Caravaggio: The Ecce Homo Unveiled

The rediscovery of a Baroque masterpiece by the venerable Italian painterIn 2021, a painting was offered at a Madrid auction houses at a starting price of 1,500 euros. Almost immediately and almost unanimously, this Ecce Homo was attributed by experts to Caravaggio (1571–1610), an unprecedented event in the critical history of the painter. This publication comprises essays by four of the most authoritative specialists on Caravaggio and Baroque painting, who together offer an essential starting point for the understanding of this new and fundamental addition to our knowledge of Caravaggio’s work. Maria Cristina Terzaghi, Gianni Papi, Giuseppe Porzio and Keith Christiansen tackle the interpretation of the painting, taking different approaches. One essay dwells on the circumstances of the discovery, another traces its Spanish provenance, while the stylistic, technical and iconographic aspects of the work are examined in depth, along with the artist’s critical fortune and the legacy he left behind in Naples. The four texts offer the reader a variety of interpretations that constitute the true value of this publication. While others have expressed skepticism over the attribution, all the contributing scholars share the same enthusiastic certainty: the Ecce Homo is a masterpiece by Caravaggio and, as such, still has a lot to tell us about the artist.