“Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini” by Caravaggio c. 1599-1604. (Photo: Fabrizio Garrisi via Wikimedia Commons, CC0)
Michelangelo Merisi, better known as Caravaggio, has had a profound impact upon Baroque art. Throughout his short yet storied life (he died in 1610 at the age of 38), he produced some of art history’s most vivid paintings, each demonstrating a masterful command over light, movement, and emotion. Caravaggio, however, was not known for painting portraits. This fact is what makes the first-ever display of his portrait of Maffeo Barberini so incredible.
Completed in the early 1600s, the portrait depicts Monsignor Maffeo Barberini, a son of a Florentine nobleman who, in 1623, was later coronated as Pope Urban VIII. Barberini peers steadfastly toward the painting’s left side, and dons a black biretta and a sleeveless green cassock. His left hand clutches a letter while his right hand is outstretched, a lone finger pointing in the same direction as his gaze.
Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini has been in a privately owned collection in Florence for decades. It’s also been unavailable to scholars for study and hasn’t been featured in any Caravaggio exhibitions.
“This is the portrait by Caravaggio that everyone wanted to see for decades,” Thomas Clement Salomon, the director of Gallerie Nazionali Barberini Corsini in Rome, told The New York Times. “I had spoken to many people, and they all said it was impossible.”
Luckily, Salomon’s persistence eventually paid off: the portrait’s anonymous owner agreed to lend the artwork to the museum. Now, Caravaggio: The Portrait Unveiled is the first exhibition to ever showcase the rare portrait.
“This work is fundamental because you can count the number of portraits by Caravaggio on the fingers of one hand,” Salomon told The Art Newspaper.
The painting was originally attributed to Caravaggio in 1963 by the art historian Roberto Longhi, providing critical insight into the artist’s output within and relationship to the portrait genre.
“This is a historical loan of the utmost value,” the exhibition text reads. “[It] offers a unique opportunity for the public and experts to admire a work that has never previously been exhibited and is still part of the private collection it has belonged to for decades.”
Museum officials are eager to persuade the owners to sell the painting in an effort to ensure its continued display.
“Our first dream was to put it on show, and we were able to do that, and then it’s obvious that the idea to buy it is a dream,” says Salomon. “It’s a challenge, but it’s something we’ll work on, if possible.”
The painting is currently on view in the exhibition Caravaggio: The Portrait Unveiled at Gallerie Nazionali Barberini Corsini in Rome until February 23, 2025.
A remarkable Caravaggio portrait is being exhibited for the first time ever after not being seen in decades.
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The portrait is on loan to Gallerie Nazionali Barberini Corsini in Rome for the exhibition, which will be on view until February 23, 2025.
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This Caravaggio portrait is exceptionally rare, given that the Baroque painter produced only a limited number of portraits throughout his life.
“Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini” by Caravaggio c. 1599-1604, detail of face. (Photo: Fabrizio Garrisi via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0)
“Portrait of Monsignor Maffeo Barberini” by Caravaggio c. 1599-1604, detail of hand. (Photo: Fabrizio Garrisi via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0)
Exhibition information:
Caravaggio: The Portrait Unveiled
November 23, 2024–February 23, 2025
Gallerie Nazionali Barberini Corsini in Rome, Italy
Via della Lungara, 10, 00165
Gallerie Nazionali Barberini Corsini: Website | Instagram | Facebook
Sources: A Rare Caravaggio Portrait Was Hidden Away for Years. Now, Visitors Can See It in Person for the First Time; Caravaggio portrait, unseen for decades, goes on view in Rome; Caravaggio Painting, Unseen for Decades, Goes on Display
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