ROME
– Experts are examining whether a painting belonging to the Catholic
priestly
order of the Jesuits in Rome is the work of Italian master Caravaggio,
the
Vatican newspaper said Saturday. The L’Osservatore Romano article
appeared as
several Rome churches and museums housing works by Caravaggio planned to
extend
opening hours in an “all-nighter” to mark the 400th anniversary of his
death.
From dusk on Saturday until Sunday morning, visitors can enter for free
Rome’s
Borghese Gallery, which houses such masterpieces as David with the head
of
Goliath and Boy with a basket of fruit. Also open will be three central
Rome
churches – Santa Maria del Popolo, Sant’Agostino and San Luigi dei
Francesi –
which house some half-dozen Caravaggio paintings, including the
Crucifixion of
St. Peter in Santa Maria del Popolo.