Caravaggio - A Life (Art Ebook)

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HELEN LINGIIN.
U.S.A. $30.00
Of
the great Italian painters, Caravaggio speaks
all
most
clearly
and powerfully
to
our time. Caravaggio 's
and
early paintings of cardsharps, musicians,
vendors convey
Roman
the
his familiarity
underworld;
his
and fascination with

stark
and
brilliant
first
time in
religious paintings represent, for the
European
and the
art,
street
the world of the poor, the suffering,
outcast,
and they depict the religious ex-
perience of the individual with a directness our age
can recognize.
Caravaggio lived hard and died young, having

fled
er
Rome
man
for Sicily, apparently after killing anoth-
in a dispute; his
patrons, sybaritic
life,
and
cardinals,
street boys, prostitutes,
involving powerful
saints,
and rivalrous
of the most colorful of any
artist's.
as
well
painters,
is
one
This vivid, deeply
informed, and beautifully written biography

first
English
in
two generations
in
as
the
fa
us
jS
shows
Caravaggio 's genius with the striking clarity of
own
his
C3
paintings.
He
was born in 1571 near Milan, and the
tragic
darkness of his art and character can be traced to the

city,
where the plague
on the same
father
artist
citizens to live lives
there to live a divided
life
as a
protected by great cardinals, and
the streets. After a libel
trial
and
charge of homicide, he spent his

in Malta
brated
and Naples
well
to
visionary
as a
man
of
questionable
years in exile,
as Sicily, at
once cele-
and tormented, and producing work of
astonishing power.
He
from the Pope, only

stances,
as
last
of heroic
moved
In his late twenties Caravaggio
sanctity.
Rome,
and where the bishop, Carlo
day,
Borromeo, urged the
and grand-
killed his father
on
the
eventually received a pardon
to die, in mysterious circum-
way back
to
Rome
in July 1610.
(continued on back flap)
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Ca ravaggio:
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lO:
A LIFE
i
Helen Langdon
aus and Giroux
WBm
onrasi
By the same author

Claude Lorrain
For Anthony, John and Esther

Jorsan
et
haec olim meminisse iuvabit
Farrar, Straus
and Giroux
19 Union Square West,
Copyright
New York 10003
1998 by Helen Langdon
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America

First published in
1998 by Chatto
First Farrar, Straus
& Windus, London
and Giroux
edition,
1999
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Langdon, Helen.
Caravaggio
p.
a life
/ Helen Langdon.
First published in
1998 by Chatto
ISBN 0-374-1 1894-9

I.
I.
1st Farrar, Straus
and Giroux
ed.
cm.
(alk.
& Windus,
London.
paper)
Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da,
1573 1 6 10.
2. Painters

Italy
Biography.
Title.
ND623.C26L36
1999
98-51195
EB BR
ND623
C26
L26
1999x
Contents
ILLUSTRATIONS
Vll
INTRODUCTION
ONE
Milan
TWO
Rome
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
9
1592
33
Flowers and Fruit
5i
Gypsy, Cardsharps and a Cardinal
In the
Household of Del Monte
The World of
Street
and Brothel
77
96
131
Conversion and Martyrdom:

the Jubilee of 1600
154
Ut Pictura
191
Poesis
The Shock of
Humility: the Imitation
of Christ
222
TEN
ELEVEN
Rivals
252
TWELVE
Naples
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
Rome
1603 1606
^75
3i9
Caravaggio in Malta
34o
Sicily
364
Naples and Death
381
NOTES
LOCATIONS OF PAINTINGS
421
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
425
INDEX
427
393
Illustrations
ILLUSTRATIONS APPEARING WITHIN THE TEXT
Title page:
Caravaggio, The Crucifixion of St
Peter,
detail
(Rome,
S Maria del Popolo)
i.
Ottavio Leoni,
ii
Portrait of Caravaggio,
(drawing) (Florence,
Biblioteca Marucelliana)
The Town of
xii
Caravaggio; detail from 18th-century
Giuseppe Rados, View
of
the
Corso
dei Servi,
map
Milan (print,
11
1820,
c.
Milan, Civica Raccolta Stampe Achille Bertarelli)
13
Cesare Bonino, Carlo
17
Nunzio
helps
Galiti, Milan in
Tommaso
and
brings aid to the poor (print)
Plague, 1578, (print)
the
Laureti, The Triumph of Religion
31
(Rome, Vatican
Palace,
Sala di Costantino)
33
Antonio Tempesta, Map
of Rome, 1593 (print)
Ludovico Gamberlano
He
saw
Glow) scene from the Life of
the faces
36
of St Carlo and St Ignatius
S. Fillippo
Neri (print)
Scipione Pulzone, Holy Tamily (Rome, Gallena Borghese)

Caravaggio, Boy
Portrait
Peeling a Fruit
of Mario Minniti
(London, Phillips)
(print,
Messina
Federico Zuccaro,
58
(Florence Cathedral,
60
1821)
dome
fresco)
63
Ottavio Leoni,
Portait of the Cavaliere d'Arpino (print)
The Master of
Hartford,
(Hartford,
53
from G. Grosso Cacopardo,
ed. Memorie de'Pittori Messinesi,

Self Portrait
45
Fruits
and Flowers
in
64
two Carafes
Wadsworth Atheneum)
15.
Claude Mellan,
16.
Michael Natalis,
73
Portrait of Vincenzo Giustiniani (print,
from the
Galleria Giustiniani)
99
Portrait of Cardinal Benedetto Giustiniani (print,
from the Galleria Giustiniani)
100
VI
Caravaggio A Life
17.
Theodor Dirck Matham,
Portrait of
Gerolama Giustiniani (print,
101
18.
Jan Breughel, Vase of Flowers (Milan, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana)
19.
Caravaggio, The Conversion of

Institute
the
of Arts)
122
zo.
G.
21.
Caravaggio,
Jupiter,
22.
Caravaggio,
Portrait of Fillide
23.
Antonio Tempesta,
24.
Caravaggio, St Catherine of Alexandria (Madrid,
B. Falda, Casino Ludovisi (print)
Kaiser-Friedrich
117
Magdalen (Detroit, Detroit
Neptune and Pluto
128
(Rome, Casino Ludovisi)
Museum)
Scene of
129
(destroyed; formerly Berlin,
147
Martyrdom (print)
155
Museo Thyssen-
Bornemisza)
164
25.
Caravaggio, David and Goliath (Madrid, Prado)
26.
St Paul
169
(Rome, Odescalchi
collection)
27.
Caravaggio?
183
(attrib. to) Portrait of Giovan Battista
Marino (Private
collection)
198
28.
Giovanni Volpato, The
29.
Annibale Carracci,
30.
Bartolomeo Manfredi, Mars
Farnese Gallery,
Self Portrait
Rome (print)
206
(Parma, Galleria Nazionale)
chastising
Cupid (Chicago,
Art Institute of Chicago)

31.
Cupid with
his
Bow
208
212
(print after antique sculpture,
from the
214
32.
G.
227
33.
Caravaggio, Christ on
B. Falda, The Palazzo Mattei (print)

the
Berlin, Kaiser-Friedrich
34.
of Olives (destroyed;
the
236
Angel (destroyed; formerly
Museum)
238
Giovanni Baglione, Divine Tove Overcoming

the
Devil (Staatliche
formerly
Museum)
Caravaggio, St Matthew and

Berlin, Kaiser-Friedrich
35.
Mount
Museen zu
Berlin
the
World, the Flesh
and
Preufiischer Kulturbesitz
260
Gemaldegalerie)
36.
Giovanni Baglione, Divine Tove Overcoming

the
Devil
the
World, the Flesh and
(Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Palazzo

261
Barberini)
37.
Ottavio Leoni,
Portrait of Giovanni Baglione (print)
262
Illustrations
38.
Ottavio Leoni, Group
Portrait of Artists, including Sigismondo Laer
and Ottavio Leoni (print)
268
39.
Guido Reni, David
40.
Antoine Lafrery, The
41.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Bust
Head
contemplating the
of Goliath (Paris,
Louvre)
283
Seven Churches of
Rome (print)
of Scipione Borghese
288
(Rome, Galleria
Borghese)
291
(Rome, Galleria Borghese)
42.
Caravaggio,
St Jerome in his Study
43.
Caravaggio,
St Francis in Meditation
(Rome,
cTArte Antica, Palazzo Barberini)

44. Caravaggio,
St John the Baptist
294
(Rome, Galleria Nazionale
d' Arte
Antica, Palazzo Corsini)

45.
The Conclave of l6oj
295
(Columbia
University,
New York)
46.
Caravaggio, Mary Magdalene (Private collection)
47.
View of Naples
48.
Matteo Perez
59.
51.
315
320
d'Aleccio, The Investment of Fort St Michael (Valletta,
Grand Master's
Rome,
297
(print)
Palace)
49. Francesco delTAntella,

