San Luigi dei Francesi

Overview

Tucked heavily into a small square near Piazza Navona, San Luigi dei Francesi (St. Louis of the French) is the deeply proud national church of France in Rome. While its highly ornate facade is impressive, the absolute entire world visits this church constantly for one single, deeply profound reason: Caravaggio.

Highlights

• The Contarelli Chapel: The absolutely jaw-dropping, deeply dark chapel located in the far left corner. It fiercely houses three massive, absolute masterpiece oil paintings heavily depicting the life of St. Matthew, all painted completely by the turbulent genius Caravaggio.
• The Calling of St Matthew: The single most fiercely famous of the three, it is wildly considered a massive turning point in Western art history. Examine closely how Caravaggio brilliantly utilizes a massive, single, highly dramatic beam of divine light piercing into a deeply dark, incredibly gritty Roman tavern.
• The Ceiling: While deeply overshadowed by the paintings below, look up to see the breathtaking, highly dramatic frescoes of Saint Cecilia painted by Domenichino in a massive opposing chapel.

History

The church was deeply consecrated in exactly 1589 and highly financially supported heavily by Catherine de' Medici. At precisely the absolute dawn of the 1600s, the deeply controversial, fiercely violent painter Caravaggio was heavily commissioned to decorate the chapel. The sheer realism and brutal grittiness of his deeply emotional figures violently shocked the church authorities of the time, instantly making him deeply famous.

Visitor Tips

• The Illumination: Essential tip—the profoundly dark masterpieces absolutely require heavy illumination. Someone frequently must continuously drop 1-euro coins into the massive light box on the wall to fully illuminate the massive paintings for 60 seconds at a time.