukes, many of whom (especially Cosimo II) were early aficionados of the controversial Lombard painter and his followers. The presence of important artists like Artemisia Gentileschi, Battistello Caracciolo, Theodor Rombouts, and relations with artists like Gerrit Honthorst, Bartolomeo Manfredi and Jusepe Ribera, created an intense “Caravaggesque” period in the city which led to numerous extraordinary paintings. In fact, Florence is second only to Rome in the number of Caravaggesque paintings in the world. Gerrit Honthorst (whose Adoration of the Shepherds now hangs in the Uffizi though it was badly damaged in the via dei Georgofili bombing in 1993), along with Cecco del Caravaggio (Resurrection of Christ, Art Institute of Chicago), and Spadarino, created one of the most important works of Caravaggesque art outside of Rome when they began decorating the Guicciardini Chapel in the church of Santa Felicita. The work was never completed, but will now be completed thanks to a virtual reconstruction. The patrimony of Caravaggio and Caravaggesque works, and numerous pieces on loan, will be on display at two of Florence ’s largest museums—the Palatine Gallery and the Uffizi Gallery. The exhibition commemorates the fourth centenary of Caravaggio’s death (1610). Forty years after the pioneer exhibition curated by Evelina Borea, the event will exhibit more than 100 paintings. While some are more famous than others, they have all been reevaluated in recent years thanks to documents that changed the critical scene and public appreciation.
Palatine Gallery in Palazzo Pitti and the Uffizi Gallery tel. 0552388742
www.unannoadarte.it