Curator’s Introduction: The Last Caravaggio

Interesting online lecture from the National Gallery introducing their small exhibition focused on Caravaggio’s “The Martyrdom of St Ursula” on loan from Naples.

Francesca Whitlum-Cooper took us through the life of Caravaggio and where this picture fitted into it and then looked at the story of St Ursula pointing out this was an unusual way of showing her martyrdom as images usually focused on the thousands of virgins she travelled with.

She then looked at the history of the painting and in particular a letter found in the Naples archives in 1980, which referred to a painting of the subject by Caravaggio which had been left out in the sun which made the varnish soften, which was used to identify the work.

I would have liked to have less about the life of the artist, which I have frequently covered in talks, and more about how they borrowed the picture and why they chose the works to show with it.

I have since been to the show so look out for my review of it.

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