Anne Stewart, Senior Curator of Art at National Museums NI, expressed the significance of the upcoming occasion and said:

“The connection between the two Caravaggio paintings is remarkable. Both were painted for the same patron, Ciriaco Mattei, and originally displayed in the same family palace in Rome. Reuniting Caravaggio’s The Supper at Emmaus and The Taking of Christ is a highly ambitious and unusual event. Both paintings very rarely travel and they have hardly ever been seen together since the first quarter of the 17th century.

“We are truly honoured and grateful to the National Gallery, the National Gallery of Ireland and the Jesuit Community in Dublin, for allowing us the opportunity to bring together two rare artworks and provide our audiences and the public with a rare chance to access these masterpieces.”