The Baroque Underworld

The clandestine, shady world of the Italian capital is evoked in some 70 paintings; it is an unexplored aspect of the astonishing production of 17th century Roman artists ranging from Manfredi to Nicolas Régnier. The exhibition was presented at the Villa Medici in Rome in the autumn of 2014. For the Petit Palais, it has been bolstered by some new, prestigious loans. This Roman netherworld, in which vice, poverty and every kind of excess flourished, has never been presented in France before.