Sacra religione
et III
ma
341
Valletta
Militia di
(from G. Bosio, DeWlstoria
San Gio.Gierosol.no
di
della
lacomo Bosio,
1630)
Caravaggio,
343
Portrait of
Alof de Wignacourt (Paris, Louvre)
Castel SantAngelo, Malta
350
(photo: Marquis Anthony Cassar
de Sayn)
360
52.
C. von Osterhausen, The Oratory of
53.
View of Messina
54.
Caravaggio, The Adoration of
St John (Valletta,
Malta)
(print)

Francis
56.
Museo
Shepherds
the
Shepherds with Saints Lawrence
374
and
(formerly Palermo, Oratorio di San Lorenzo)
Caravaggio, The Crucifixion of
of Art)
362
370
(Messina,
the
Regionale)
55.
293
Galleria Nazionale
St
Andrew (Cleveland
378
Museum
387
aravaggio
Lifi
COLOUR PLATES APPEARING BETWEEN PAGES
1.
Caravaggio, The
Sick Bacchus
Il6
AND
117
2.
Caravaggio, Boy with a Basket of Fruit (Rome, Galleria Borghese)
3.
Caravaggio, The Gypsy Fortune
4.
Caravaggio, The Musicians
Teller
(Rome, Pinacoteca Capitolina)
(New York,
Metropolitan
Museum of Art)
Museum)
5.
Caravaggio, The Cardsharps (Fort Worth, Kimbell Art
6.
Caravaggio, The Lute Player (St Petersburg, State Hermitage)
7.
Caravaggio, Mary Magdalene (Rome, Galleria Doria Pamphili)
8.
Caravaggio, The Rest on

Galleria
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
the Flight into
Egypt
(Rome,
Doria Pamphili)
Caravaggio, The Ecstasy of
St Francis
(Hartford,
Wadsworth Atheneum)
Caravaggio, Bacchus (Florence, Uffizi)

Caravaggio, Boy
Bitten hy a Lizard
(London, National Gallery)
Caravaggio, Basket of Fruit (Milan, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana)
Caravaggio, Judith and Holofernes (Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte

Antica, Palazzo Barberini)
14.
Caravaggio, Medusa (Florence, Uffizi)
COLOUR PLATES APPEARING BETWEEN PAGES
15.
16.
Caravaggio, St John
Caravaggio,
Museen
17.
the Baptist
Victorious
212
AND
213
(Rome, Pinacoteca Capitolina)
Cupid (Berlin, Gemaldegalerie Staatliche
Preussischer Kulturbesitz)
Caravaggio, Narcissus (Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica,
Palazzo Barberini)
18.
Caravaggio, The Calling of
St
Matthew (Rome, San Luigi dei Francesi,
Contarelli chapel)
19.
Caravaggio, The Martyrdom of St Matthew (Rome, San Luigi dei

Francesi, Contarelli chapel)
20.
Caravaggio, The Crucifixion of St Peter (Rome, Sta Maria del Popolo,

Cerasi chapel)
21.
Caravaggio, The Conversion of St Paul (Rome, Sta Maria del Popolo,

Cerasi chapel)
22.
Caravaggio, The Supper
at
Emmaus (London, National Gallery)
Illustrations
23.
Caravaggio, Doubting Thomas (Potsdam, Sanssouci-Bildergalerie)
24.
Caravaggio, The Taking of Christ (Dublin, National Gallery of

Ireland)
Matthew and
(Rome, San Luigi
25.
Caravaggio,
26.
Caravaggio, The Entombment of Christ (Rome, Vatican Palace,
St
the
Angel
dei Francesi)
Pinacoteca)
COLOUR PLATES APPEARING BETWEEN PAGES 308 AND 309

27.
Caravaggio, The Death of
28.
Caravaggio,
the Virgin
St fohn the Baptist
(Paris,
Louvre)
(Kansas City, Nelson- Atkins
Museum
of Art)
29.
Caravaggio, The Madonna and Child with Saint Anne
30.
31.
32.
Caravaggio, The Supper
dei
at
Emmaus (Milan, Brera)
Caravaggio, The Madonna of Loreto (Rome, San Agostino)

Caravaggio, The Seven Acts of Mercy
(Naples, Pio
33.
(Madonna
Palafremeri)
Monte
(Madonna
della Misericordia)
della Misericordia)
Caravaggio, The Madonna of
the
Rosary (Vienna, Kiinsthistorisches
Museum)
34.
Caravaggio, The
35.
Caravaggio,
Flagellation of Christ
Portrait of a
(Naples, Capodimonte)
Knight of Malta; Era Antonio Martelli (Florence,
Palazzo Pitti)
36.
Caravaggio, Stferome Writing (Valletta, Co-Cathedral of St John)
37.
Caravaggio, The Beheading of
St fohn the Baptist (Valletta,
Oratory of
the Co-Cathedral of St John)

38.
Caravaggio, The Burial of
St
Lucy (Syracuse,
Museo Regionale
di
Palazzo Bellomo)
39.
40.
Caravaggio, The Resurrection of Lazarus (Messina,

Caravaggio, Salome with
the
Head
Museo
of St fohn the Baptist
Regionale)
(Madrid,
Palacio Real)
41.
42.
Caravaggio, David with
the
Head
of Goliath
(Rome,
Galleria Borghese)
Caravaggio, The Martyrdom of St Ursula (Naples, Banca Commerciale

Italiana)
IV
Ottavio Leoni,
Portrait of Caravaggio,
(drawing) (Florence, Biblioteca Marucelliana).
Introduction
The name
of Caravaggio has always been associated with
bold and revolutionary naturalism. To

art,
his
contemporaries his
rooted in the senses, dependent on the
live
model, had an
almost magical power, and created wonder and enchantment.

his career as a painter
of
lyrical
and card
gypsies, musicians,
and courtly
players,
He
began
artist
of
of
genre, with pictures
which ravish with the beauty and
precision of their naturalistic detail. But he developed into the
powerful religious
new
his age, creating a
most
Catholic art deeply
rooted in the contemporary spirituality of the Counter-Reformation.
The most famous

was also feared
originality,
painter in
and celebrated throughout Europe, he
Italy,
as a difficult
and strange
and mocked authority; he was
He
personality.
fearless
1606 he killed a man, and spent his last years in
and
belligerent,
through
this,
and through
so directly to the
modern
sometimes shocked
his
his
age.
restored Catholicism, yet

terror
and the
fears
its
vivid,
in
gift
and
it
compelling personality, that he speaks
But although Caravaggio's religious
contemporaries, at
harmony with sixteenth-century
and
His greatest
exile.
was for empathy, for making religious narrative new and

is
flaunted his
its
deepest level
it
spirituality. It reflects the passions
art
in
is
of
brooding darkness suggests both individual
of an age of
spiritual crisis
and the collapse of
universal faith.
Caravaggio was born in

all
Rome,
1571,
and
in the next
the city of the Popes, rose to
power that
it
had enjoyed
in the
decades
Italy,
and above
new eminence, and won back
most splendid
years
The
early years
fare.
France and Spain fought for dominance in
the
of the Renaissance.
of the sixteenth century had been years of continual war-
Italy into a vast battlefield.
The Medici
Italy,
turning northern
Pope, Clement VII, attempted to
maintain the balance of power, but so incompetent was his diplomacy

that in 1527 an unruly
Italians,
army of Spaniards, German
landsknechte,
and
employed by Charles V, German Emperor and King of Spain,
had sacked Rome. The troops behaved with appalling
brutality, the
Pope
Caravaggio A Life
was humiliated, and there was outrage throughout the peninsula. Spain
was
left
dominant
was confirmed
in 1559 tn ^ s
of Milan, Naples and
in Italy, in possession
Sicily,
Peace of Cateau Cambresis, a
at the
ment between France and Spain. In Naples and
in Sicily the
and
settle-
King of
Spain was represented by a viceroy. But with Spanish power there coexisted a variety
of independent
states,
duchies and republics,
among them
the Papal States; the republic of Venice, with extensive territories; the
republic of Genoa; and Tuscany, under the Medici
Grand Dukes. Parma
and Piacenza were ruled by the Fames e Dukes, while Mantua was
power of the Gonzagas, and Ferrara and Modena of the

