In Detroit

Had a fine time in Detroit and Ann Arbor last week.  My daughter, Marta, received her PhD which we celebrated in high style.  Congratulations, Marta!
  We visited the Detroit Institute of Arts and saw The Conversion of Mary Magdalene. Not a bad painting to start the quest with!  I particularly liked the depiction of Martha. Seemed so natural.  I thought the brightness of Mary Magdalene's face a bit much though it could be a restoration issue vice Caravaggio's intent.
  Kudos also to the Detroit Institute of Arts, we liked the layout of the paintings in the gallery and quite enjoyed the children's challenges in each room - called Eye Spy.  Something along the lines of Where's Waldo only looking for something in or on a piece of art in that particular room.  Very creative, I even found one or two!
  On to Cleveland.
N.B. I do plan to be a bit more prompt in future.  Also, here is a nice link to a Caravaggio site I like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_works_by_Caravaggio.  Finding the painting as a bit like Eye Spy, but who doesn't like a challenge?

And so it begins

Thus begins my quest to see all the paintings by Caravaggio.  I was first introduced to his paintings when we were planning a visit to Italy.  I had just read a novel by David Hewson and the main character, Nick Costa, talks about how he likes the works of Caravaggio and how there were several churches in Rome that had works by him. So we added several of the churches to our list of places to visit while in Rome.
  First I must mention that I have never been a big fan of medieval art.  The lighting is all wrong; just not natural. When I saw works by Caravaggio, I was so struck by the lighting, it was amazing. How he had the courage to forsake the accepted lighting approach (perfect light) and portray things as he did is incredible.  Helps that he had some pretty powerful sponsors.  Even they were probably getting tired of perfect light!
  Anyway, I am using the list from Wikipedia as my starting point.  We are heading to Detroit next week to see my daughter, Marta receive her PhD and plan to see the Martha and Mary Magdalene in the Detroit Institute of Arts. We will return via Cleveland, where we will see The Curcifixition of Saint Andrew.