A focus on Caravaggio’s last work,
The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula
, telling the story of an empowered female saint
In early May 1610, Caravaggio finished painting
. Two months later, he was dead, having been disfigured in a brawl and become ill while trying to return from exile to Rome.
Caravaggio is one of the most famous and instantly recognisable artists in the world. His paintings open a vivid and startlingly modern window onto the seventeenth century, while his own turbulent life story, characterised by violence, murder, exile, and untimely death, remains a source of fascination. Few paintings are better placed to tell this story than
. Here, violence takes place at uncomfortably close quarters as Caravaggio, whose own self portrait is included, looks on helplessly.
Published by National Gallery Global/Distributed by Yale University Press
Exhibition Schedule:
National Gallery, London
(April 18–July 14, 2024). It is not a travelling exhibition; however, the National Gallery is borrowing the painting from the Gallerie d’Italia in Naples.