In Pursuit of Caravaggio
& Magna Graecia
- A unique and moving study of the life and art of Caravaggio, in Rome, Southern Italy, Sicily and Malta.
- Also surveys Baroque art and architecture as well as the Ancient Greeks in Italy – Magna Graecia.
- Passes Europe’s three remaining active volcanoes – Vesuvius, Stromboli, Etna – and there are a number of optional excursions to volcanoes.
- Private concerts of music from the baroque era in historic buildings in Rome, Naples and Valletta, performed by world-class ensembles.
Caravaggio, fugitive genius
When Caravaggio died in 1610 aged 38 he was the most famous painter in Italy, and for many years afterwards he continued to be the most influential. His reputation slumped in subsequent centuries but his stock has steadily risen in recent decades. His works are now widely regarded as the most immediately compelling and dramatic in the whole history of Italian art.
With unflinching realism, stark contrasts of light and shade and intense emotional power, his art burst upon the tired, febrile artistic scene of fin-de-siècle Italy like a Damascene conversion. His pictures were radical, innovatory, even shocking; his personality was arrogant, tempestuous and violent. Accused of murder, he fled Rome and sought exile successively in Naples, Malta and Sicily, time and again obliged to move on by further conflict.
Nevertheless, in his own lifetime connoisseurs clamoured for works. His patrons and protectors were among the richest and most powerful of cardinals, bankers and aristocrats. Though paintings by him are now to be found in museums around the world, many remain in the cities where he produced them and some are still in the original architectural context of the chapels for which they were made.
This voyage visits all the principal places in which Caravaggio worked, retraces his journeys and enables unhurried viewing of many of his finest paintings. The focus on a single artist provides a thematic stringency which is unprecedented for a cruise of this kind, but it also provides a springboard to enhance the understanding and appreciation of the glories of seventeenth and eighteenth-century art and architecture in southern Italy.
This was a period when Italy still led the world in artistic endeavour. Passion and triumph; remorse and magnificence; striving for originality while maintaining deference towards the heritage of the Renaissance and of Ancient Rome: these are some of the characteristics of Baroque art and architecture which are among the most uplifting and emotionally potent of the European tradition.
Temples of ‘Greater Greece’
In the Aegean heartlands of ancient Greece there was an abundance of energy and enterprise but a superabundance of people and an acute shortage of cultivatable land. The solution was to send seaborne parties of young men across the Mediterranean in search of sites where they could settle and found colonies.
The colonies in southern Italy and Sicily were particularly successful – despite frequent strife with natives, Carthaginians, Romans and other Greeks – and rapidly outgrew their mother cities in prosperity and architectural magnificence. The Greeks themselves coined the phrase which is better known in its Latin form, Magna Graecia, ‘Greater Greece’.
The most evocative evidence for this phenomenon lies in the splendid crop of Doric temples, more numerous and on the whole larger and much better preserved than their counterparts in Greece proper. Looked at dispassionately, the Doric temple is an odd invention: extreme subordination of function to form, misuse of stone as a building material, ornamentation with bits and bobs of no evident meaning, design sophistications too refined to see. Odder still, the form continued as a living tradition for nearly 500 years with no significant change, and this among people who were the most original thinkers in the history of humankind.
But being dispassionate is not an option. The peripteral, pedimented form is deeply embedded in our psyche and is unquestionably of consummate beauty. Despite extraordinary similarities, in fact no two temples are alike, and informed examination of the best examples provides an aesthetic feast of the highest order.
Of course, there was more to Greek civilization than temple buildings. This cruise also explores other aspects of the Classical world, with due attention to Roman civilization, particularly in Rome and Naples.
A study of volcanoes
Talk about eruptions will not be confined to artistic temperament. The Caravaggio route happens to coincide with the only belt of volcanic activity in Europe, and there will be a number of optional excursions with the resident vulcanologist.
