The Last Caravaggio

Caravaggio’s last painting, The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula (1610, Gallerie d’Italia, Naples), is coming to London for the first time in 20 years.

In May 1610, Caravaggio is in Naples working on the last picture he’d ever paint. Two months later, he died in mysterious circumstances. But it was during his final tumultuous years that Caravaggio made some of his most striking works.

His characteristic style includes tightly cropped scenes and dramatic lighting. He used real models with dirty feet and grimy fingernails. The painting is displayed alongside the letter that describes its creation (Archivio di Stato, Naples) and the National Gallery’s own late Caravaggio, ‘Salome with the Head of John the Baptist’ (about 1609–10).