Caravaggio / Bernini

Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam has held the Caravaggio-Bernini. Baroque in rome exhibition from the 14th of february to the 23rd of september, 2020 as the second stage of the 2019 exhibition held in Kunsthistorisches Museum of Wien and shared its same aim: proving how Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi; 1571 – 1610) e Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598 – 1680) were the most important figures to shape the baroque in Rome.

There were also featured : Ludovico Carracci, Annibale Carracci, Guido Reni, Giovanni Baglione, Orazio Gentileschi, Artemisia Gentileschi, Nicolas Poussin, Simon Vouet, Tanzio da Varallo, Alessandro Algardi, François du Quesnoy, Francesco Mochi.

The fittings for the exhibition were created by Amsterdam based italian designers Formafantasma, Simone Farresin and Andrea Trimarchi who managed to underline the baroque language.

The exhibition was held in partnership with the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Wien and its catalogue was published by Hannibal publishing house.

We are lucky enough to pass by magnificent masterpieces of the roman barocco every single day so we would like to take a minute and share tiny bits of information on this lavish time.

The starting point of the new artistic point of view can be considered the Council of Trent, around mid 1500’s. The new catholic politics that derive from this encounter establish a different culture, one that restores the importance of religion and makes it a priority for every man and woman. With this purpose in mind and also to flaunt the power of the clergy as mouthpiece of the divine will, popes and cardinals commission young and talented artists to portray the passions of saints and men. Therefore, the static renaisance classicism is left behind and replaced with artistic forms of such mastery, in color and structure, that leave the beholder in awe. For their technical ability and artistic sensibility, two art makers will leave their mark in history as great masters of their skill, pictorial and sculptural and shall become representatives of the baroque current: Caravaggio and Bernini.

Rijksmuseum proposes a journey through the facets of the barocco in Rome, with several pit stops:

• Meraviglia & stupore
• Orrore & terribilità
• Amore
• Visione
• Passione & compassione
• Moto & azione
• Vivacità
• Antichità & la gran maniera greca
• Scherzo

❓Did you know

Baroque artists strive to convey realistic emotions no matter the cost; rumor has it that Gian Lorenzo Bernini burnt himself with hot coal only to grasp the genuinity of the expression of pain.