An outcome of the collision between the African and European plates, a volcanic belt cuts through Sicily and southern Italy. Vesuvius, whose eruption in ad 79 famously destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum, is the only currently active volcano on the European mainland, and though modest in size, has been studied more than most, largely due to the hazard it poses to Naples.
Strómboli, which pokes out of the sea north of Sicily, is the most continuously active and throws up showers of sparks many times a day. At 3,300 metres Mount Etna is one of the world’s largest. Eruptions have been increasing in number and intensity in the last few years. We also pass close to the cone of Vulcano (Lipari), the volcano that gave its name to the science.
Private concerts
A very special feature of this cruise are the three private concerts, all in magnificent and highly appropriate settings, all with some of the very best specialist musicians in Europe.
DAY 1, ROME. There is a short evening concert of Baroque music in the Galleria Doria-Pamphilj, one of the grandest private palaces in the city. Subject to confirmation, we have engaged an outstanding Italian chamber ensemble specialising in this repertoire.
DAY 3, NAPLES. The Tallis Scholars, under the direction of their founder Peter Phillips, is one of the world’s leading specialists in a capella polyphony. They perform works by the Neapolitan aristocrat Gesualdo, appropriate because Gesualdo was an exact contemporary of Caravaggio and was also obliged to leave his home city because of a murder charge. Equally apposite is the location, the chapel of Pio Monte della Misericordia, because above the high altar hangs Caravaggio’s Seven Works of Mercy, one of his greatest paintings.
DAY 11, VALLETTA. The Manoel Theatre, dating to 1731, is one of the earliest surviving and fully functioning theatres in Europe. In this delightful setting there will be a full-length concert of music contemporary with the theatre by composers including Locatelli, Tartini and Vivaldi. The period instrument ensemble La Serenissima, directed by the violinist Adrian Chandler and specialising in Vivaldi, provides performances of memorable vivacity.
ITINERARY
Paintings by Caravaggio seen on the cruise
Rome. S. Luigi dei Francesi, Calling of St Matthew, Martyrdom of St Matthew, St Matthew and the Angel. S. Maria del Popolo, Conversion of St Paul, Crucifixion of St Peter. S. Agostino, Madonna of Loreto. Galleria Borghese, Madonna and Child with St Anne, St John the Baptist, Sick Bacchus, St Jerome in his Study, David with the Head of Goliath. Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Mary Magdalene, Rest on the Flight into Egypt.
Naples. Capodimonte, Flagellation of Christ. Banca Commerciale Italiana, Martyrdom of St Ursula. Pia Monte della Misericordia, Seven Acts of Mercy.
Messina. Museo Regionale, Resurrection of Lazarus, Adoration of the Shepherds.
Syracuse. Sta Lucia, Burial of St Lucy.
Valletta. Co-Cathedral of St John, Beheading of St John the Baptist, St Jerome.
Note that some may not be accessible due to loans to exhibitions, restoration or unforeseen closure.
Others seen in Rome on the pre-cruise Caravaggio or Rome tours: Palazzo Barberini, Judith and Holofernes, Narcissus, St Francis in Meditation. Pinacoteca Capitolina, St John the Baptist. Casino Ludovisi, Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto. Vatican Pinacoteca, Entombment of Christ.
Pre-cruise tours and stays
The pre-cruise tour Caravaggio, Lombardy to Rome is described in outline elsewhere. There is also the option of flying into Rome a day or two before the programme begins for independent time in the city.
Day 1: Rome
There is a choice of scheduled flights to Rome from London (see page 24). Coaches take participants from the airport to hotels in the city centre. The first night is spent in Rome.
For those on earlier flights there is the opportunity to view Caravaggio’s
St Matthew cycle in S. Luigi dei Francesi, the commission which made his name. There may also be time to visit the church of S. Agostino to see Caravaggio’s
Madonna of Loreto.
The Palazzo Doria-Pamphilj is one of the largest and most lavishly furnished of Roman palaces. The outstanding picture collection includes Caravaggio’s hauntingly beautiful
Rest on the Flight to Egypt.
