It’s September, and at 7.30 in the morning the air is crisp for the first time in months. On Saturday I scootered through the quiet, early morning, not-quite-back-to-school streets to the Campo Marzio to see Caravaggio’s Madonna of Loreto. For three days only, following a recent restoration and while the chapel was being prepared for its return, it was out of its frame and visible close up. It’s in Sant’Agostino, just around the corner from the river end of piazza Navona behind an elegant fifteenth century facade which reuses travertine from the Colosseum. The church also houses the tomb of St Monica, mother of the eponymous Augustine, and Sansovino’s statue of the Madonna of Childbirth. Oh, and there’s a Raphael too.
One of my favorite paintings of all time. So lucky got you to be there for this special opportunity to be up close. Another incredible Roman experience. Thank you for your report.
Fantastic reportage and there is never anything not to like about a Caravaggio! Amazing.
We are here now and loved your description!
I love this painting - thanks for these excellent photos! Amazing to see it ex situ, as it were.
One of my favorite paintings of all time. So lucky got you to be there for this special opportunity to be up close. Another incredible Roman experience. Thank you for your report.
Your narrative is really outstanding.
Quite shocking to see it liberated from its setting like that, and refreshing. Terrific writing too.