CARAVAGGIO, THE CARDSHARPS, OYSTER CARD WALLET

This wallet is printed with an image of the painting by Caravaggio, The Cardsharps (1594), which was loaned by the Sir Denis Mahon Foundation to an exhibition at the Museum of the Order of St. John, London: Caravaggio: Fashion and Fabrics, between 3 October 2016 – 31 January 2017. The exhibition focused on fabrics in use during Caravaggio’s lifetime (1571-1610), with a spotlight on this painting, which Sir Denis Mahon identified as being by the artist in 2006. The curator, Francesco Gonzales, selected a variety of textiles and religious vestments from the collections of the Diocese of Novara and the Rubelli Museum in Venice, which were woven into the context of the exhibition, allowing a comparison with the textures and colours of the elaborate costumes of the three protagonists in Caravaggio’s painting, and a rare opportunity to view contemporary fashions in Northern Italy of the late 16th and early 17th Centuries.