Caravaggio in Chicago

If all our talk of our upcoming guide to Art + Travel Europe has you thirsting to see the real thing, then you’re in luck–well, at least if you live in Chicago. The Art Institute of Chicago, the Windy City’s premier art museum, is currently hosting Caravaggio’s 1601 masterpiece Supper at Emmaus, on loan from the Nation Gallery of London, in exchange for The Crucifixion by Francisco de Zurbaran from the museum’s collection. But hurry, you only have until Jan. 24 to see this Caravaggio–along with a collection of Caravaggesque works from the Institute’s own collection– up close and personal.
 
Located at the end of Chicago’s magnificent Grant Park (at 111 South Michigan Avenue), the museum is one of our favorite spots in one of our favorite cities in the world. It boasts an impressive collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist work, and is the second-largest museum in the country–only behind New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
 
Our idea of a perfect day? Checking out Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte and then reenacting the chilled-out scene on the lawns of Millennium Park. You just might want to wait until Chicago’s infamous winter is over to try that.
 
image via photine/Flickr