A great Caravaggio show will be up while the program is there at the Scuderie del Quirinale - 2.18.10-6.13.10. Amazingly they will be exhibiting 30 out of his 40 works.
There was an article last week in the New York Times laying out the premise that Caravaggio has surpassed Michelangelo in popularity. That people are find Caravaggio's life and work easier to respond to, the photographic elements compared to the mannerist. This is an interesting argument, Michelangelo, with his super-human figures and religious motifs has lost out to an artist who is the ultimate bad-boy and created paintings with street life beating through them. Michelangelo was the establishment, being employed by the Medici family in Florence and the Pope in Rome. Whereas Caravaggio, while being commissioned by some of the wealthiest clientele, still was constantly running from the police, getting into brawls, and chasing women/men. It is an interesting article that I find some merit in but it will be better to judge in person. Rome and Florence will provide the perfect opportunity to see both the Caravaggio show and Michelangelo's pieces.
don't forget that at the same time as the show in Rome, there's also a show on Caravaggio in Florence (more focused on his influence on the "Caravaggisti and on Florentine art). It makes a great comparison and a day trip for the students! See here: http://ow.ly/10urE
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