Caravaggio's Friends & Foes is a major loan exhibition held by Whitfield Fine Art in London. The exhibition which will mark the 400th anniversary of Caravaggio's death, will include paintings by his enemies the painters Giovanni Baglione and Tommaso Salini, his friends Louis Finson and Prospero Orsi, the painters Antiveduto Grammatica and Cavalier d'Arpino, whose studios he worked in when he arrived in Rome, and close followers such as Lo Spadarino, Orazio Gentileschi, Simon Vouet, Guido Reni, Pietro Paolini and Jean Ducamps. Lenders include The National Trust, European museums and leading private collectors.
The exhibition will provide fresh insight into Caravaggio himself and provide a re-assessment of the work of artists whose lives were touched by his genius. It is one of a number of events taking place across Europe commemorating his death on July 18, 1610 aged only 38.
Among the highlights of the exhibition will be a magnificent self portrait painted in 1606 by Giovanni Baglione, arguably Caravaggio's most bitter enemy. Baglione famously sued Caravaggio for libel in 1603 after he had circulated satirical poems about a painting he had done for a church in Rome.
Another sworn foe of Caravaggio represented is Tommaso Salini. It is known that when the two men met by chance in 1601 Caravaggio struck Salini with his sword. In the libel action two years later Caravaggio referred to Salini as Baglione's 'guardian angel'.
Among Caravaggio's friends was Louis Finson, a figure of primary importance in Caravaggesque painting whose contribution has often been overlooked. The exhibition will show him in a new light and present this direct contemporary of Caravaggio as an important painter in his own right. Two major works by Finson will be included in the exhibition.
Adam and Eve, painted in 1610 (loaned by the University of Marburg, Germany) and the show will also feature Saint Sebastian, a newly rediscovered masterpiece which until recently was hidden away in a private collection in Germany.
Whitfield Fine Art is one of the world's leading art dealers and specialists in Old Master paintings.