The Conversion of Saul was originally commissioned in 1600, when banker Tiberio Cerasi commissioned Caravaggio to make two paintings for the family chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo. However, for reasons still being studied, the works were never placed in the chapel. The painter executed two new versions, on canvas, which can still be seen there today and are owned by the Fondo Edifici di Culto. The original altarpiece, however, passed from hand to hand before entering the collectionof Nicoletta Odescalchi, the current owner.
The exhibition in Palazzo Barberini is also enriched with an important technical and scientific apparatus. In fact, next to the two versions of the Conversion, a copy of the infraredreflectography made in 2006 during the work’s restoration will be on display. The reflectography makes it possible to analyze the preparatory structure of the painting and the executive steps, offering an opportunity to understand the artist’s working method.
Particularly relevant is the choice of support: seven horizontalplanks of cypress wood, with a perimeter band added at a laterdate. An unusual base for Caravaggio, who did not employ the traditional dark imprimitura to match the surface, but opted for a light gray ground spread diagonally, designed to simulate the grain of the canvas.