Concert. There is a fifty-minute concert of Baroque music composed in Rome. The performers are the internationally renowned period instrument ensemble L’Arte dell’Arco.
Dinner is in selected restaurants and the night is spent in one of several hotels in Rome.
Day 2: Rome, Civitavecchia
After an introductory talk, visit Sta Maria del Popolo where there are two dramatic paintings by Caravaggio,
Conversion of St Paul and
Crucifixion of St Peter. For those who missed it yesterday, there is the option of seeing Caravaggio’s
Life of St Matthew in S. Luigi dei Francesi.
Lunch is provided in self-service restaurants near the Piazza del Popolo.
In the afternoon participants converge on the Galleria Borghese, which is opened exclusively for us on its usual closing day. One of the most lavish of Baroque villas, it houses an extraordinarily rich art collection including sculptures by Bernini and five paintings by Caravaggio.
Then drive to the port of Civitavecchia, embark on MS Columbus and sail at 7.00 pm.
Days 3: Naples
Moor at Naples within walking distance of the historic centre.
A major Greek and Roman settlement, the most populous city in Europe in the early modern period, an important Grand Tour destination and capital of the largest state in pre-unification Italy, Naples is richly endowed with art and architecture.
In the morning there is the option of a guided walk to key monuments in the city centre including the Gothic church of Santa Chiara with its tile-encrusted cloister, the extraordinarily affecting and exuberant Baroque sculpture in the Capella di San Severo and the sumptuously decorated cathedral of S. Gennaro. Subject to special arrangement, see Caravaggio’s
Martyrdom of St Ursula in a private collection.
In the afternoon visit the grandiose royal hunting lodge at Capodimonte which now houses one of the finest art collections in Italy; it includes
Flagellation of Christ by Caravaggio.
Concert. There is an early evening concert in the chapel of Pio Monte della Misericordia with the Tallis Scholars, the world’s leading Renaissance polyphony ensemble. The programme includes music by Gesualdo, an aristocratic Neapolitan contemporary of Caravaggio, whose
Seven Works of Mercy forms the backdrop to the performance.
Day 4: Naples or Pompeii or Vesuvius
Those who are not on the out-of-town excursions can in the morning join a tour of the centre of Naples or visit the Museo Nazionale. This is among the greatest archaeological museums in the world, many of its exhibits having been unearthed in Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Alternatively, there are two optional all-day excursions to choose from, to Vesuvius and to Pompeii and Herculaneum. These have limited capacity and need to be booked in advance. There is a charge of £45 which includes lunch ashore.
The Vesuvius excursion includes the rim of the crater (volcanic activity permitting), the observatory and various geological phenomena.The Villa Oplontis, possibly belonging to Poppea, Nero’s wife, is a spectacular excavation and well shows the impact of the ad 79 lava flow.
The other visits Pompeii and Herculaneum, the cities buried in the earthquake of ad 79. Paradoxically, their sudden obliteration preserved them with a completeness which has no parallel with any other archaeological site in the world.
Sail from Naples at 11.00 pm.
Day 5: Agropoli, Paestum
Moor at Agropoli early in the morning.
Poseidonia (Paestum) was founded by Greek colonists around 600 bc on an alluvial plain and soon benefited from the proceeds of agricultural abundance. Its three temples are among the best-preserved in the entire Greek world, partly because from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century they were shielded from sight by dense vegetation. The largest, hypothetically dedicated to Poseidon, became highly influential among Neo-Classical architects and it is still judged to be the finest of all purely Doric temples.
Sail at 2.30 pm for Sicily.
Day 6: Messina, Reggio di Calabbria; Taormina; Etna
Situated on the northeast apex of Sicily, the port of Messina was one of Caravaggio’s Sicilian refuges. The Museo Regionale houses his Resurrection of Lazarus and Adoration of the Shepherds. The restored Romanesque cathedral is among the other things to see in this lively city, where you can have free time for the rest of the day if you wish.
