Caravaggio’s Comb takes us along new routes that bring us a revised vision of world history: the trade routes that brought ivory to Europe in the 16th century. In the foreground of Caravaggio’s Martha and Mary Magdalene lies a fine ivory comb with a broken tooth. This object embraces the saga of a trade that has shaped the history of art: that of ivory, a material that was absent from Europe as of prehistoric times. Coming alternately from the tusks of walruses in the far north and from the tusks of elephants in Africa, the ivory would travel thousands of kilometres, along a route upon which Europe was just a crossing point. With this simple comb, Caravaggio’s great baroque work directs our gaze to unknown worlds and unexplored stories.

From The World in a Painting collection