Discover the exhibition “Caravaggio in Roma” at Museum Jacquemart-André

Caravaggio and Rome, it’s a story that ended badly: in 1606, our man murdered a rather annoying man named RanuccioTomassoni. Sentenced to death and forced into exile, he lived only for four more years thereafter. Everything had started well for the artist on his arrival in the Eternal City in 1592. He had the strong support of the Cavaliere d’Arpino, of rich patrons (Marquis Giustiniani and Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte), and fans (Orazio Gentileschi, Ribera). There was also a group of rival painters with whom he could quarrel (Giovanni Baglione being the most well-known amongst them). It is this atmosphere of success and tension that will be portrayed in the exhibition at the Jacquemart-André Museum at the opening of the season. It will end with the murder of Tomassoni, which precipitated the decline of Caravaggio. But could the master of chiaroscuro have met any end other than tragic?

From 21st September 2018 to 28th January 2019
Musée Jacquemart-André
158, boulevard Haussmann
75008 Paris

Michelangelo Merisi, dit Caravage
“Le Joueur de luth –

The Lute player”
1595-1596
Huile sur toile 94 x 119 cm
inv GE 45
The State Hermitage Museum
Photograph © The State Hermitage Museum / photo by Pavel Demidov