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Discover Rare Caravaggio Paintings at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg

The special exhibition, “In Caravaggio’s Light: Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi,” is on view through March 22

By Alexandria Sillo
Interior view of an art gallery with framed paintings on blue patterned walls and a blue curtain in the foreground.
Installation view, "In Caravaggio's Light: Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi." Photo: Courtesy of Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell ’ Arte Roberto Longhi, Florence, Italy and the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg

An extraordinary collection of nearly 40 Baroque masterpieces has traveled to Florida for a remarkable exhibition centered on Caravaggio’s Boy Bitten by a Lizard. Many of the pieces featured in “In Caravaggio’s Light: Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi” have never been shown in the U.S. “This is an unbelievably rare opportunity,” Dr. Stanton Thomas, Hazel and William Hough Chief Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, tells Galerie.

Caravaggio, a revolutionary Italian Baroque painter known for his dramatic use of light and realism, had a profound influence on his peers. Indeed the installation includes a number of artworks by Caravaggio’s contemporaries, successors, and followers including Jusepe de Ribera and Matthias Stom, as well as Valentin de Boulogne, whose The Denial of St. Peter is a highlight for the way it portrays a profound crisis of faith.

“I hope people understand from the exhibition what an extraordinary visionary Caravaggio was,” says Thomas. “He was really the first person to delve deeply not only into physical but also psychological realism.”

Painting of a surprised young man with dark curly hair and a white flower, gesturing near a glass vase with fruit.
Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, Boy Bitten by a Lizard, (c. 1597). Photo: Courtesy of Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell ’ Arte Roberto Longhi, Florence, Italy and the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg
Five framed paintings of various figures in a museum gallery with a dark blue wall background.
Installation view, “In Caravaggio’s Light: Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi.” Photo: Courtesy of Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi, Florence, Italy and the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg

The exhibition is 30 years in the making for Thomas, who first learned of the Longhi Foundation while admiring Stom’s The Annunciation of Sampson’s Birth, a masterpiece in the collection. To now have that same work starring in his show alongside Caravaggio is a full-circle moment.

However, staging Boy Bitten by a Lizard, proved to be one of this display’s important challenges—it’s perhaps the most significant painting on view, but also needed to appear early in the installation to demonstrate the monumental influence of Caravaggio.

A dramatic scene of soldiers and onlookers around a table, featuring a woman in white headscarf and men in armor.
Valentin de B oulogne, known as Le Valentin, Denial of St. Peter, (1615–1617). Photo: Courtesy of Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi, Florence, Italy and the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg

“I had to figure out how to highlight it but not give it away,” explains Thomas. “I installed a proscenium curtain as an introduction to the space where that Caravaggio is displayed, so it’s a moment of revelation.”

It’s a fitting device considering other elements in the exhibit nod to the Baroque movement’s beginnings, where paintings typically had a curtain drawn in front. For Thomas, the challenge “was fun to put the whole idea of Baroque staging and drama” in place.

Art gallery interior with classical paintings on blue walls and a yellow bench in the center.
Installation view, “In Caravaggio’s Light: Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi.” Photo: Courtesy of Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi, Florence, Italy and the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg
Art gallery with framed paintings of historical figures on a blue wall, showcasing detailed portraits in a dimly lit setting.
Installation view, “In Caravaggio’s Light: Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi.” Photo: Courtesy of Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi, Florence, Italy and the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg
Art museum exhibit featuring a large historical painting on a blue wall alongside two smaller framed artworks.
Installation view, “In Caravaggio’s Light: Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi.” Photo: Courtesy of Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi, Florence, Italy and the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg
Art gallery interior displaying framed classical paintings on dark blue walls.
Installation view, “In Caravaggio’s Light: Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi.” Photo: Courtesy of Fondazione di Studi di Storia dell’Arte Roberto Longhi, Florence, Italy and the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg

“In Caravaggio’s Light: Baroque Masterpieces from the Fondazione Roberto Longhi” is on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, now through March 22, 2026.