In 1556 Philip
with the Popes.
in conflict
of the Valois Kings was assassinated
overtures to his heir, the
IV
War of
Henry IV
1593
his country,
nised
Henry
college
in the
Rome dreamed
in 1589, Sixtus
V began to make
resisted,
and
in the ninth
Religion (158998) Spain joined the fight against
France was devastated by
But in
and
Huguenot Henry IV of Navarre. In France and
Spain the succession of a Protestant king was
French
Estes.
his father, Charles V,
of the power of France to curb that of Spain, and when the
a revival
last
of Spain succeeded
and 1570s he was often
1560s
of
II
in the
war,
and
Paris
was in a
state
Henry
of
siege.
dramatically converted to Catholicism, reuniting
and entering
as
civil
Paris in triumph.
Pope Clement VIII recog-
King of France, and reduced Spanish influence
in the
of Cardinals. Over the next years Spain and France were con-
stantly at war, but in 1598, in the greatest political
triumph of
his reign,
Clement VIII arranged the Treaty of Vervins, by which Spain recognised
Henry
as
King. Clement, having brought peace between Spain and
France, in that same year annexed Ferrara for the Papal States.
Rome
was renewing her power, and a newly confident Catholicism dreamed of

crusade. After 1593, right
against the
Turk
up
in eastern
until 1606, there were periodic
Europe and
Rome's renewal was based on
in
Hungary.
a passionate upsurge
which, earlier in the century, had
to
III to
in
northern Europe.
The
reform and reorganise the Catholic Church antedates
Protestantism, but
Paul
of Catholicism,
been shocked by the onslaughts of
Martin Luther and by the spread of dissent

desire
campaigns
summon
it
was the challenge of Protestantism that led Pope
a Council at the tiny city
of Trent (Latin Triden turn)
Introduction
in
1545,
eighteen
where matters of doctrine were reformulated over the next

years.
The Council of Trent renewed
Sacraments and in the priesthood;
it
that the saints in heaven intercede with
God on mans
emphasis to the ideology of the bishop

it
confidence
as pastor,
behalf;
and
gave fresh
it
in its final
hours
The Council condemned much
recognised the primacy of the Pope.
Lutheran teaching, perhaps most importantly Luther's belief that

is
the
declared that Purgatory exists and
man
saved by faith alone. For the Catholic, faith without works was dead,
and
it
was through good works, and the sacraments, that
gradually, be transformed
foundation of
and
saved.
new and reformed
Capuchins, the Oratorians, the
man
could,
revived Catholicism led to the
religious orders, the Theatines, the
Jesuits,
good
while the concern with
works led to the elaboration of the confraternities, secular organisations
committed to
body.
charity
and
welfare,
The movement sought
and to tending the soul
as well as the
and popular appeal of
to revive the direct
medieval Christianity, of the colourful world of the thirteenth-century

Golden Legend, a collection
saints,
stories
about biblical figures and
though there was concern to eliminate
Very many meditative
works
of much loved
all
that was apocryphal.
published,
and such devotional
as the fifteenth-century Imitation of Christ
were a constant source
tracts
were
of inspiration.
In the earliest years of the sixteenth century two great art patrons,
Julius II
(Pope 150313) and Leo
X (Pope 151321), had turned Rome into
a grandiose Renaissance capital, the centre
magnet to
and
1512
artists
of Renaissance
art,
and
and scholars from throughout Europe. Between 1508
Michelangelo had painted the ceiling of the Sistme Chapel in
the Vatican, creating a series of
Old Testament
the beauty of the male nude; in the
scenes and a display of
same years Raphael was painting the
Vatican Stanze, with scenes that creatively fused the Christian and
ancient worlds, and epitomised the classical balance and monumentality
of Renaissance
art.
But
at the
Sack of
Rome many
artists fled,
and
Michelangelo's fresco of the Last Judgement (1542; Vatican, Sistine Chapel)
conveys the terror and spiritual
crisis
of these
years.
Art languished, and
from the burden of Michelangelo's
artists
suffered
artists
were primarily concerned with the
figure,
influence. Italian
and believed
in
an art
Caravaggio A Life
rooted in nature, yet nature corrected and idealised; Michelangelo
expressed his contempt for the interest of north European artists in
natural
phenomena,
texture
of nature. But
Roman
brought to
from northern
art
Rome, and
at the
still life,
and
in the surface
turn of the sixteenth century
by an influx of
artists
new
life
and
was
from northern Europe, and
where, in Venice and Lombardy, there had long been
Italy,
of more
a tradition
and
in landscape
naturalistic art.
the other great Italian
cities,
offered plenty of
work
to
the popes at the end of the century were patronising vast
artists, for
decorative projects, and the
many new
churches had chapels whose
decoration was supervised by wealthy individuals. But the search for a

protector, or patron, was crucial,
and only young and unknown
artists
put their works in the hands of dealers. Patrons tended to favour
from
their native towns,
and such
loyalties ran deep.
Throughout
artists
his life
Caravaggio was watched over by one of the most illustrious Italian

families,
the
Colonna, whose feudal subject he was. Other many-
and complex noble
branched
throughout
Italy
and Europe
Gonzaga, the Este

Italy's
most famous
all
families,
whose influence spread
the Medici, the Borghese, the Doria, the
longed for a work from his hand, for he became
painter.
Caravaggio s works create a strong sense of a compelling personality,

but
little
words
other evidence remains; he wrote nothing, and very few of his
His biography was, however, written by two of
are recorded.
contemporaries
who knew him
well.
One was
Mancini, writer on art and connoisseur, collector and dealer.

vivid
ill
and eccentric personality who looked
and knew him
well,
after
Caravaggio was in the palace of Cardinal Del
His
is
the
first
show
mation up to
date.
life
in his Lives of
the Artists
Next came
the
was a
period
in
which
in the later 1590s.
later
made
a series
of
that he tried to keep his infor-
by Giovanni Baglione, published
in 1642. Baglione
was a respectable painter and
who worked
in
Rome when
His biography
is
short but accurate, and given that Caravaggio was
writer,
well.
Monte
biography of Caravaggio and he
additions to his manuscripts which
He
Caravaggio when he was
during the
particularly
his
the Sienese doctor, Giulio
his enemy,
Caravaggio was there, and
and openly derided him,
it
knew him
has a remarkable objectivity.
Introduction
further biographer, Giovan Pietro Bellori,
Baglione's
Lives.
All
a little later in the
of 1672 on that of Baglione, but
century, based his Life
researched and added
who wrote
some new information; he annotated

these
early
biographies,
was well
it
copy of
his
Mancini's
including
additions and Bellori's marginal notes, have been published in translation
by Howard Hibbard
in his Caravaggio.
His contemporaries marvelled
at
Caravaggios naturalism, but by the
next generation he was already seen as an anarchic force,

the art of painting.
To Poussin
it
who
threatened
seemed that he had come into the
world to destroy painting, while to Bellori the darkness of his
due to
physiognomy: 'Caravaggios
his
physiognomy and appearance: he had

eyes,
and
his
style
reflected in his paintings/
reputation continued to
the twentieth century,
In the eighteenth
fall,
and
little
1951 exhibition in
first
as a storyteller, as
an
Studies (1955),
Milan,
by the great
risen to
popular
new and
artist, a rebel
1950s,
new emphasis was
artist brilliantly gifted in
his
him. But in
in
academic convention and ideal beauty. In the
Walter Friedlaender's Caravaggio

Caravaggio
was taken
dei Caravaggeschi', organised
unparalleled fame, celebrated initially as the

cast aside
was naturally
and nineteenth centuries
interest
of Caravaggio, Roberto Longhi, he has
Italian scholar
who
his
this coloring
and particularly since the
'Mostra del Caravaggio
was
dark complexion and dark
eyebrows and hair were black;

3
art
corresponded to
with
laid
on
rethinking the
iconography of scriptural scenes. The 1960s and 1970s saw metaphysicalexistentialist interpretations,
and
growing
approach, and in Caravaggios sexuality.

del Popolo'
tial
is
the
interest in a psychoanalytic
Thorn Gunns In Santa Maria
most poetic rendering of the homosexual and
Caravaggio of the 1960s and 1970s; he describes
Caravaggios
adding
Conversion of St Paul,
No
Ananias croons a mystery
yet,
Causing the pain out under name of
The
sin.
painter saw what was, an alternate
Candour and
He
existen-
secrecy inside the skin.
painted, elsewhere, that firm insolent
Young whore
in Venus' clothes, those
pudgy
cheats,
Caravaggio A Life
Those
sharpers:
and was
strangled, as things went,
For money, by such one picked off the
For the
large gesture
known
as
homosexual
young boys were painted to
paintings of
The German
sexual tastes.
scholar
Ricerche e Interpretazione (1974),
as
solitary
a narcissistic
man,
by embracing, nothingness.
Resisting,
Caravaggio became
of
streets.
whose
painter,
of similar
entice viewers
Herwarth Rottgen
in his
lyrical
II
Caravaggio:
followed by Hibbard, presented Caravaggio
and insecure homosexual. This reading,
England, has never been current in
and
Italy,
powerful voices have been raised against
it,
a cliche in
many
in recent years
culminating in Creighton
Gilberts Caravaggio and His Two Cardinals (1995), which demonstrates, with
homo-
true forensic power, that the historical evidence for Caravaggio's

sexuality
extremely flimsy. Other readings have been offered for the
is
early paintings;
Franca Trinchieri Camiz has related the paintings of
musicians to contemporary musical practice, while Stephen Bann, in The

