ROME - CAPUT MUNDI

Caravaggio had lived with Cardinal Francesco Mario del Monte at the Palazzo Madama for some time. Many of his foreign followers settled in the area of the parishes of Santa Maria del Popolo, San Lorenzo in Lucina, and Sant’Andrea delle Fratte, and often had to share living quarters due to the high rents.

Only a few artists were fortunate enough to stay in the home of a wealthy patron. The household of Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani and his brother, Cardinal Benedetto Giustiniani, was home to Caravaggio and many of his followers. Vincenzo Giustiniani was considered one of the most prominent patrons and collectors of Caravaggesque painting. Together with his brother, he established one of the most extensive art collections of his time in Rome. Upon his death, his legacy included 632 paintings.

Besides Vincenzo Giustiniani, there were of course other influential clients who commissioned prestigious works from the Caravaggisti. Between 1617 and 1618, Dirck van Baburen was commissioned in Rome to paint works for the Pietà Chapel in the church of San Pietro in Montorio. The theme of the main altarpiece was the Entombment of Christ. The remaining paintings were devoted to the Passion. Baburen created these works along with fellow artist David de Haen, with whom he shared living quarters.

Baburen’s "The Entombment of Christ" is based on Caravaggio’s famous work of the same name, which at the time was on view to the public in the Chiesa Nuova. As in Caravaggio’s work, Baburen combines the burial, carried out by Nicodemus and John, with the Lamentation of the Three Marys, all mourning in slightly different ways. However, Baburen alters the composition and interprets the scene in his own way.