MANY retrospectives have already been dedicated to the genius of Italian painting, Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio. But in Bergamo, a new exhibition at the Fondazione Accademia Carrara focuses on one of his more mysterious students and models, Cecco del Caravaggio.
The exhibition ‘Cecco del Caravaggio, l'Allievo Modello’ (Cecco del Caravaggio: the Model Student) features some 40 works, including 19 of the 25 paintings attributed to Cecco del Caravaggio.
The latter have been loaned to the Fondazione Accademia Carrara by international museums such as the Uffizi Museum in Florence, the Prado Museum in Madrid, and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
Among them are the dramatic ‘Cacciata dei Mercanti del Tempio’ (1613-1615), depicting Christ's cleansing of the temple, and ‘Fabbricante di Strumenti Musicali’ (ca. 1610), showing a musical instrument maker, which the art historian Gianni Papi describes to The Art Newspaper as "highly ambiguous."
These works by the Italian painter are presented alongside works by artists who influenced him, including Caravaggio himself. The nature of the relationship between the two artists is still a mystery.
Cecco del Caravaggio is said to have served as a model for the Milanese master for several of his masterpieces, including ‘Sacrifice of Isaac’ (1597-1598) and ‘Amor Vincit Omnia’ (Love Conquers All) (1601-1602).
The erotic nature of Cecco del Caravaggio's representations leads some scholars to claim that the two men were lovers.
Gianni Papi believes that the presence of the article "del" in Cecco del Caravaggio's artist's name (his birth name was Francesco Buoneri) confirms this intimacy, as he explained to The Art Newspaper.
‘Cecco del Caravaggio: the Model Student’ aims to present Cecco del Caravaggio as one of Caravaggio's most audacious students, even though art history has rarely presented him as such.
"The enigmatic figure of Cecco del Caravaggio appears as a non-conformist capable of dazzling innovations [in painting]," explains the Fondazione Accademia Carrara on its website.
The Italian cultural institution claims that this is the first exhibition in the world entirely dedicated to this long-overlooked Italian artist.
‘Cecco del Caravaggio: the Model Student’ (Cecco del Caravaggio, l’Allievo Modello) runs January 26 through June 4 at the Fondazione Accademia Carrara in Bergamo, Italy. – ETX Daily Up, January 19, 2023
