Rome’s National Gallery of Ancient Art at Palazzo Barberini opened “Caravaggio 2025” last week, kicking off one of the most highly anticipated exhibitions of the Jubilee Year.
It’s a blockbuster pairing of Baroque painting’s biggest superstar with Baroque Rome’s prototypical palace.
Arranged chronologically, the exhibition places the four Caravaggio paintings in Palazzo Barberini’s permanent collection in dialogue with 20 loans from around the world — some of them canonical works, others not normally visible to the public or only recently discovered.
Among the rare gems is a portrait of Maffeo Barberini, the man who would become Pope Urban VIII, the noble Barberini family’s most prominent member at the height of their influence. (The New York Times reported that the National Gallery at Palazzo Barberini is currently in negotiations to buy the piece, given that Caravaggio’s portraiture has been under-studied.)
Other more iconic works like Judith Slaying Holofernes have long been housed in Palazzo Barberini. Still others — like Concert from the Metropolitan Museum in New York City and The Cardsharps from the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth — are coming home after centuries away, helping to bring the Barberini family’s collecting patterns to life in the exhibition.
The show also offers priceless opportunities for comparison, including with the unprecedented gathering of three of Caravaggio’s four known depictions of St. John the Baptist under the same roof.
Where to see Caravaggio paintings around Rome
Caravaggio’s reputation as a scoundrel was legendary, but so was his ingenious use of chiaroscuro — an artistic technique involving a bold interplay of light and dark, creating a high-contrast, theatrical stage-like effect that would become his signature. This helped him gain favor with the rich and religious patrons of Rome, despite his controversial behavior. Today, the Eternal City still holds more than two dozen of his works, distributed throughout churches, museums, galleries and private collections.
If you’re unable to travel to Rome in time for “Caravaggio 2025,” which ends on July 6, here are four iconic Caravaggio locations to stake out during your next visit, whenever it may be.
San Luigi dei Francesi
The Church of San Luigi dei Francesi holds three Caravaggio masterpieces. Painted between 1597 and 1602, the trio of canvases — The Calling of Saint Matthew, The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew and Saint Matthew and the Angel — depicts key events in the story of the tax collector-turned-Christian apostle. Entry to the church is free, but to see the paintings in proper lighting, you (or another viewer) must deposit a €1 coin in the donation box.
Basilica of Sant’Agostino
A stone’s throw from San Luigi dei Francesi is the Basilica of Sant’Agostino, home to Caravaggio’s Madonna di Loreto. The painting shows a barefoot, modestly dressed Madonna holding the Baby Jesus in her arms while answering the door to a pair of ragged pilgrims. In its time, the painting caused an uproar for its gritty and hyper-realistic depiction of the Virgin as a humble, peasant-like figure.
Fun fact: Caravaggio’s model for the Madonna was thought to be Lena, a well-known prostitute and lover of the painter who also posed for the Madonna dei Palafrenieri.
Santa Maria del Popolo
Just off Piazza del Popolo, Santa Maria del Popolo holds The Crucifixion of Saint Peter, preserved in the basilica’s Cerasi Chapel in the back of the church. The dramatic scene shows the moment of Saint Peter’s martyrdom, while also illustrating the sheer effort involved in turning the bearded saint’s crucifix upside down.
Just across the same chapel is The Conversion of Saint Paul on the Way to Damascus, illustrating the moment Paul, a Roman persecutor, fell off his horse after being dazzled by a blinding light and hearing the voice of Jesus, prompting his conversion and subsequent identity as one of Jesus’ trusted apostles.
Galleria Doria Pamphilj
Head to the Galleria Doria Pamphilj to view one of the artist’s most stunning works and few known landscape paintings. Rest on the Flight into Egypt is believed to have been painted by young Caravaggio shortly after arriving in Rome. The evocative composition reflects a tired Holy Family being soothed by a beautiful angel with large black swallow wings playing a tune on the violin. (Fun fact: The musical notes on the score follow choral music written in 1519 by the Flemish composer Noel Bauldwijn.)
Caravaggio 2025
Ongoing until July 6, 2025
National Gallery of Ancient Art at Palazzo Barberini
Via delle Quattro Fontane 13, Rome
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