The international project was initiated by the Embassy of Italy in Lithuania, and it was implemented with the help of the cultural association “MetaMorfosi Eventi.” The Italian Cultural Institute in Vilnius also assisted the Palace of the Grand Dukes Museum in organizing the exhibition.
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Caravaggio is considered one of the most important creators in European art history and a pioneer of Baroque painting. His work changed the language of painting and the viewer’s relationship with art. The striking contrasts of light and shadow, emotional characters, and the revelation of human fragility and inner experiences became the artist’s hallmark, having a huge influence on later generations of European painters.
Equally impressive is the history of the painting presented in the exhibition. “The Ecstasy of St. Mary Magdalene” was long considered a lost work. It is believed that Caravaggio took this very painting on his last journey, traveling to Rome in hopes of receiving the Pope’s favor. In 1606, the artist was sentenced to death for murder and was forced to leave Rome, hiding in various parts of Italy for several years. However, he never returned to the Eternal City – in 1610, on the way to Rome, he died near the town of Porto Ercole.
Of the three paintings Caravaggio carried as gifts for his patrons, two were considered lost. One of them was precisely “The Ecstasy of St. Mary Magdalene.”
Only in 2014 was the painting unexpectedly discovered in a private collection in Switzerland, where it had been passed down through generations without knowledge of its true value and authorship. The most renowned Caravaggio scholars – Professor Mina Gregori and Professor Bert Treffers – confirmed that it is an authentic work, considered lost for more than four centuries. This discovery attracted great attention from the international art community.
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Caravaggio’s life was no less turbulent than his art. Born in Milan, the artist became one of the most famous painters of his generation in Rome. He rejected the idealized Renaissance concept of beauty and often chose ordinary people as models – the poor, homeless, street dwellers. In this way, religious subjects gained unusual realism and emotional power.
Unfortunately, Caravaggio’s biography was not only about art – his career was constantly accompanied by conflicts, trials, and outbreaks of violence. The artist was accused of assaults, brawls, illegal possession of weapons, and after killing a man in 1606, he was forced to flee Rome. Nevertheless, even a dramatic life did not overshadow the significance of his painting – today Caravaggio is considered one of the most influential painters of all time.
The exhibition curators are Dr. Vydas Dolinskas and Daiva Mitrulevičiūtė. The exhibition at the Palace of the Grand Dukes Museum will run until June 30.
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