{"id":303311,"date":"2026-01-25T18:58:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T18:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/303311\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T18:58:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T18:58:22","slug":"discover-rare-caravaggio-paintings-at-the-museum-of-fine-arts-st-petersburg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/303311\/","title":{"rendered":"Discover Rare Caravaggio Paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg"},"content":{"rendered":"

An extraordinary collection of nearly 40 Baroque masterpieces has traveled to Florida for a remarkable exhibition centered on Caravaggio<\/a>\u2019s Boy Bitten by a Lizard. Many of the pieces featured in \u201cIn Caravaggio\u2019s Light: Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi<\/a>\u201d have never been shown in the U.S. \u201cThis is an unbelievably rare opportunity,\u201d Dr. Stanton Thomas, Hazel and William Hough Chief Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg<\/a>, tells Galerie.<\/p>\n

Caravaggio, a revolutionary Italian Baroque painter known for his dramatic use of light and realism, had a profound influence on his peers. Indeed the installation includes a number of artworks by Caravaggio\u2019s contemporaries, successors, and followers including Jusepe de Ribera and Matthias Stom, as well as Valentin de Boulogne, whose The Denial of St. Peter is a highlight for the way it portrays a profound crisis of faith. <\/p>\n

\u201cI hope people understand from the exhibition what an extraordinary visionary Caravaggio was,\u201d says Thomas. \u201cHe was really the first person to delve deeply not only into physical but also psychological realism.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Painting<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMichelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, Boy Bitten by a Lizard, (c. 1597).
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Courtesy of Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell
\n\u2019
\nArte Roberto Longhi,
\nFlorence, Italy and the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Five<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInstallation view, \u201cIn Caravaggio\u2019s Light: Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi.\u201d
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Courtesy of Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell\u2019Arte Roberto Longhi, Florence, Italy and the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg<\/p>\n

The exhibition is 30 years in the making for Thomas, who first learned of the Longhi Foundation while admiring Stom\u2019s The Annunciation of Sampson\u2019s Birth, a masterpiece in the collection. To now have that same work starring in his show alongside Caravaggio is a full-circle moment. <\/p>\n

However, staging Boy Bitten by a Lizard, proved to be one of this display\u2019s important challenges\u2014it\u2019s perhaps the most significant painting on view, but also needed to appear early in the installation to demonstrate the monumental influence of Caravaggio. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tValentin de B oulogne, known as Le Valentin, Denial of St. Peter, (1615\u20131617).
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Courtesy of Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell\u2019Arte Roberto Longhi, Florence, Italy and the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to figure out how to highlight it but not give it away,\u201d explains Thomas. \u201cI installed a proscenium curtain as an introduction to the space where that Caravaggio is displayed, so it\u2019s a moment of revelation.\u201d <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a fitting device considering other elements in the exhibit nod to the Baroque<\/a> movement\u2019s beginnings, where paintings typically had a curtain drawn in front. For Thomas, the challenge \u201cwas fun to put the whole idea of Baroque staging and drama\u201d in place. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Art<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInstallation view, \u201cIn Caravaggio\u2019s Light: Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi.\u201d
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Courtesy of Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell\u2019Arte Roberto Longhi, Florence, Italy and the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Art<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInstallation view, \u201cIn Caravaggio\u2019s Light: Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi.\u201d
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Courtesy of Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell\u2019Arte Roberto Longhi, Florence, Italy and the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Art<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInstallation view, \u201cIn Caravaggio\u2019s Light: Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi.\u201d
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Courtesy of Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell\u2019Arte Roberto Longhi, Florence, Italy and the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Art<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInstallation view, \u201cIn Caravaggio\u2019s Light: Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi.\u201d
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Courtesy of Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell\u2019Arte Roberto Longhi, Florence, Italy and the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Caravaggio\u2019s Light: Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi<\/a>\u201d is on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, now through March 22, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An extraordinary collection of nearly 40 Baroque masterpieces has traveled to Florida for a remarkable exhibition centered on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[267],"tags":[18890,365,362,363,364,149384,57958,366,18,117,2037,19,17,149385,2577,149386],"class_list":{"0":"post-303311","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-artist","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-artsanddesign","12":"tag-artsdesign","13":"tag-baroque","14":"tag-caravaggio","15":"tag-design","16":"tag-eire","17":"tag-entertainment","18":"tag-exhibition","19":"tag-ie","20":"tag-ireland","21":"tag-museum-of-fine-arts-st-petersburg","22":"tag-painting","23":"tag-realism"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115957275211639890","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}