The Return and the Obsession

• After the experience in London, the return to Bagheria was not a destination, but the beginning of a silent and incessant challenge. In Sicily, amidst the shadows and lights of his homeland, the artist began a visceral production dedicated to Michelangelo Merisi. What began as a personal study evolved into a substantial private collection: an investigation into the substance and truth of bodies, and the drama of light overcoming darkness, which transformed his studio into a seventeenth-century laboratory.

The Breakthrough Portfolio

• It was this absolute dedication that allowed him to cross the island's borders. Through this portfolio, the result of years of isolation and study, the artist was selected by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for an undertaking reserved for a very few: copying Caravaggio’s “The Denial of Saint Peter” live.

The Exhibition Path

The exhibition brings together the entire legacy of this journey. On display you will find:

• The Genesis: All the Caravaggiesque copies created during his years of study, fundamental milestones for understanding the Master's technique.

• The Rediscovered Absence: The copy of the “Nativity with Saints Lawrence and Francis,” the masterpiece stolen by the sicilian mafia from the Oratory of San Lorenzo in Palermo. Through this work, the stolen original lives again, recovering its documentary and emotional integrity. It is more than a reproduction; it is a reclamation of beauty against a historic silence. 

• The Pinnacle at the MET: The copy of “The Denial of Saint Peter,” created live in the halls of the Met Museum in New York. A one-of-a-kind work, certified and stamped by the museum, testifying to the direct and physical dialogue with the original overseas.

• The Unseen Works: The collection is enriched with all the previously unseen Caravaggiesque works created by the artist—original pieces that apply the technical secrets learned during years of study to new visions and compositions.