True Vine, has discussed the boys with
presentation
4
.
And
in recent years a vast
opened up new
in Italy has
still life
areas
of
as 'essays in the art
amount of
interest,
of
Maurizio Calvesi has
his world;
archival research
new
providing us with
knowledge about Caravaggio's friends and patrons, and
of
new
brilliantly re-created the
awareness
network of
patronage in which Caravaggio operated.
new Caravaggio
approaches.
He
and
violent time,
honour.
He
has been created by this wealth of research and
was a violent man, but he lived in an extraordinarily

his behaviour
was governed by complex codes of
was, however, often described as strange
and odd by
contemporaries; he lacked strong relationships, though he
world of the
Roman
courtesans,
and had
He
lovers.
admired and feted by poets and
intellectual painter,
moved
was a highly
literary
men, and
many of
his paintings are a sophisticated play
on the nature of
illusion.
He
who
was also a great religious
passionate Catholic
scriptures,
and to
art,
relate
artist
his
in the
created a
artistic
new and
with an extraordinary ability to re-imagine the
them
to his
own
times; but
more than
this,
Introduction
Caravaggio had an unusual sensitivity to place and to the needs of his
patrons. In executing a commission, he thought very deeply about what
was needed by that church, and that patron,

in time,
and
tradition
his
works weave together the
and the most topical
empathy
with
place,
and
he
Sicily.
But Caravaggio's
moment
real,
artistic
had, too, an uncanny
moved around
Mediterranean, his art responded to the
Malta and
and the
ideal
He
references.
as
at that particular
the
southern
new atmospheres of Naples,
art transcends the pietistic art
of the
Counter-Reformation, and makes a powerful and immediate appeal

across the centuries. For his
works
also
convey a highly individual
response to the Christian mysteries; they suggest an extraordinarily direct
and
tragic sense
of the human condition and the
new
Caravaggio included a self-portrait, reflecting the
of the seventeenth century, and

events
of
his
life. It
as
own
self-consciousness
art,
but none the
less
world; over the years his models changed,
Caravaggio himself grew older, the young
early pictures yield to
of man. Often
seems bound up with the stormy
was predominantly a public
Caravaggio transformed his
and
his art
fate
an older and
frailer cast
of
men and women of

characters.
the
CHAPTER ONE
Milan
ON
staged
the
at
m Rome. Its hero was Marcantonio

Roman
Colonna, scion of
illustrious
the papal galleys
m the triumph of the Holy League over the
Lepanto.
He
Appian Way, passing the Baths of
Aracoeli, built
Roman
on the
of
all
families,
and com-
progressed from the church of San Sebastiano, on
arches of Constantine
old
an enormous theatrical triumph was
1571
one of the most
mander of
Turks
December
and under the triumphal
Caracalla,
and Titus, to the monastery of Santa Maria
holiest site
of the Capitol,
at the very centre
in
of the
Empire.
Colonna rode, unarmed, on

of
tering cortege
five
a white horse.
He
was escorted by a
thousand people, and 170
liveried
glit-
and chained
Turkish prisoners were driven before him. Before them the standard of
the sultan was trailed in the dust.
The
procession pressed forward
through tumultuous applause. 'Here from every

'his
er,
name rang
out.
part',
Everyone rushed to the
wrote an observ-
street,
clapping their
hands. Crowds of people thronged together, crying out, while trumpets
serenaded him.
He
was greeted from
shouting, waving caps and banner.'
Colonna crossed the Tiber
at the
far
and
near,
by people gesturing,
Ringed by twenty-five Cardinals,
Ponte Sant' Angelo, and then rode to
St Peter's and the Vatican Palace, where
Pope Pius
V received him in the
Sala Regia.
His progress was modelled on the triumphs that were granted to generals in ancient
it
Rome and
it
drew on the splendour of ancient myth. Yet
was also an intensely Christian event.
The
facade of the church of
Santa Maria in Aracoeli was decorated with captured Turkish
bore the proud inscription: 'The gratitude which, in their pagan

Ancients offered to their idols, the Christian conqueror,
Aracoeli,
now
gives,
who
flags. It
folly,
the
ascends the
with pious devotion, to the true God, to Christ the
2
Redeemer, and to His most glorious Mother'. Colonna seemed to bring
the
new promise of
more
joyful Christian era.
Caravaggio A Life
LE
panto had been
a spectacular feat
of courage and arms where the
Catholic powers had united against the Turk and broken their
supremacy for
ever. It
had been
a terrible victory, with the seas
running
red with blood, and 8000 Christians killed. However, for the Catholic
people of southern Europe
who
were threatened by Protesant heresy in
the north and the Turkish infidel in the East, Lepanto was an ecstatic
The
release.
visionary Pius
reunite Christendom.
had long dreamed of
To him
eyes, his
to
far
victory, and,
real,
of the medieval crusades.
and he yearned
He
had prayed
with his ravaged, austere face and deep-set
flowing hair and beard of an extraordinary whiteness, he seemed
embody
the charisma of a medieval saint.
became legend;
mood
sang the praises of
its
And
so Lepanto soon
of exalted fervour spread and poets everywhere

heroes. Success
had been won on the day the
Confraternities of the Rosary held their processions in
thanks were offered to the

years very
Vittoria,
ascetic,
removed from the princely popes of
the next world alone was
to re-create the sublime spirit
and fasted for
mighty war to
shepherd boy risen to Pope, he was an
nothing but skin and bone, and

the Renaissance.
many
Madonna of
Rome, and
the Rosary, while in the next
churches and chapels were built to Santa Maria della
Our Lady of Victory.
The Madonna of
the
Rosary
became the ban-
ner of the Counter-Reformation.

In late September,
when
all Italy
was waiting for news of the Holy
Leagues Armada, the painter, Michelangelo Merisi, was born, in the

small
Lombard town of
Caravaggio, to the east of Milan, which was
then under Spanish rule. His family waited for news of the Christian
fleet
vice
with particular eagerness. His
father,
Fermo
Merisi, was in the ser-
of the Sforza da Caravaggio, a noble family who
young Marchesa
Marcantonio,
di Caravaggio,
who was soon
Lepanto. Five years
da Caravaggio,
lived in Milan.
The
Costanza Colonna, was the daughter of
to ride in triumph as the
earlier, in 1567,
Roman
she had married Francesco
but the marriage
hero of
I
Sforza
between the seventeen-year-old
Francesco and the twelve-year-old Costanza had opened with great
unhappmess. Costanza had threatened
you do not
I
care
little
free
if
suicide, writing to her father:
If
me from this house and husband I shall kill myself, and

I lose my soul with my life.' Marcantonio, distraught,
3
10
Milan
"m.
ikyy
-. *..
ConlFaSfew*
3te
C_j|
I
Sir
imc
rrrad Moiir, :
r*c
V406fp
B*^
^
w
MA
Hff-
2.
detail
r- "
The Town of
Caravaggio;
from an 18th-century map
begged Cardinal Carlo Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, to intercede,
and arrange for
his
closely united, for
daughter to enter a convent. Their two families were
Anna Borromeo,
the Cardinal's
sister,
had married
Costanza's brother, Fabrizio Colonna. Yet somehow, to general amaze-
ment, given the apparent unremitting

a child,
Muzio
Sforza, the first
couple were reconciled.
of
hostilities,
six sons,
and Costanzas youth,
was born in
1569,
and the
Caravaggio A Life
Now,
armada
as
Costanza awaited news of her
sailed
to
steward, was born.
father,
and the Christian
Corfu, Michelangelo, the son of her household
His date of birth
brilliantly suggested that
it
may
unrecorded, but
is
has been
it
have been 29 September, the feast day
of the Archangel St Michael, Caravaggios namesaint, the symbol of

victory over
evil. It
was a name resonant with the
fears
and aspirations
of these days.
The Colonna
Italy.
They were
claimed descent from Aeneas, the legendary founder of
and vain of
warlike
sixteenth century were
famed
their prowess at arms,
as fighters against heresy.
and
United
in the
as they
were by marriage to the noblest Italian families, their power extended
throughout
Italy.
Two of Costanza s
sons,
Muzio and
Fabrizio, were, like
Caravaggio, stormy characters. Their father, Francesco Sforza, died in

1580,
but Costanza and her family were to watch over Caravaggio, their
feudal subject, with touching loyalty. Perhaps his birth at the tense
moment of Lepanto
him
particularly endeared
shadowy
to them. Their
presence, running through a vast network of feudal relationships, will
often be sensed in the background of his
Michelangelo
came from
life.
a middle-class provincial family in
Caravaggio (although his mothers
had some claim to nobility), not

and with some of
its
rich,
members
in
side, the Aratoris,
but with some

the
may
money and
have
land,
Church. His grandfather,
Bernardino Merisi, had a modest house, on two floors, near the Porta
Seriola, in the north-east
married twice,
of Caravaggio, and
and the sons of
his
a small piece
first
marriage
of land.
were
He
Fermo,
Michelangelo's father, and Pietro, while from his second were born
Ludovico,
who became
a priest,
and Francesco, Giacomo and Caterina.
Bernardino lived and worked in Caravaggio, but his eldest son, Fermo,
moved
to Milan. There, in 1563, he married
Maddalena Vacchi,
the
daughter of either a builder or a swordmaker from Caravaggio. But only
two years
later,
Maddalena
having borne two daughters, Caterina and Margarita,
died. In 1571
Fermo, who had probably continued to
his wife's family in Milan,
live
with
married Lucia Aratori. Her family also came
Milan
Giuseppe Rados, View
3.
(on the right

