Rome Hosts Landmark Caravaggio Exhibition Featuring Rare and Rediscovered Masterpieces

Rome, March 7, 2025 – A major exhibition dedicated to baroque master Caravaggio is set to open on Friday at Palazzo Barberini, showcasing a once-in-a-lifetime collection of the artist’s most celebrated and rarest works. The exhibition includes paintings from private collections, as well as pieces that have not been seen in Italy for centuries.
Caravaggio, born Michelangelo Merisi, revolutionized painting with his dramatic use of light and shadow—a technique known as chiaroscuro—giving his subjects an unparalleled sense of realism and intensity. His career was as tumultuous as it was brilliant, marked by exile from Rome following a deadly brawl and a desperate quest for redemption before his untimely death at the age of 39 in 1610.
A Journey Through Caravaggio’s Life and Art
The Palazzo Barberini exhibition traces 15 years of Caravaggio’s professional career, spanning from his arrival in Rome in 1595, where he quickly gained fame, to his final years in southern Tuscany.
Among the standout pieces is “Ecce Homo” (Behold the Man), a depiction of Jesus Christ crowned with thorns, which was rediscovered in Spain in 2021 after being lost since the 18th century. Other highlights include “Self-Portrait as Bacchus”, the recently exhibited portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini, and the iconic “The Cardsharps”, a striking portrayal of deception and human nature.
"The paintings in this exhibition offer an extraordinary journey through Caravaggio's evolution as an artist, from his first Roman works to what is likely his final masterpiece," said Francesca Cappelletti, one of the exhibition’s curators.
A Rare and Historic Gathering of Masterpieces
The exhibition unites 24 Caravaggio paintings from public and private collections across Italy, the U.S., Spain, Ireland, and Britain, marking a historic moment for art lovers.
"This is Caravaggio in its purest form, in massive doses," Cappelletti told reporters, emphasizing the unique opportunity for visitors to witness the largest collection of Caravaggio’s works assembled in decades.
With an anticipated audience of hundreds of thousands, co-curator Thomas Clement Salomon noted, "This collection will be impossible to reunite again in the coming years, or even decades."
A Major Cultural Event for Rome’s Jubilee Year
Running from March 7 to July 6, the exhibition coincides with the Catholic Holy Year (Jubilee), an event expected to draw up to 32 million visitors to Rome. Palazzo Barberini has already sold 60,000 tickets in advance, billing it as one of Europe’s most significant art events of the year.
For art enthusiasts, historians, and travelers, this exhibition represents an unmissable chance to experience Caravaggio’s genius in an unprecedented and immersive setting.