Painter and expert in historical oil-painting techniques Professor Timothy Joseph Allen is currently engaged upon a Caravaggio project at the Palazzo Barberini, Rome. In collaboration with art historians Dottoressa Beatrice De Ruggieri and Dottore Marco Cardinali (major contributors to the massive twin volumes Caravaggio: Works in Rome - Technique and Style), Professor Allen’s expertise is helping reveal how technical analysis tells us much about a painter’s method and practice.
Granted extraordinary and privileged access to Caravaggio’s paintings by the director and administration at the Palazzo Barberini, Professor Allen, Dott.ssa De Ruggieri, and Dott. Cardinale are working in the presence of Caravaggio’s Judith and Holofernes to recreate exact details from this masterpiece.
Using only the specific materials (such as linen canvas and animal glue) and the pigments that were available to Caravaggio (including the toxic white lead and vermilion), these experts will conduct a technical analysis of the completed facsimiles and then compare the results with those of the actual painting. It is hoped to bring the project to completion by Fall 2024.