(Print,
c.
is
of the Corso dei Servi, Milan
the household of the Merisi family)
1820, Milan, Civica Raccolta
Stampe Achille
Bertarelli)
from Caravaggio, and the wedding took place

church of Santi Pietro
e Paolo, just
in the small
beyond the Porta
country
Seriola. Francesco
Sforza paid them the honour of acting as a witness at their wedding,
which suggests that Fermos position
some importance. The Sforza
lived
in the Sforza
mainly
in
household was of
Milan, in a splendid palace
near the church of San Giovanni in Conca, in the Piazza Missori;
Fermo s
role there
seems to have been
he remains a shadowy
and
'a
architect to the
mason, quite well
figure.
as builder or site architect,
Mancini
tells
though
us that he was 'majordomo
Marchese of Caravaggio' 4 and Baglione that he was

off'. 5
After his marriage in 1571
Fermo
first
rented two rooms with an attic
from Gabriele Varola, which he seems to have kept
as a
workshop
after
he moved to a larger apartment, with one Giacomo Rossi, in the Corso

dei Servi
(now
the Corso Vittorio Emanuele), opposite the Servite
monastery (since replaced by the church of San Carlo). This was the
Caravaggio A Life
centre
of medieval Milan, and
in this parish the births
of two of
his
children are recorded in the parish registers, Giovan Battista in 1572, and
Caterina in 1574.
(The
record of Caravaggio
the
name of
Caterina had died in 1567.) There
first
birth, either in
his native town,
and
it
seems
likely that his
and perhaps the family
to Caravaggio for his birth,
between Milan and Caravaggio. 7 Regional

Michelangelo's
name
is
is
no
Milan or Caravaggio, but he took
mother was sent
travelled frequently
loyalties
were strong, and
strikingly unusual in this family context, since
the other children were called after local saints. Bernardino and Fermo,
in particular, were
was the local
As
was
Bellori
names
saint,
where Fermo
closely associated with the town,
and where there was an Oratory of San Bernardino.

Michelangelo doubled the fame of the
later to write,
small town, which had earlier boasted only of the celebrated Renaissance
painter Polidoro da Caravaggio,
who was murdered
in Sicily.
Milan, where Caravaggio passed his infant years, was a Spanish
dominion, subject to Philip
At
governor.
its
II,
King of Spain, who appointed
centre stood the potent
vast brick Castello Sforzesco, facing
immense
it,
in the
still
Gothic
cathedral, the square cluttered with the shops
close by, the Archbishop's
San Gottardo.
abundantly
city
palace,
walls,
perfection. It was a city
Spanish
of
centre, the
artisans, and,
and the elegant medieval tower of
for the beauty
of
its
setting in the
of Lombardy, where canals and gardens
plains
fertile
between the
glittered
dour
renowned
symbol of Spanish power, the
its
circular
plan seemed a symbol of
of businessmen and
artisans,
famed
for
its
luxury trades, and noble Milan indulged in sumptuous displays of

wealth; Paolo Morigi, celebrating the city in 1595, delighted in 'the
numerous
to a city
rich bankers, merchants

.
.';
and
artists,
and the Very great number of
who
bring fame and glory
priceless horses, the opulent
and wealthy cavalcades of our gentlemen through the
city,
and the
lavish
decoration of rooms, of beds, the silverware for tables, and the very
great opulence in
their
armour and
all
things
.'
The Milanese had
long been famous for
for their prowess in arms; they were, wrote Morigi,
'most valorous in swordsmanship and in the art of the dagger, and

attained the highest celebrity through their great skill as armourers,
competing with the most famous armourers of Europe'. 9 But such
Milan
luxury contrasted brutally with harsh poverty, for Milan had for
snow had driven many from the
the countryside. In the winter of 1570
outlying regions into the
city,
crowding the
streets
with destitutes, and
many
in the following winter, just after Michelangelo's birth,
hunger.
The
diarist
Giovan Ambrogio Popolano recalled
1570 there was a great famine, with
no food
famine the death rate soared, and more died
among
have food than
many
by war, while plague and famine had desolated
years been torn apart
who
those
to be
found
among
died of
'that in the year
those
after the
who
did not
and suffered hunger; and
did,
this
was
the year 1571V
Dominating
ravaged city was
this
Borromeo, Cardinal Papal Legate of
sombre presence permeated Milanese

Milanese family, and in
Rome
to
by
Archbishop, Cardinal Carlo
its
all Italy,
whose
He
life.
austere features
came from
then only twenty-two, had been
1560,
his uncle, elected
Pope Pius IV
in 1559.
and
noble
summoned
There he had
lived in
the magnificent style of the great cardinals of the Renaissance, with a

large
household of
150
elder brother, Federico,
He
renounced
all
members, dressed
had
and Carlo underwent
the worldly splendour of a
simply and with increasing

recalled the
died,
austerity.
On
Council of Trent, formed
rally the forces
Europe. Carlo,
in black velvet.
of
faith, for
It
in 1562 his
a religious crisis.
and
cardinal,
29 November 1560 Pius
in the early years
lived
IV had
of the century to
Catholicism shocked by the dissent in northern
at the side
of
his uncle,
laboured
success. Its last sessions were held in 1563,
victorious
Roman
But
and
it
ensure
its
closed, in unexpectedly
mood, on 4 December. Trent claimed

so long polluted and obscured, in
tirelessly to
all its
to restore a Catholic
purity and splendour.
recovered a sense of the Fall and redemption, reaffirming a sacramen-
tal
confidence, and the belief that through
devotion to Christ's sufferings in the Passion
good works and through
man might
union with God. The Protestant belief that the
Fall
re-create his lost
was
total,
and that
salvation was attainable through faith alone, was utterly rejected. Steeped
in the
atmosphere of Trent, the Cardinal, already famed for his asceticism,
returned to Milan in
it
symbolised a new
less passion, to
1565.
era.
His entry was triumphal, and to the Milanese
Carlo proceeded, for the
put into practice the reformed
first
ideal
time,
and with
tire-
of the episcopate.
15
Caravaggio A Life
The Archbishop sought
create a
to breathe
new
new mood of popular devotion
into a dull faith
life
that should bring
all
and to
Milan
together in a passionate search for salvation. Within the Archbishop s

palace he and his household lived with utmost simplicity, Carlo himself
inhabiting,
amid sumptuous surroundings, only two
sparsely furnished, with
of Christ
In
his
on
little
the walls pictures of scenes
Archbishops
palace,'
rooms, very
from the Passion
wrote Padre Negrone
later,
'you
did not see carriages, or horses, or carpets, tapestries, or canopies, or

curtains for the beds; but unfurnished rooms, bare walls, the bedsteads
bare
.'"
.
The most
Barnabites,
fervent
of the new Orders, the
dedicated to recovering a
poverty, were called to the
of
life
Jesuits,
prayer,
Theatines,
and of
strict
where the Capuchins, devoted to the
city,
absolute poverty of St Francis, were already established.
Carlo sought an ardent devotion to the passion of Christ, encouraging meditation
on such
on His
life,
and on the
richly imaginative spiritual
lives
works
Granada's popular Brief Memorial and Guide
which made the Christian mysteries
of the
visible
Duties of a Christian (1561),
and moving. The Christian,
wrote Granada, should every day meditate on the
should represent each mystery
knows how
life
of Christ;
here and now.
'he
The
of the imagination, which
a function
is
would portray
painter
him
as present to
representation of these mysteries
and drawing
Dominican Luis de
as the
to the
saints,
them.'
12
An
intense
charitable
concern, a desire to restore dignity to the poor in Christ, and to revive

the Christian virtue of humility, lay at the centre of his faith. This
concern was rooted in the writings of the Fathers of the early Church,
from
whom
tradition.
upon,
the Catholic
Church claimed
Such moving passages
whom we
us to vomit,
is
cannot bear to
the
same
as we,
a glorious
as St Jerome's
see,
the very
formed with us from the selfsame
compacted of the same elements. Whatever he

suffer'
13
suffers,
echo through the homilies of Carlo and
preachers, although they sometimes
sit
main part of
charity
compassion for our fellow
16
is
the
'the love for the
brethren'.
we
many
clay,
also can
Tridentine
uneasily with the growing fear of
poverty and crime. Gregory of Nazianus, in 'On

