(by Paola Del Vecchio) (ANSAmed) - MADRID - The Prado museum is marking its 190th anniversary by throwing its doors open, with free guided tours of the permanent collection and the temporary exhibition devoted to Juan Bautista Maino (1581-1649), the Spanish painter who is most closely identified with Caravaggio. The exhibition includes almost all the known works by the painter and monk who worked during the first half of the 17th century, and whose father was from Milan; he travelled in Italy at the end of the 1600s, receiving training which derived from the two great contemporary painters in Rome: the revolutionary naturalism of Caravaggio and the revision of Italian classicism of Annibale Carracci and the Bolognese School. The exhibition, which runs until January 17, shows 35 of the 40 works attributed to Maino, and 21 paintings by Italian and Spanish artists who inspired the artist the most, including Caravaggio, Guido Reni and Carracci. The exhibition showcases seven previously unseen works by Maino, recently attributed to the artist, and redeems him as one of the stars of Spanish painting among the least known, due to the belated and difficult identification of his biographical data and his works. We know that he was born in Pastrana, close to Guadalajara, and that he spent his adolescence in Madrid before leaving for Italy, where he was influenced by various styles, as demonstrated by his style of painting, which is characterised by a vigorous and descriptive treatment, by the sculptural monumentality of his figures, his inspirational use of contrast and intense, saturated colour, explained the exhibitions curator, Leticia Ruiz Gomez. It is unlikely that anyone got as close to Caravaggio as this monk, claims German expert Carlo Justi, who was the first to link the painter to the Italian master of naturalism. In this sense the exhibition offers a comparison of his works and those of masters such as Caravaggio, Gentileschi, Reni, with El Greco and Velazquez. A scientific catalogue accompanies the exhibition with four essays: two, edited by Letizia Ruiz Gomez, on the critical fate of the artist and his personal background and the early years of the young Mano; a third by Gabriele Finaldi, director adjunct for Conservation at the Prado Museum, on the Roman surroundings in which the painter worked and developed; lastly, a piece by Maria Cruz de Carlos and Fernando Maras on the cultural and religious context in which the artist lived in Madrid and Toledo. (ANSAmed).