Caravaggio...a walking tour

San Luigi dei Francesi

It isn't necessary to pay lots of euros visiting all the museums and galleries around Rome in search of artworks by Caravaggio, when you can take a walking tour to see inside the churches that hold his paintings for free.
It is a good idea to start your walking tour early as most churches have a closing period that usually begins around noon and lasts for a few hours until the early evening.

Start at the French church of  San Luigi dei Francesi, which is not far from Piazza Navona and see Caravaggio's earliest commissions from 1599 for the Contarelli Chapel. Caravaggio painted three paintings for the chapel, the Vocation of Saint Matthew, the Martyrdom of Saint Matthew and Saint Matthew and the Angel. The chapel, which is close to the main altar, is a little dark and it is worthwhile donating a coin in the box in the front to illuminate the paintings and see them in more detail.

The next church is the quiet basilica of Sant'Agostino off the Via del Scrofa and nearby Piazza Navona. Here you can visit the beautiful Madonna dei Pellegrini which was commissioned in 1604 by Ermete Cavalletti for his family chapel.
Once again you can light the chapel with a coin...or wait until someone else does.

Madonna dei Pellegrini
Sant'Agostino

At the Piazza del Popolo and in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo you will find two paintings, the Conversion of Saint Paul and the Crucifixion of Saint Peter, both completed between 1600 and 1601 by Caravaggio. They are situated in the Cappella Cerasi, which is the chapel on the left of the high altar and although the chapel is a little dark it also can be lit by putting a coin in the coin-box.

the Conversion of Saul
Santa Maria del Popolo

Caravaggio's art can also be found in the Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Galleria Borghese, the Vatican Museums, the Capitoline Museums and the Galleria Corsini.