that the
and unbroken
whom we look down

sight of whom causes
'He
The poor
Love for
the
Poor, held
poor and mercy and
were the earthly image of
Milan
-M^'nttwrnsm
pcrttftvttcrH-m
Mfc#ti>Un>0n
At tempo
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in JVLda.no f*i
(unitnc.
xccuvn, zov*m4. pd.c( k*t*ilU
p*Mic&
9cUc4\*n\, dli riccuc
ft
4.
Cesare Bonino, Carlo
helps
and
it
Gvy&iiw
concotronv moUi
brings aid to the poor
(print)
i7
cm
oaw cwtd
Caravaggio A Life
Christ,
and the Lord
'asks for
mercy rather than
sacrifice, large entrails
of compassion rather than thousands of lambs. Offer them to him, then,
who
through the poor and those
when we
that,
leave this world,
eternal dwelling with the
same
Christ, in an evocative ritual

feet
throughout the earth, so
are spread
we
will
be welcomed by them into the
Christ, our
Lord
H In imitation of
of abasement, Carlo himself washed the
of the pilgrims who flocked to Milan for the Jubilee
this year, when Caravaggio was about
In
in 1576.
and the
five,
city
crowded with pilgrims, the Milanese prepared to enjoy the

celebrations
welcoming
Don
ominous
their city.
But
as
of the plague began to spread.
signs
lavish
John of Austria, half-brother of Philip
and the hero of Lepanto, to
him
was
the Spanish governor of the
city,
II,
he entered in triumph,
Don
John
fled,
and with
and many of the Milanese nobles.
There remained the Archbishop, Carlo, who over the next months, with
unwavering courage, laboured
both
their bodies
He
miserable.
whose
and
souls,
visited those
terrible cries
bring comfort to the
tirelessly to
sick, to
winning the devotion of the poorest and most
who
were incarcerated in the leper house,
could be heard in the
street:
As people walked
outside,
those within screamed, and beat against the windows, lamenting their
calamities
as
Carlo consoled those sick people with great humanity,
he was able
tirelessly
,15
.
the
sick suffered,
yet
as far
Bringing food and kindness, the Archbishop travelled
surrounding
more
villages
horrifically,
in
and
hamlets,
where
the
makeshift straw shelters. His
biographer, San Carlo Bascape, describes the strange and pathetic sight of
the
poor,
draped
garments
in
improvised
from the
tapestries
curtains of the Archbishop s palace to protect them in winter
crowd of poor people
immense
rhetorical
skill,
transformed
l6
.
the
Above
city
and highly orchestrated display of penitence and of
The
Milanese,
worshipped
at
whom
their
and
'so that
offered a sight both grotesque and moving, with
those garments of purple, violet, green and black
with
all,
into
Carlo,
vast
ceaseless prayer.
the quarantine laws forbade to go to church,
doors and windows. Tabernacles and devotional
images embellished the roadsides, while
at the crossroads,
and through the
Mil
squares of the
city,
Carlo erected
confined to
those
altars,
houses
their
where Mass was celebrated, and
could
listen
the
at
windows.
And
at the centre
of
aloft the relic
of the Holy Nail from the cathedral, shoeless and oblivious
to his bleeding
Bascape
later
this intense display
feet,
walked amid a dolorous procession of penitents.
described
how
his head, dragging the train

his neck, like a
17
way
own
his
of devotion Carlo himself, bearing
he wore
'the
purple mantle with the
on the ground.
condemned man
Carlo had become an
flesh the sufferings
He had bare feet,
The Canons
As the
terror
Fermo and
emblem of Catholic
Lucia,
and
their children, Margarita
Michelangelo, nor Caterina, nor a

first
charity,
streets
engraving in
glories
of the
of Milan.
of the plague began, Caravaggios father and mother,
recorded in the rooms they rented from
name
around
were dressed in the same
of Christ and re-creating the
Church, seeking a heroic martyrdom in the
early
hood on
a rope
and Giovan
Giacomo
fifth child,
Battista, are
Rossi, but neither
Giovanni Pietro, whose
appears in 1578, are mentioned, and they had perhaps already
been sent to Caravaggio to
live in
greater safety with their grandparents.
But they must shortly have been followed by the
on 20 October
1577, within a
rest
of the
family, for
few hours of each other, Caravaggios
grandfather, Bernardino, and his father, Fermo, died at Caravaggio,
presumably of the plague. Fermo died
in the night, after his father,
which was to have implications for the division of the property; Fermo s
brother, Pietro,
the
less
it
wane
in
had died
Milan
itself,
earlier in the year.
The
plague was already on
but continued to flourish in Caravaggio, doubt-
because those fleeing there, as the Merisi family had done, brought
with them. Michelangelo's mother, Lucia Aratori, was thus
left a
young
widow, with a stepdaughter, Margarita, and four small children. In 1578

she assumed the guardianship of her
two
years,
own
children,
and over the next
apparently supported by her father, Giovan Giacomo, in
whose spacious house
at
Porta Folceria, in the south-east of the town,
the negotiations took place, she attempted to reach a just settlement over
the property of her
husband and
end her debts were
his mother. In the
settled
and she received some small pieces of land, while Caravaggios
uncles
retained the house
at
Porta Seriola, and Francesco Merisi,
Caravaggio s uncle, agreed to care for Margarita, his
half-sister.
19
18
Caravaggio A Life
It
was thus in the small and provincial town of Caravaggio, which had
Bartolomeo Colleoni had
a warlike history (the celebrated condottiere
fought there, and
Bande Nere
delle
itself,
in 1524), that Caravaggio
whose Roman
narrow medieval
centre
its
had been sacked by the Medici warrior Giovanni
it
is
may
origins
the market place,
S.
be sensed in
Fermo
The town
straight
its
and
dour and undistinguished- At
streets, is architecturally
fifteenth-century Palazzo del
church of
still
was brought up.
bounded by the heavy portico of the
Comune; beyond
the bleak brick
lies
with an unadorned Gothic facade and
e Rustico,
portico. In the early years of the century
little
of
artistic interest
had
taken place at Caravaggio, and the local painters were entirely provincial,
but in the
new
later years
interest in art.
Counter-Reformation fervour had encouraged
The Mannerist
Bernardino Campi had deco-
artist
Corpus Domini
rated the sophisticated Renaissance chapel of
in the
church of SS Fermo and Rustico with frescoes which introduced to
Of
Caravaggio the elegance of Late Mannerist painting.

impact, and conveying a sense of the grandeur of
yet greater
Rome, were works
designed by Carlo Borromeos favourite architect, Pellegrino Tibaldi.
The
is
church of San Giovanni Battista, next to what was then a monastery,
attributed to him,
and he designed the
vast sanctuary
of the Madonna
of Caravaggio. Beyond the town gates of Caravaggio, preceded by

magnificent avenue of lime
and
its
splendid
Lombard
plains.
trees, this
dome may be
the appearance of the
which began
Madonna
in 1575,
childhood in Caravaggio.
and
in the
its
uncle,
who
also
to a peasant girl in 1432,
must have
and the work
lasted through Michelangelo's
A vast undertaking,
it
created a constant sense
spirituality,
with
its
belief in
comfort of the Virgins mediation on behalf of
humankind. The church

sight with
a grandiose building,
Carlo Borromeo to commemorate
of the intensity of Counter-Reformation

miracles,
is
miles around across the
as site architect.'
The church was commissioned by
it,
many
Here Bartolomeo Merisio, Caravaggio s
went to Spain with Tibaldi, worked
on
sanctuary
seen for
is
surrounding
still
fields
a centre
of pilgrimage, an oddly rural
and poplars, among the supermarkets
and garages that spread from Milan.

Michelangelo probably went to school
in Caravaggio, for
by
this date
Mil
were grammar schools throughout the duchy of Milan.
there
The
Counter-Reformation had recognised the pressing need for elementary
and secondary education, and the
had
Jesuits
fervently addressed these
needs. Small children went to the infant school, the Scuola di Leggere e
Scrivere,
and
tially free,
was followed by the grammar school, which was essen-
this
and was attended by boys from the professional
by the sons of tradesmen and
artisans.
seems highly
It
classes,
and
likely that
Caravaggio, whose family had been associated with a noble household,
would have gone
Giovan
to a
grammar
knowledge of
a reasonable
Battista,
was
school, at least briefly,
and
classical
Romano
in
Rome,
high reputation, whose numbers were growing
whose
It
seems
likely that
gifted,
a school with
at this period,
and
of the University of Rome, the
prestige was challenging that
Sapienza.
His brother,
both ambitious and academically
clearly
for he later attended the Jesuit Collegio

a
and gained there
Italian literature.
he and Michelangelo, so close in age, would
have studied together, and would have acquired some knowledge of

classical literature,
of Ovid,
and have studied rhetoric
De
Inventione.
zo
By
1583
Virgil,
Sallust, Juvenal,
in Quintilian
Giovan
Battista
and
had
Seneca, Terence,
De
in Cicero's
settled
on
Oratore
and
a career in the
Church.
Caravaggio, however, had decided to
1580s he
was looking around for
a teacher,
contact with Simone Peterzano
apprenticed. Caravaggio's family
may
and
their
home
distant followers
there
The
who
still
whom
moved
working
over
in the early
freely
between Milan
the
Milan were unexciting;
in
provinciality
of Milanese
for their uneducated extravagance. In Rabisch, the dialect
theorist, the
in
he was to become
were lambasted both for their meanness and, paradoxical-
Gian Paolo Lomazzo, the voraciously
intellectual
poem of
Milanese painter and
poet looks back to the golden days of the Renaissance,
when painting was