Reggio di Calabria. Unless you opt for the Etna or Taormina excursions, there is the opportunity of crossing by hydrofoil to Reggio di Calabria on mainland Italy to see the Riace Bronzes, two over-life-size male nudes, among the finest ancient Greek sculptures to survive.
Taormina option. After visiting the Messina museum, drive to Taormina by coach (km 48) for free time there. A very attractive hilltop town, from the well-preserved Roman theatre there are views over the sea to Calabria and inland to Mount Etna. It was one of the first seaside resorts in Italy and remains one of the most prestigious. Lunch is not included.
Mount Etna. An all-day excursion examines one of the world’s largest active volcanoes. Recent geological activity precludes reaching the lip of the main crater but we shall strive to get as high as practicable. There is a charge for this excursion, which must be booked in advance, of £95 which includes lunch, 4x4 truck and cable car. It is not suitable for people with any breathing difficulties or who are susceptible to altitude sickness.
Sail at 7.00 pm for Palermo via the Aeolian Islands, a group of volcanic outcrops. Stromboli is the most consistently active of Europe’s volcanoes, shooting showers of sparks every twenty minutes or so, best seen at night (we pass c. 10.00 pm; visibility is dependent on the weather).
Day 7: Palermo
PALERMO. The capital of Sicily since the Arab occupation in the ninth century, Palermo is a vibrant, busy city with a cross-section of the art and architecture accrued from the extraordinary range of peoples and civilizations which have made their home on the island.
There are a number of excursions to choose from today. One is devoted to the buildings from the time of Norman rule in the 12th century, a unique blend of French Romanesque, Byzantine mosaics and Saracenic detailing. The Palatine Chapel and Hall of King Roger (under restoration but a private visit is possible) are the outstanding examples, and in the afternoon there is the option of visiting the magnificent Siculo-Norman cathedral at Monreale. The Archaeological Museum has an important collection, especially of Greek sculpture, and there is a fine art gallery in the Renaissance Palazzo Abatellis. Churches and palaces of all ages abound, but Baroque is predominant.
Sail at midnight.
Day 8: Trapani, Segesta
Moor at Trapani on the west coast of Sicily. There is free time in the morning at this pleasant little seaside town.
Set in an unspoilt hilly landscape, the almost complete but fascinatingly unfinished fifth-century temple at Segesta was built by the indigenous if thoroughly Hellenized people. On an adjacent, higher hill is a theatre with views to the sea.
Sail at 5.00 pm for Syracuse.
Day 9: Syracuse
Founded by Corinthian colonists in 733 bc around a fine natural harbour, Greek Syracuse grew into the wealthiest of all the cities in Magna Graecia and therefore in Europe. The heart of the ancient city is now an island, Ortygia. Here are the ruins of the oldest Doric temple in the Greek west while another owes its preservation to conversion into the present-day cathedral. On the mainland there is a well-conserved theatre. The Piazza del Duomo and surrounding streets have many fine Baroque buildings. For Sta Lucia Caravaggio painted an altarpiece,
Martyrdom of St Lucy.
There is free time in the afternoon. There is plenty more to see and do in one of Sicily’s most attractive towns. At the end of the afternoon there is a visit to a private palace.
Sail from Syracuse at 10.00 pm.
Day 10: Agrigento
Moor at Porto Empedocle and drive to Agrigento.
As if making up for a relatively late foundation (580 BC), the colony of Akragas rose rapidly to riches and constructed the largest group of peripteral temples in the Greek world, seven on elevated sites within the city walls and an eighth outside. That dedicated to Olympian Zeus was the largest of all Doric temples before being felled by Carthaginians and earthquakes, while the Temple ‘of Concord’ is the best preserved in the west. The ‘Valley of the Temples’ is one of the great sights bequeathed by the ancient world.
Sail at 2.00 pm and moor in the Grand Harbour of Valletta around 11.00 pm.
