Rembrandt - Caravaggio

To mark the 400th anniversary of Rembrandt’s birth in 2006 the Van Gogh Museum presents an exhibition by the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum featuring a remarkable confrontation between the two geniuses of Baroque art: Rembrandt van Rijn and his Italian counterpart, Caravaggio. In this first exhibition to juxtapose works by these masters of chiaroscuro, over 30 monumental paintings from various international museums provide a visual spectacle with powerful images of love, emotion and passion. Rembrandt-Caravaggio shows exclusively in Amsterdam. Rabobank is the chief sponsor of this unique joint project by the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) died four years after Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) was born. Although they never met, there are many parallels between the two masters and their work. Both were revolutionary innovators in the art of Southern and Northern Europe respectively. And while they stemmed from different traditions of painting, they each developed an individual, dramatic visual idiom.

Caravaggio’s work, which has not been shown in the Netherlands since 1952, is represented in this exhibition by major items from international museums. Masterpieces such as The Supper at Emmaus from London, Amor Vincit Omnia from Berlin and the Sacrifice of Isaac from Florence are in Amsterdam for the show. Famous paintings by Rembrandt from various museums abroad are also featured in the exhibition, including the Blinding of Samson from Frankfurt and Belshazzar’s Feast from London. Most of the paintings are displayed in pairs of works by the two artists.

Also on display in the exhibition is work by the Caravaggists Honthorst and Van Baburen, Dutch artists who were influenced by Caravaggio while in Italy. It was through these painters that Rembrandt learned of Caravaggio and began practising in the Caravaggist style in his early years, as some of the paintings in the exhibition show. Rembrandt’s own themes, style and method are also explored.

Pressetext

Rembrandt  - Caravaggio 
Rembrandt Jahr 2006

Parallelstationen:
24.02.06 - 18.06.06 Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
24.02.06 - 18.06.06 Rijksmuseum Amsterdam