of
and
and was perhaps already
Milan, to
have
a painter,
choice was limited; the minor and very
of Leonardo
were widespread laments
patrons,
ly,
town.
become
revered,
and laments the meanness and lack of vision
collectors:
O wretched, hapless painting,
Caravaggio A Life
you
are
become
plight
foul, shabby, withered, in a sorry
Alas what has become of the ancients?
Oh
for the
good old
days,
when you were
loved,
held as a goddess more beautiful than gold
To Giovanni
Battista Armenini, theorist
lay rather in vulgar
some of
associated with
the
young Milanese
all
whom
sorts
of
and with beautiful shining arms, than to handle pens and brush-
with any sort of application:
by those Milanese
time.'
painter, the fault
found much more inclined to adorn themselves with
clothes,
es
and mediocre
2I
.
and spendthrift Philistinism; he wrote despairingly of
Milan 1
a visit to
I
and
and
revered,
He
there, also, I
saw many palaces painted
in a vulgar fashion at great expense
of money and
was particularly horrified by the task of one young painter
who, like the others, was more partial to the sword than to the pen, and
was busy applying,
and
at great
and pointless expense,
of old-fashioned
a lot
gold to his ceiling decoration. His patron, on being asked
tasteless
what subject he would prefer for the frescoed decoration, answered

cheerily,
that are
without
now
much
thought, 'Make
so fashionable, with
many
many
In such a context Peterzano had

Caravaggio,
now
apprenticeship
thirteen,
contract
who was
it
like a pair
colours/
of those trousers
22
and on 6 April
virtues,
1584,
already living in his house, signed an
with him.
Peterzano
lived,
with his
wife
Angelica, and other relatives, at the Porta Orientale, in the parish of
Santa Babila, and the contract bound him to keep Caravaggio with him
in his house, for a period
of four
aspect of his
would be
pendent
art,
artist.
23
so that he
years,
and to instruct him
in every
able to establish himself as an inde-
Caravaggio was to pay twenty-four gold scudi. Peterzano
came from Bergamo,
close to Caravaggio,
and
local pride
may
played some part in Michelangelo's choice, but he also brought with

a sense
of wider horizons.
He
have
him
had apparently come into contact with
Titian in Venice, of which he was intensely proud, and in the art world
of Milan
this
added
lustre to his
of Titian; he himself signed
name. Documents
a painting
refer to
him
as 'pupil
'Simon Petrazanus Titiani
Milan
Alunnus'. His wide culture was admired; a contract of 1580 refers to
not unlearned painter'; on his
as 'a
arrival in
Milan he was immediately
Lomazzo, who wrote poems
celebrated by
Milanese works, and
one of the Venetian
later singled
artists
him
him
of
in praise
his
earliest
out, in truly hyperbolic vein, as
most worthy of
imitation. In 1590 he award-
ed him the glowing accolade of inclusion in an array of great painters
most distinguished
al
of expression
'To Titian, and
succeeded Paolo
have
and
for their perfection as colourists
in the portray-
Giorgione, and Antonio da Correggio,
Cagliari
[Veronese], Tintoretto,
the
Palmas,
Pordenone, the Bassani, Fedenco Barocci and Simone Peterzano
His name today
somewhat oddly
sits
in this
yet to
list,
,'
24
Lomazzo
Peterzano clearly brought to the limited art world of Milan, where he
was established by
1572,
an exhilarating sense of the more painterly and
splendid traditions of Venice. Peterzano's
Milanese works are
first
indeed deeply indebted to these Venetian traditions.
But in the
early 1580s, Peterzano,
and was well known
in Milan,
who had worked
was drawn into the orbit of Carlo
Borromeo. In Lombardy there had long been

religious art that resisted the idealisations
late 1570s
and
early 1580s this
Reformation need for
at the cathedral,
a tradition
of central
of
Italy,
naturalistic
and from the
was given new vigour by the Counter-
a devout art that
should inspire intense
piety.
Carlo Borromeo had himself written a short chapter on 'Sacred Images
and Paintings'
fabricae
in his massively detailed architectural treatise, Instructions
et Supellectilis Ecclesiasticae
(1577),
the Council of Trent
false teaching; that
should, above
shunning 'whatever
tive'.
25
fines
fail
it
is
that religious art should be decorous
is
all,
incite to piety
and avoid
and avoid
novelty,
profane, base or obscene, dishonest or provoca-
All artistic licence
and penalties
which echoes the demands made by
forbidden, and an array of punishments,
is
set for painters
to observe these requirements.
and sculptors and for pastors who
There developed an
ideal
of
art that
was stark and intensely concentrated, stripped of a Renaissance delight

in details
- of
pleasure.
Above
in the
landscape,
all
still life,
Carlo was
or genre
moved by
that give purely visual
a dark night scene
Garden by Antonio Campi, which comforted
Turbulent and passionate,
it
him on
shows Christ kneeling
in
of The Agony
his deathbed.
anguished prayer,
Caravaggio A Life
him
before
this
the Cross, and invites meditation
was the purpose of religious
the prayer,
Passion,
'O Lord,
and
let
let
his Passion.
and he closed
sermon
us have always before our eyes your
To Carlo
in 1584
most
with
tragic
us keep the crucified Christ always before the eyes of the
body and of the
spirit/
was with such
It
art,
on
26
that Peterzano
ideals
had painted,
before
just
Caravaggio s arrival in his studio, an extensive fresco cycle at the charter-
house
Garegnano, where Carlo sometimes went to practise the
at
spiritual exercises. Peterzano's contract stressed that the
avoid indecency, and that
and above
figures,
honesty and
all
should encourage devotion: All the
it
human
the Saints, should be executed with the greatest
and there should not appear
gravity,
work should
torsoes,
nor other
limbs or parts of the body, and every action, gesture, clothes, attitude,
and drapery of the

divine gravity
ful; it
most
should be most honest, modest and
saints
and majesty
.'
None
the less the
should be executed 'with every care and

exquisite perfection that
These
is
possible'.
and the Prior to examine
error of art,
frescoes
its
work should be
skill,
Peterzano was to rectify every
is
an Adoration
many
of
the
rendered with an archaising simplicity and rustic humility,
where an old
in their
and the greatest and
bewilderingly eclectic, but they contain
are
of
religious correctness. 27
passages which Caravaggio later recalled. There

Shepherds,
full
beauti-
man and woman,
with wrinkled brows, join the shepherds
broad-brimmed country
hats.
Grander, and more Roman, are the
muscular Evangelists, which nevertheless, with their heavily veined hands
and
feet,
remain intensely
Resurrection is lit
few
years,
by dramatic contrasts of
when Caravaggio was
increasingly devotional,
tional simplicity, or
as in the richly
his
and
is
and dark. Over the next
in his studio, Peterzano
style
became
coloured Deposition painted for the church of San Fedele.

date,
of the Serpent,
years later in the art
In Peterzano
light
an altarpiece of the
characterised either by extreme composi-
and for the same
Figino, a Milanese painter
Madonna
while
by the concentrated expression of dramatic emotion
At around the same
Ambrogio
naturalistic,
classically severe church,
much admired by
Carlo, painted
and echoes of both these works occur many
of Caravaggio.
studio Caravaggio received the thorough training of a
^4
Mil
Renaissance
draw and
learning
artist,
how
to prepare colours, presumably
to paint in fresco (though he was never to
studying anatomy and perspective. There,

to
what he
as
Milan with
mason,
his father, a
painters
paint, he
and
however, very few clues as
who
an
Michele was employed
artist: 'Since
it
in
happened that he prepared glue for
were painting frescoes and, led on by the desire to
remained with them, applying himself
continued
either),
to
actually painted while there. Bellori gives a romantic account
of Caravaggios training
some
are,
do
how
making
in this activity for four or five years,
He
totally to painting.
z8
portraits
In the light of later developments this emphasis on portraiture seems
among Caravaggios
convincing, and
first
Roman works
were pictures
which were painted from posed models. In some of Peterzano's paintings there are naturalistic
amongst the drawings from

vegetables,
all
details
still-life
of which suggests that
studio practice.
29
It is
a study
likely that the
training was in the lowly genres
and
fruits
flowers, while
which remained deeply rooted
of
fruits
and
from nature was part of
his
main emphasis of Caravaggios
of portrait and
still life.
become
passionate observation of nature was to

