Contarelli Chapel - Rome

The decorative history of the Contarelli Chapel, which is located in the St. Louis of the French Church in Rome is particularly complex. In 1591, Cavalier D’Arpino undertook the decoration of the whole chapel after minor contributions by various artists. He finished the fresco and stucco decoration of the vault in 1592-1593. In 1599, after continual delays ascribable to Cavalier d’Arpino and vain attempts to have the decoration completed, Caravaggio was commissioned to decorate the side walls. Caravaggio painted the first two paintings in 1600 and delivered the third painting placed above the altar in 1602 after encountering some problems. We restored the frescoes and the stuccoes of the vault and of all the marble covering the walls, floor and altar. We observed that the three Caravaggio paintings were in very good state of preservation and thus decided they did not need to be restored.
(Photo by P. Soriani)