Gemito in Borghese.
Colloqui con Caravaggio
nelle gallerie romane (1915)*
Chiara Pazzaglia
Starting from Vincenzo Gemito’s 1915 tempera copy of a Borghese painting then misattributed to Pier Paolo Bonzi (later recognised as Caravaggio’s Bacchino malato), the article combines a close visual analysis of the sheet with a reconstruction of the Galleria Borghese’s 1915 display and taxonomic ordering, based on historical guides and archival photographs. Reassessing the post-war “Gemito-Caravaggio” debate (notably Corrado Maltese, 1952-1960), it argues that the copy – through selective emphasis, tonal handling, and compositional shifts – functioned as a technical and cognitive tool that enabled Gemito to “understand” Caravaggio in 1915 ahead of later scholarship.