Caravaggio
Crucifixion of Saint Peter
From $80
This painting is blood red, earth brown and shadow, and a cheap copy turns it flat and muddy. Our Caravaggio Death of the Virgin print is made from the museum’s own photograph, unretouched, so the reds stay deep.
Canvas, framed or paper
Stretched canvas. Printed on cotton canvas and stretched taut over a frame. The edges are mirror-wrapped, so the picture continues around the sides and none of it is lost to the fold.
Framed canvas. The same canvas, set in a black, white, natural wood or dark wood frame 0.83 in deep. The frame gives the work a finished edge and a little more presence on the wall.
Framed print. Printed on fine art matte paper and framed in solid pine, behind shatterproof plexiglass, in black, white, natural wood or dark wood. It arrives ready to hang. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame.
Fine art print. Printed on 310gsm fine art matte paper, for framing your own way. It travels rolled and protected. From 18x24 inch.
Sizes
12x18 inch, 16x24 inch, 20x30 inch, 24x36 inch. Framed sizes are measured on the outside of the frame, so the visible painting is a little smaller.
On your wall
Its tall shape suits a study, a hallway or a living room wall. The reds, browns and blacks look rich with cream, slate and walnut, and a gold or black frame suits it.
About the painting
Death of the Virgin by Caravaggio
Light out of darkness
Caravaggio painted saints and sinners as the people of the Roman streets, in a hard light cut out of darkness, and changed European painting in a career of barely twenty years.
A silent grief
Mary lies dead in a plain red dress, her head lolling, her feet bare. The apostles around her hide their faces in grief.
Too real
The friars who ordered it rejected it as unfit. Rubens praised it, the Duke of Mantua bought it, and in 1671 it came to Louis XIV.
Read the story
A woman lies dead on a low bed, in a plain red dress. Her head has fallen to one side. One arm hangs loose. Her bare feet are swollen. Around her, a group of old men stand in the gloom, heads bowed, some hiding their faces in their hands. In front, a young woman sits doubled over, weeping. And above them all hangs a huge red curtain, like a stage curtain.
This is the death of the Virgin Mary. But there is nothing heavenly here: no angels, no glowing light, only a thin, thread-like halo. Caravaggio painted her as a real woman who has really died, among real, grieving people.
It was commissioned for a chapel in the church of Santa Maria della Scala, in Rome. The friars refused it. It was not fit, they said. One early writer claimed that Caravaggio had used a prostitute as his model.
But the young painter Peter Paul Rubens, who was in Italy at the time, thought it one of Caravaggio's finest works, and on his advice the Duke of Mantua bought it. Later it belonged to King Charles the First of England, and then to Louis the Fourteenth of France.
By then, Caravaggio had fled Rome. He had killed a man in a sword fight, and he never returned.
Death of the Virgin. Caravaggio, about 1604 to 1606.
How each piece is brought to life
Faithful to the original, and made to be felt on your wall.
Graded against the original
We compare every work with the original as we grade it, keeping the artist’s colours true while bringing back their depth and glow. Every mark stays the artist’s own.
Printed for you
Printed to order on cotton canvas or fine art paper, then framed if you chose a frame, in 1 to 3 business days.
On your wall
It arrives 5 to 12 business days later, tracked and free anywhere in the US. Framed pieces come ready to hang.
Questions
Is this the original painting?
No. The original hangs in a museum. What you receive is a fine art reproduction, remastered from the original and printed for you, with every mark where the artist left it.
Will the colour look flat?
This is where most reproductions disappoint, and it is where we spend the most time. Each work is graded side by side with the original: faithful to the artist’s colours, with the depth and warmth brought back, so it moves you on the wall the way it was meant to. Canvas reads a touch softer than a backlit screen, and every screen shows colour a little differently.
Will the edges be cropped?
Each size is a standard frame size, so we fit the painting by trimming a little from its edges. We never stretch or squash it, and we check every size by eye so no face, figure or signature is cut. On canvas the edges are mirror-wrapped, which keeps the whole picture on the front.
Which size is right for my wall?
Aim for about two-thirds the width of the furniture beneath it. Over a sofa or a sideboard, one of the two largest sizes will hold the wall. The size guide lists every size in inches and centimetres, with the kind of wall each one suits.
How long does it take?
Your piece is printed in 1–3 business days, then spends 5–12 business days in transit, tracked all the way. Delivery is free anywhere in the US. We are unable to deliver to PO boxes.
What if it arrives damaged?
Send us a photograph and we will remake it and send it again. There is nothing to return.
Can I return it?
Yes, within 30 days of delivery. Our returns policy has the details.
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Printed to order
Graded against the original, then printed for you on cotton canvas or fine art paper in 1–3 business days.
The whole painting
Every mark is the artist’s own, and canvas edges are mirror-wrapped so the whole picture stays on the front.
Free US shipping
On every order, tracked, 5–12 business days in transit.
30-day returns
Returns and exchanges within 30 days of delivery.