Day 11: Valletta and sites in Malta
After their retreat from the eastern Mediterranean before the all-conquering Turks, the Knights of the Order of St John found refuge on Malta. Here in 1565, against overwhelming odds, they survived an Ottoman siege. For the next two hundred years the ensuing rebuilding campaign turned the capital, Valletta, into one of the most impressive Baroque cities in Europe, and spread across the island fine churches, grand palaces and fortifications unsurpassed for splendour and impregnability.
Caravaggio fled here from Naples and before he was obliged hurriedly to depart again he so impressed the Knights with his art that he was invited to join the Order. His
Beheading of St John, which has been described as ‘the painting of the century’, remains in the oratory for which it was painted. Also in Valletta there is the opportunity to see one of the palaces of the Knights and the Grand Hospital with the longest hall in Europe.
Outside Valletta sights include the beautiful, unspoilt citadel of Mdina, Malta’s ancient capital, and the church at Mosta, Europe’s third widest masonry dome. Of great international importance are the Tarxien ‘temples’ and the Hypogeum, approached through pleasant countryside and located by the sea at the top of high cliffs. (Numbers are limited on the excursions to the archaeological sites and they must be pre-booked.)
Concert. Vivaldi specialists La Serenissima play Baroque music in the 1731 Manoel Theatre.
Day 12: Valletta, Malta
In the morning there is free time or the opportunity to join one of the excursions described above.
Sail at 1.00 pm for La Goulette, the port of Tunis (Tunisia).
Day 13: Tunis
Here the cruise ends. Depending on flight schedules, there may be time to visit the old medina of Tunis or the magnificent collection of Roman mosaics at the Bardo Museum. Return to a London airport in the afternoon on a specially chartered flight.
PRACTICALITIES
How strenuous?
It is essential for participants to be fit and to have little difficulty with everyday walking and stair climbing. Unless you are able to walk unaided for at least an hour you would not be able to cope with the sites and city centres. To get the best out of visiting the archaeological sites you need to be sure-footed and moderately agile.
The Etna excursion is not suitable for people with breathing difficulties or who are susceptible to altitude sickness.
To reach Valletta it is necessary to clamber in and out of tenders (small utilitarian boats), and it may be necessary to do so also at other ports if the ship is obliged to remain at anchor.
Flights in 2009
Flights between the UK and Rome and between Tunis and the UK are included in the price of the cruise. There is also the option of flying into Rome a day or two before 20th September for independent time.
The inbound flight, Tunis to London, is on an aircraft specially chartered for this cruise. Details of the schedule and airport will be given as soon as they are confirmed but this may not be until eight weeks before the start of the cruise.
One-way flight options are also available. There is a reduction of £80 if you do not take the outbound scheduled flight. There is no reduction if you do not take the inbound chartered flight.
Out from Heathrow, two days prior
Option 1. Friday 18th September. Depart London Heathrow c.12.45, arrive Rome c.16.15 (BA 560).
Please note that Option 2 has been withdrawn.
Out from Heathrow with British Airways, one day prior
Option 3. Saturday 19th September. Depart Heathrow c. 12.45, arrive Rome 16.15 (BA 560).
Out from Heathrow with British Airways
Option 4. Sunday 20th September. Depart Heathrow 09.15, arrive Rome c.12.45 (BA548).
Please note that Option 5 has been withdrawn.
Out from Gatwick with British Airways
Option 6. Sunday 20th September. Depart Gatwick c.08.00, arrive Rome c.11.30 (BA 2542).
Option 7: no flights
There is a reduction of £80 if you take neither of the flights.
Flight schedules are subject to change! Also, there are limited seats on each option so your first choice may not be available.
Regional airports. We are happy to quote for connecting flights from regional airports. Please request this on the booking form.
Rome hotels
Details of the hotel in which you spend the first night will be sent to participants upon booking. We are using a selection of four- and five-star hotels in the city centre, each linked to a cabin category.
Participants on the pre-cruise Caravaggio tour will all be in the same hotel, irrespective of the cabin category selected.
