The never-before-seen portrait by celebrated Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio went on public display for the first time at Rome’s Palazzo Barberini gallery.
ADVERTISEMENTA portrait by the Baroque master Caravaggio, held in a private collection for over 60 years, went on display to the public for the first time at the gallery – part of the National Gallery of Ancient Art – in Rome on Saturday (23 November).
First attributed to Caravaggio in 1963, the portrait depicts Monsignor Maffeo Barberini, who would later become Pope Urban VIII in the 17th century. Urban was a major patron of the arts, commissioning works from the likes of sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
The painting, on view until 23 February 2025, dates from the turn of the 17th century. It is showcased as part of an exhibition curated by gallery director Thomas Clement Salomon and art historian Paola Nicita, and is thought to have been part of the Barberini family’s collection for centuries before it passed into private ownership in the mid-1930s.
In 1963, the acclaimed art critic Roberto Longhi confirmed the painting as a work by Caravaggio, who completed only a few portraits before his death at the age of 38 in 1610. Caravaggio was particularly renowned for his mastery of chiaroscuro, the technique of using light and shadow to bring his subjects to life.
« It is not a rediscovered painting, it has been known about since the 1960s, but since then it had only been seen by five or six specialists,” Nicita told Italian news agency ANSA, « Not to mention that portraits of Caravaggio are extremely rare, some have been lost, others have never been traced.”
Caravaggio. The Portrait Unveiledruns at the National Gallery of Ancient Art in Rome until 23 February 2025.
