“Caravaggio” exhibition

The exhibition adopted a criterion of chronological succession in the work of Michelangelo Merisi, divided into three periods: early development, the Rome period, the escape. A route of asymmetrical and broken walls destructured the sequence of rooms in the Scuderie del Quirinale, creating a spatial continuum in which each work could be individually appreciated. Each period was associated with a colour chosen from the tonalities of Caravaggio’s paintings, with deeper ones to exalt their luminosity. The characteristic black used by the “Lombard genius” in his canvases was enhanced by a variable geometry of empty niches in shadow that created bottomless dark cones. Halogen spot lighting regulated by dimmers and varying beams exalted the peculiar light of each painting. Only for the Fiscella, the Basket of Fruit, lent by the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, was a profiled halogen lighting chosen, to show up its precious details and imposing gilt frame....