Depending what you count as included in the catalogue raisonné of Caravaggio and what you count as publicly accessible, there’s at least 24 Caravaggio works in Rome anyone can see. Nowhere else in the world comes close.

Second is Florence which has 3 Caravaggios in the Ufizzi and 2 in Palazzo Pitti. Currently in London, because they have a Caravaggio on loan from Naples, you can see four at the National Gallery. The Queen (I forgot, the King) also has two, one of which is at Hampton Court, just outside of London and one, at Hampton Court or on display at the small Queen’s Gallery (I guess, now, the King’s Gallery) next to Buckingham Palace. Naples, when not loaning works out, is next as it has three. The Louvre in Paris also has three. Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches has three as well.

For a few months in 2024, Toledo, Ohio has four. Usually they have none. To see their exhibition of four early works was an opportunity I didn’t want to miss.

The quick jaunt started as a series of idling. We flew to Toronto to overnight at the airport. The hotel computers weren’t working which caused an hour and forty-five minutes wait to check-in. Our flight to Detroit the next morning was delayed by an hour to takeoff.

By the time we went to a restaurant for lunch and had to wait, we were well practiced. Another 20 minutes wait to get an Uber for a 5 minute drive, but we got to the Toledo Museum of Art.

The Musicians is one of the earliest which includes a self-portrait of Caravaggio, possibly two.

The Cardsharps is one of the most famous.

I had never seen Martha and Mary Magdalene sometimes called the Conversion of Mary which was from the Detroit Institute of Arts. It’s noted for the depiction of a psychological event. It’s very colourful for a Caravaggio work.

Another work I hadn’t seen: The Ecstasy of Saint Francis is from Yale University’s art collection.

The exhibition also included four of Toledo’s works by Caravaggisti, painters influenced by Caravaggio; the best of which was Artemisia Gentileschi’s Lot and his Daughters.

The rooms weren’t crowded so I had lots of time to examine the works.

Scott’s knee was too sore for much museum visiting but I took a quick look at the Renaissance and Baroque rooms. They have some good works by great artists even if not their most famous pieces.

We also took a quick look at the Glass Pavilion where I did not take a lot of photos because I was looking for a bathroom. Toledo has a history of glass works and is nicknamed Glass City. They produced, among other glass works, windshields for cars constructed in nearby Detroit.

Meals remind us we are in the United States where huge portions are the rule.

Lunch:

Dinner:

View of the Maumee River from the hotel:

View of the river from our room:

The river flows into Lake Erie which is nearby.

With my tornado of a Toledo trip over, we’re back to Toronto for Scott’s surgery.