X-RAYING THE MAESTRO |

Palazzo Reale, Milan.
Locals and visitors are patiently queuing for “Dentro Caravaggio (Inside Caravaggio) a splendid exhibit featuring 18 masterworks by Caravaggio.

The show is rendered unique not only because it will present to the public works from the leading Italian museums and equally important museums abroad, but also by the fact that Caravaggio’s canvases will be flanked by their respective X-radiographic images The exhibition reveals, from a new and previously unexplored perspective, the years of Caravaggio’s extraordinary artistic work through two new approaches to reading: diagnostic research and new documentary research..
Tthe audience will be able to discover through the innovative use of multimedia equipment the artist’s path from his initial thought to the final completion of the work. Through infrared reflectography and x-rays that can penetrate through different layers below the surface of the painting, it is now possible to follow the creative process of Caravaggio, his “second thoughts”, refinements, and adjustments in creating the final composition.

A classic example would be the San Giovannino of Palazzo Corsini, which allows us to see the addition of a lamb, which was subsequently removed.
‘Inside Caravaggio’ will allow the incomparable creative path of Caravaggio to be revealed to the general public and it will also be a great opportunity for scholars to perform in-depth analyses. This fascinating journey will enable visitors to follow and discover, through the innovative use of multimedia technologies, the artist’s creative process, from the initial idea to the finished work, giving them the ability to understand not only the process of realization, but also to deep inside the mind of his genius.