CARAVAGGIO

A Juxtaposition of Grace and Anger

BRENNAN FURST
JULY 27, 2015

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, born in September 28, 1571 in the city of Milan,
was a man of great inner-turmoil with a great eye for light and shadow and a touch for the
dramatic (Forty 1). According to both Simon Schama and The History Special he was deeply
religious, but consumed by pride and wrath. He feared for his immortal soul, yet he could not
find the temperance to control his actions. And this duality made him one of the greatest artists
of all time. The inner-conflict made his works appear just as complex as him, which gave them
more life than had been previously established by the masters of the Renaissance. Through this
he achieved a celebrity status which granted him near immunity to the law, however, some laws
cannot be overlooked and with the death of a lesser noble, he found himself running for his life
and making dangerous enemies all along the way.
My earliest memory was of my father dying when I was only six years of age, we had
fled to the town of Caravaggio to avoid an outbreak of the plague (Caravaggio 2013). After his
death, my mother raised me and my brother until her death when I was eighteen (Forty 2). In
between, not much had occurred, but afterwards I was sent by the Marquis of Caravaggio to
study in Milan under Simone Peterzano, whose only claim to fame was that he had studied under
Titian (Forty 2). Under his tutelage, I learned the importance of detail and was made to paint
many a bowl of fruit. He was very much a product of Milan, not straying from the simpler and
more natural style that was popular among his contemporaries (Forty 2). Although my life
seemed to be in order, and I was on my way to being just another painter in Milan, I found
myself in a fight with a city guard one evening, which I won. Unfortunately, others were not as
impressed with my triumph as I was and I had to quickly leave everything I had (Caravaggio
2013). I was aware that, as was any artist with a pair of ears, Rome was the art capitol of the
world and as that was my only marketable skill, I made my way there.

It wasnt difficult to find the artists quarter

of Campo Marzio and for the first few years I was
not as successful as I would have liked. However, I
did manage to get myself an apprenticeship with
Guiseppe Cesari, who was well known for being the
favorite painter of the Pope, Clement VIII (Forty 2).
It was under him that I began to gain fame and make
friends with some of the most influential people
Rome had to offer. It was during this time that I had
painted the Young Sick Bacchus; it was something I
thought would be intriguing as I was returning to health after a long stint of illness (Forty 2).
Again misfortune stuck; as I was incapable of working for Cesari during my illness, he ended my
employment with his studio (Caravaggio 2013). Now, though, I was free to sell my art for
myself and quickly found a vendor for my works, Maestro Valentino (Forty 2). Life was difficult
during this period as my works were not selling as well as I had hoped; however, I was still
making friends in high places and still refining my signature style. Eventually, I had created a
piece which grabbed the attention of the most notable patrons of the arts within Rome, The
Cardsharps. Valentino was able to show it to a cardinal, one Francesco Maria del Monte (Forty
2). He was so enamored with the piece he took me into his home and showed me off to all of the
most powerful families in the city. Finally, I had reached a certain level of celebrity which afford
me the ability to live as I had in Caravaggio, and I was still picking up momentum.
The Cardinal was quick to show me off to his network of friends, and within a very short
time I had sold fifteen paintings to the wealthy Giustiniani family which they hung one and all in

their palazzo (Forty 2). At the urging of

del Monte, I began to paint religious
themed works again, much to his delight;
however, I refused to simply copy those
who came before me. They did not know
the world that I had and thus painted in
ignorance a kind of perfection which does
no one justice (Krieger 700). My first
foray back into religious works was
entitled The Penitent Magdalene; I did not
wish to see her portrayed as she had been
many times before. No, I wanted people
to remember that these saints were common people before their ascension. Her pose is that of
remorse, as she is bathed in the light of God (Caravaggio 2006). This stripped her of her past
sinful life and brought her to a life of penitence under our Lord, Jesus Christ (Forty 3). My
newly found critics did not appreciate the subtlety nor the realism with which I cast the scene.
Claiming that I was degrading saints to a lower status, they were very unhappy when they
learned that I had used a whore to depict her (Caravaggio 2013). This did not deter the Church
from commissioning me again, this time from San Luigi dei Francesci. The paintings were of
Saint Matthew first his calling into the service God and then his martyrdom. These paintings
took me a year to finish, but afterwards came even more commissions (Forty 4).
Several paintings later and I was the most talked about artist in Rome. I would be lying if
I said that the fame didnt go to my head, but I felt untouchable. I spent a lot of time in pubs

