How many Caravaggio shows can a man take in his life? In my lifetime, at least in the years I spent in Milan, I never bumped into a Giacometti or a Morandi one, a Previati or Utrillo or Rothko or Severini or Segantini or Mengs or Bruegel one (well, it's not a definitive list, it's just to give the impression of my very large artistic needs). But tens of Caravaggio's and school shows passed in the city. This could be wonderful if it wasn't that the art shows in Milan are the poorest thing.
Just as an example, in recent years: in 1999, the show "From Caravaggio to Salvator Rosa"; in 2002, "The Caravaggio from Vatican"; in 2004, "Caravaggio: The Medusa"; in 2001, "The Lombardian cinquecento: from Leonardo to Caravaggio". Consider that in the same years other big Caravaggio shows were held around in Italy, in Rome and Bergamo, Naples, Turin.
Now this show is opening in Milan.
I know, Caravaggio is great¹ and he was from Milan, too. He was born on september 29th 1573 (the day of Saint Michael Archangel, hence his name), on the same day our beloved PM Berlusconi was born.
But still. If someone speaks to me one more time about the "maudit painter" I may throw up.
It's all thanks to the great imagination and largeness of means of our show organizators and local assessors that the same bunch of artists keeps visiting this city every two years.
Other big hits are: Kandinsky and Picasso. Gee.

_{1. I have in my mind the scene at the bookshop from the movie "Hannah and her sisters", where one of the sisters asks to Michael Caine whether he likes Caravaggio. "who doesn't?" he answers.}