A new show in Rome seeks to shed light on a mystery that has puzzled art experts for centuries: why Caravaggio painted two versions of his Conversion of Saint Paul on the Way to Damascus.
On Friday, Caravaggio's celebrated interpretation of the biblical scene which hangs in the city's Santa Maria del Popolo church will be flanked by his original, less famous attempt at the subject.
It is thought to be the first time the latter, which belongs to the Odescalchi family collection, will stand in the Santa Maria del Popolo chapel it was commissioned for.
As well as providing art-lovers with a rare occasion to see both works at once, organizers also hope the show will settle the dispute about why the Baroque master did the work twice.
The Treasurer-General to Pope Urban VIII, Monsignor Tiberio Cerasi, commissioned Caravaggio to paint the Conversion of Saint Paul in 1600 for the so-called Cerasi Chapel of the church, which was being renovated at the time by the architect Carlo Maderno.
The Odescalchi version is painted on cypress wood, as stipulated in the contract between Caravaggio and Cerasi.
It is much brighter and more conventional than the masterpiece that has actually been in the chapel since 1605 - one of Caravaggio's greatest works - which was painted on canvas.
According to the painter's rival Giovanni Baglione - who, among other things, once accused Caravaggio of sodomy - the work was rejected by the Church.
Baglione claimed this was why it had to be redone along with a painting of the Crucifixion of Saint Peter, commissioned for the same chapel at the same time. Unlike the Conversion, Caravaggio's original attempt at the Crucifixion of Peter has been lost. However, the quality of the surviving work has caused experts to doubt that the pair could have been rejected simply because they were not felt to be good enough.
Some have suggested Roman Cardinal Giacomo Sannessio may have used Cerasi's sudden death in 1601 as an opportunity to take possession of the original paintings by rejecting them.
Another hypothesis is that, when the Cerasi Chapel was finished, Caravaggio himself was not happy with how the works would have looked inside it.
The theory is that Maderno's chapel was too narrow for the paintings, which were designed to be seen from a distance. So Caravaggio decided to start over from scratch.
If this hypothesis is borne out by the exhibition, the dating of the canvas version would have to be shifted from 1601 to 1603-1604. Caravaggio (1573-1610) is considered by critics as the most revolutionary artist of his time. He is probably best known by non-experts for his mastery of chiaroscuro lighting.
He abandoned the idealism of the human body and religious experience that guided the artists of the Renaissance for more realistic and dramatic atmospheres, mixing street characters with religious subjects.
Orphaned at the age of 11, Caravaggio began his painting career with a four-year apprenticeship in Milan, after which he moved to Rome and began selling paintings through a dealer.
His first major break was a commission to paint for Rome's church of San Luigi dei Francesi, where his dramatic style and realistic naturalism caused public outcry.
Despite vehement criticism, Caravaggio's reputation grew. But the artist was troubled with an irascible and violent nature, which surfaced often enough to land him in prison several times before he fled murder charges in Rome in 1606.
After fleeing Rome authorities he began an itinerant life, moving between hiding places from Naples to Malta while awaiting papal pardon. He received a pardon shortly before he died in 1610.
The Odescalchi Conversion of Saint Paul, which was recently restored, is on show at Santa Maria del Popolo November 10-25.