Extending your holiday
If you wish to arrive a few days before the cruise, or to delay your return home after it, we can book hotels on your behalf. Details will be sent in due course.
Visas
Italy and Malta: no visas are required for citizens of the UK, other countries within the European Union, Australia, New Zealand or the USA. Citizens of other countries should check requirements with the Italian, Maltese and Tunisian consulates in their country of residence.
Tunisia: a visa is required for citizens of Australia and New Zealand. Currently this costs £15 which is not included in the price of the cruise.
Missing pictures
It is all but inevitable that one or more of the Caravaggios will not be on show due to conservation, unforeseen closure, loan to an exhibition elsewhere or for other reasons. Decisions on these matters are sometimes made at very short notice. We regret we cannot provide compensation in the event of absent or inaccessible pictures.
Optional excursions
Participants will be asked whether or not they want to book the optional excursions about three months before the cruise.
No surcharges
Martin Randall Travel does not levy surcharges to cover higher fuel or currency costs, or for any other reason.
TESTIMONIALS
Please note that all prices are per person. Click on the category letters below to see more detailed information on the relevant cabins. Visit the Cruise Booking pages for how to make a booking.
There are discounts available when booking on two or more cruises on the MS Columbus. Please contact us to discuss.
2009 Prices
Double occupancy
| Category |
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
J |
| In Pursuit of Caravaggio |
£7580 |
£6970 |
£6790 |
£5640 |
£5380 |
£5090 |
£4520 |
£4130 |
£2990 |
| Deposit |
£600 |
£600 |
£600 |
£500 |
£500 |
£500 |
£400 |
£400 |
£300 |
| With pre-cruise tour |
£9080 |
£8470 |
8290 |
£7140 |
£6880 |
£6590 |
£6020 |
£5630 |
£4490 |
Single occupancy
| Category |
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
J |
| In Pursuit of Caravaggio |
|
|
|
£7330 |
£6990 |
£6260 |
£5560 |
£5080 |
£3680 |
| Deposit |
|
|
|
£600 |
£600 |
£600 |
£500 |
£500 |
£300 |
| With pre-cruise tour |
|
|
|
£9180 |
£8840 |
£8110 |
£7410 |
£6930 |
£5530 |
What is included
•
Acccommodation on board MS Columbus for the duration of the cruise in a cabin or suite as chosen. For In Pursuit of Caravaggio a night in a hotel in Rome is also included.
•
Nearly all meals from dinner on the first day to breakfast on the last. Sometimes lunch is provided on the first or last day as well. Nearly all of the meals are on the ship but occasionally lunches are in restaurants ashore. There are a few picnic lunches during The Romans in Africa.
•
Wine of good quality with lunch and dinner. Beer or soft drinks may be chosen as an alternative. (When in Libyan waters, all alcoholic consumption on the ship may be forbidden.)
•
Bottled water and soft drinks from your minibar and with lunch and dinner. Water is also on board excursion coaches.
•
Flights from the UK to an airport near the ship on the first day and from near the ship to the UK on the last day. Sometimes these are regular scheduled services and sometimes a specially chartered aircraft – see the description of each cruise for details.
•
Nearly all excursions and visits are included in the price. The few exceptions are optional excursions which are alternatives to the main programme and which involve extra costs such as lunch.
•
Coach transport between airport and ship is also included, of course. When moored near a place of interest which is not within easy walking distance, coaches are provided for independent visits.
•
The lectures on board and ashore, and local guides where provided.
•
Concerts and other performances as described in these pages, ashore and on board.
•
All tips. There is no need to give anything to waiters, chambermaids, guides, drivers, anyone – we do it on your behalf.
•
All taxes, port taxes and other necessary charges.
•
Printed information including all essential practical details concerning the cruise as well as site plans, city maps and historical and other background information.
Not included: visas, drinks from the bar, medical treatment, internet access, laundry and other services of a personal nature.
No surcharges
Martin Randall Travel does not levy surcharges to cover higher fuel or currency costs, or for any other reason.