ART IN THE CENTER | Caravaggio in Rome: Art and Jubilee

As the art historian Claudio Strinati notes: “Caravaggio painted feelings, and the Jubilee was a time of feelings, not of reason.” It was in 1600, the Holy Year, that Michelangelo Merisi (1571—1610) established his position as an artist, presenting two paintings that forever changed the history of art and his life: “The Vocation of Saint Matthew” and “The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew”.

From that moment on, Caravaggio's painting was never the same again. He devoted himself entirely to sacred subjects, transforming art into a mirror of a profound faith marked by suffering, imbued with mercy and the need for redemption. The death sentence and forced exile made this burning need even more intense. Prayers for forgiveness were ignored, and Caravaggio, heading to Rome for a grace he never received, died a sinner.

Between light and darkness, guilt and forgiveness, the film draws an intimate, moving portrait of a man capable of seeing beauty even in sin. A sensitive and universal artist whose works speak to us again during the Jubilee 2025 with timeless force.