with my friends, getting into fights and

drinking too much wine. There was an
incident where I injured a server over
artichokes. Now, to be fair, he was very
rude about whether or not they were
prepared with butter or oil and told me to
smell them to find out. So, I ended up
throwing the plate into his head and
forcing the food into his face, asking him
whether or not it smelled of butter or oil (Caravaggio 2013). For this I had to face a trail, but my
connections quickly absolved me of any wrongdoing. For six years I was like a king, able to do
what I wanted without fear of consequence (Forty 8). However, one night, after a heated
argument involving one of his prostitutes, I dueled one Ranuccio Tomassoni and killed him. He
was a minor member of a notable noble family and a very good duelist himself. Afterwards, I
attempted to castrate him with my blade, but the whole thing was messy, and there was blood
everywhere. Tomassoni died shortly thereafter, and I sought shelter in the home of a friend. It
wasnt long before a manhunt was issued and I fled Rome (Caravaggio 2013). I went from one
small town to the next on my way South where I knew my powerful friends could hide me
(Caravaggio 2006).
Now in Naples, I found a modicum of protection under the Colonna family and was still
receiving commissions from the Church. The Pio Monte di Misericordia commissioned an
altarpiece from me to depict The Seven Works of Mercy. Over thirteen feet tall, this was a
monumental undertaking which took me approximately six months to finish (Forty 10). It

wasnt long before I learned of the bounty on my head. Literally, the Pope offered a prize to the
first man to bring in me in alive or, if dead, my decapitated head (Caravaggio 2006). Shortly
after finishing the painting, and with the ever present feeling of dread, I left Naples for the
independent island of Malta. Here I found protection under the Knights of Malta under the
condition that I join their order, a condition I was more than willing to fulfill. Of course, this
meant that I had to make a painting for the order, to which I obliged with The Beheading of Saint
John the Baptist (Caravaggio 2013). The thought of decapitation haunting me deeply, I dwelled
on the verdict for so long that I would paint more scenes of decapitation now than ever before
(Caravaggio 2006). With the feeling of safety though, I began to return to normal. Normalcy for
me being irrational violence and a penchant for self-destruction. In the light of

this, I attacked a fellow member of the Knights of Malta, breaking down his door and injuring
the man. It did not take long for them to arrest and imprison me. Sensing my impending danger
at the mercy of the court, I broke out of prison and fled in the dead of night. I fled to Sicily, to
my longtime friend Mario Minnitis house. I was a bit surprised to learn that he had married, but
he never could refuse me, and in short order I convinced him to travel with me while my more
influential friends sought my pardon. We explored the whole island, while I received
commission after commission from the various cities we visited (Forty 12).
After a time, wed explored all that Sicily had to offer and I left for Naples once more,
having learned that my pardon was on the horizon. I continued to paint and to fight here. One
night, though, my violent ways finally caught up with me. An agent of the Knights of Malta
came to end my life; wed fought and I was badly injured. I spent the next year recovering from
the wound, which left me disfigured with a hideous scar over the middle of my forehead
(Caravaggio 2013). I then learned that the Pope was ready to pardon me of my sins in exchange
for my remorse and under the condition that I surrender all of my paintings to Cardinal Borghese,
the nephew of Pope Paul V (Forty 13, Caravaggio 2013). As I travelled back to the city in which
I had achieved my greatest celebrity, I was detained in the port town of Palo for the murder of
Tomassoni for three days. By the time they had learned of my pardon and released me, my boat
had sailed on without me; hoping to intercept it, I travelled North to the ships next known stop
at Porto Ercole (Caravaggio 2006). And as I lay here on this beach, struggling for breath, I
realize I will not receive my pardon. I will not be accepted into paradise.
It is here where Caravaggios story ends, having died on a beach just south of his
destination on July 28, 1610 at the age of 38. There is much speculation about what killed the
troubled painter, of which there are three competing theories. The first theory sees Caravaggio

being overtaken by more hitmen from

the Knights of Malta, killing him
(Forty 20). The second has
Caravaggio succumbing to a long-term
infection sustained during his first
encounter with the would-be assassin a
year prior. The last theory has
Caravaggio collapsing from lead
poisoning common amongst painters
of his time as the paints were made
with the material (Caravaggio 2013).
Whatever the case, his impact on the
world is clearly seen with his
groundbreaking tenebrism. In more subtle ways, we may be able to thank Caravaggio for his
experimentation with lighting. This was used to create the most dramatic scenes possible; not
unlike the way that cinematography uses lighting today (Caravaggio 2013). Proceeding his
death, a court case arose where Cardinal Borghese sued for the possession of Caravaggios
paintings, claiming rightful ownership. He won his case, receiving the three remaining paintings
which Caravaggio was bringing to him, including the famous David with the Head of Goliath
self-portrait, in which he cast himself as the monstrous Goliath (Caravaggio 2006).

Works Cited
Caravaggio. Simon Schamas Power of Art. Writ. Simon Schama. Dir. Clare Beavan. BBC,
2006. Television.
Caravaggio: Man & Mystery. History Special. Writ. John McLaughlin. Dir. Adam Barton.
History, 2013. Television.
Forty, Sandra. Caravaggio. Cary, NC: TAJ Books International, 2013. Print.
Kleiner, Fred S. and Christin J. Mamiya. Gardners Art through the Ages, Twelfth Edition.
Wadsworth, Belmont, CA. Print.