his art,
of
his studio are oil sketches
in
An
intense
and
the very foundation of
Lombardy.
In the Renaissance the central artistic theory was that art was an
imitation of
human
But in northern
nature, rooted in reality, yet perfected
Italy,
and
idealised.
where the naturalism of Titian was idolised
indeed, the art of Titian had been equated with nature itself
and
where
Tintoretto and the Bassani were powerful exemplars, treatise writers laid
greater emphasis
on paintings power
colour, the manifold beauties
to re-create, through light
of the external world.
And
in the
and
Milanese
workshops there remained the shadowy but intense presence of Leonardo

da Vinci. To Leonardo the powerful lllusionism of Renaissance painting,
its
heightening of three-dimensionality through effects of light and
shade,
seemed
greatest
worlds
a source
of the
-'rivers
fishes playing
arts,
of almost magical power. To him painting was the
for through
of greater or
it
the artist could
lesser transparency, in
summon up new
which can be seen
between the surface of the water and the bed; also the
polished pebbles of various hues, deposited on the washed sand of the

rivers
bed
.' 3
and penetrate the
secrets
of nature. Milanese
*5
artists
Caravaggio A Life
studied his
in
San Francesco Grande (now
Virgin of the Rocks, in
London),
in
which the draperies gleam amid dark shadows whose soft play
and murky atmosphere; they studied,
a unified
creates
not
too, his Last Supper,
only for the naturalness of the expressions, the poignancy of figures

frowning, or with passionately interlaced fingers, but for the lovely effects
of
light
and reflected
light
on the
carafes
and
table cloth.
much
In the studios of Milan Leonardos ideas were
Lomazzo
the varied writings of
which flourished
made
his debut,
vividly convey the
and
in the literary
artistic circles
from the penitent
saints
academy dedicated to the

and,
dressed
in
severity
which underlie Caravaggio's
At the
far
di Blenio,
close.
removed
Lomazzo
an eccentric
of Bacchus. Here painters gathered,
cult
of caricature and genre
Counter-Reformation
and
rough clothes of wine porters,
the
art,
secret,
and martyrs of Borromean Milan, for
was the Abbot of the Accademia della Valle
provocatively low
ongoing debates
where Caravaggio
and where painting and poetry were unusually
These writings suggest another world, partly
pictures,
created
of Borromean Milan, and echoes of
early Bacchic pictures.
and
light;
he recalled Leonardo's advice to painters to study the gestures of

to death,
which mocked the
centre of Lomazzo's concerns were expression
condemned
and
discussed,
and recommended the study of
'the eies
of
men
privie
murtherers, the courage of wrastlers, the actions of stage-plaiers, and the

inticing allurements
of Curtisanes, to the end he bee not to seeke
particular wherein the very
He
life
in
any
and soule of painting consistethV
wrote in disapproval of the modish use of an oblique light (he
was probably referring to the tenebrist pictures of the Campi), which

was
'the
manner of some of our contemporaries whose works were
unpleasant for this reason and, by intercepting the rays of
mad
rather than just confused'
studios of Caravaggio's
first
iZ
Rome. In
a.
Rudolf
II in
in 1587 returned
fruits, flowers, fish
Milanese.
ib
from
Prague to Milan, where he embarked on a
ruthless self-advertising campaign; he was the creator
made up of
appear
his Trattato there appeared, too, the
commentary on Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who
the court of
light,
debate to be continued in the
and
utensils,
of strange heads,
whose fantasy charmed the
Milan
Another enthusiastic Arcimboldo admirer was the Lateran canon
Gregorio Comanini, a
man of deep
who admired both
the
fantasy
Arcimboldo s works, writing of
learning, yet witty
and the sharp
and
eccentric,
observation
of
his brush:
that far surpasses
That of Zeuxis or of those
Who
created veiled deceptions,
Delicately beautiful,
In their contest for great fame?
and of
his choice to paint:
thousand flowers, thousand
fruits,
Set to weave this cheerful mixture,
This great product of creation

Into an artistic garland
Of
his
Comanini mixed with
Ambrogio
painters,
and was
Figino. In 1591 he published his
set in Figino's
fantastic
own
and
house
in Milan.
friend
// Figino,
Here he draws
icastic representation. Icastic
is
of the painter
an imaginary dialogue
between
a distinction
the imitation of 'things as
mind of
they are in nature', fantastic of 'things which exist only in the

the imitator'. 34 Icastic art
book of
is
had to be comprehensible; but
idiots',
sure than fantasy, because

'it is
more
portrait
essential for religious painting, which, as 'the
difficult to imitate
of
a living
man
also gave greater plea-
involved conquest of a greater difficulty
it
.'
it
35
something
real,
for instance in painting the
In the late sixteenth century the power of
art to deceive the senses, to astonish the spectator
another
reality,
Lomazzo
clusters
flying
by the creation of
was a recurrent theme, and gave new
in Pliny
stories
writes:
by pecked
life
to those trite
about the miraculous illusionism of ancient
'The story of Zeuxis
o grapes on
at
is
well
a table so lively in the
artists.
knowne, who painted
Theater, that the birdes
them: though he were after beguiled himself, by a
curtaine which Parrhasius painted in emulation of his grapes
i6
Caravaggio A Life
The Colonna
household, too, was a cultured one which encouraged
an interest in literature and philosophy, for after Caravaggios departure
Costanza Colonna's son, Muzio Sforza Colonna, who returned from
his
education in Spain in 1592, opened an academy called Gli Inquieti,

where, Paolo Morigi
us
tells
thought, and the instigator,
should be the
it
he was noble and generous in soul and
was agreed by
to be created Principal
first
most distinguished
Muzio
'as
literary gentlemen,
Sforza and Caravaggio s paths
time in Milan at this point, but
the Academicians that he
all
.'
Here
there gathered 'the
and other toga-clad people
may
Muzio was
.'
37
have crossed for only a brief

to appear in
Rome, where,
if
only as an indifferent poet, he cut a minor figure in the literary world;
Comanini addressed
poem
to Figino's untraced portrait of Muzio.
Caravaggio must have absorbed
much of
the lively literary artistic
Milan before he moved to Rome, and Figino may have already
culture in
painted his astonishing
Still
Life
with Peaches,
and
a fresh
rendering of peaches on a plate, and amongst the very
naturalistic
first Italian still
lifes/
At the end of
his apprenticeship in 1588
Michelangelo
may
have
stayed in Milan for a period, perhaps hoping to win commissions
through the contacts of
his uncle
Ludovico, but he seems then to have
returned to Caravaggio, where, as 'habitans Caravaggio', he

in a series
sale
of
of
bits
legal
documents over the
of land, though
it
seems
years 158992
likely that
is
mentioned
which record the
he continued to move
between Caravaggio and Milan.
He
house
extremely unclear what he was doing
Porta Folceria.
at
through
this
period, and
It
is
probably
now
lived in his
mothers
no paintings remain, though he was now
twenty-one, and, for a painter, no longer young.
It
may
be that he was
adding to his apprenticeship in Milan a deeper knowledge of the art
of the towns near Caravaggio

perhaps Venice. In
Moretto, with
the
more
effects
its
lyrical
of
Bergamo, Brescia, Cremona, Lodi, and
later years there are often
echoes of the grave art of
darkly shadowed interiors, and humble figures, and of
work of Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo, with
artificial light
its
glamorous
and glimmering expanses of pure colour; some-
times his later works seem to recall the roughly naturalistic terracotta
sculptures of religious subjects that were popular in Lombardy.
28
Milan
These seem to have been
and
sales, as
urgently
in
restless years for the family, involving
though they had
fallen badly into debt, or
moves
were suddenly
need of money, or were preparing for major change.
moved
Michelangelo's uncle, the priest Ludovico,
to Milan, often chang-
ing his residence, though in 1591 he was established in the Archbishop's
palace
the
in
service
of Carlo
Borromeo.
September 1589
In
Michelangelo, declaring himself to be about eighteen, sold his share of

a piece
of land that he owned
moment both
Giovan
jointly with
Battista,
and from
this
he and his brother seem to have been intent on divesting
themselves of their small inheritance. Their mother
fell
ill,
and died on
29 November. Ludovico became the guardian of the surviving children,
with Francesco Merisi and Giovanni Aratori; he helped Michelangelo
and Giovan
Battista with further sales
of property
of the
1592 there took place the final division
brothers and their
Rome.
to
On
the
sister,
Caterina.
By
in 1591.
11
May
between the two
estate,
this date
On
Ludovico had moved
same day Michelangelo sold the small piece of land
that remained to him, receiving, for his so rapidly vanished estate, the
relatively small
for
It is
It
sum of
393 imperial lire,
Rome. He never returned
and
Caravaggio
not clear why Caravaggio ran through his inheritance so rapidly.
may simply
character;
have been that he was already a turbulent, extravagant
Mancini
diligently in Milan,
tells us,
generously, that
'at
young age he studied
though now and again he would do some outrageous
thing because of his hot nature and high

city,
a little later left
to his native town.
spirits'. 39
Milan was
a violent
where order was disrupted by the unemployed, and by the swagger-
ing bravi (immortalised in Manzoni's I Promessi
without occupation,
many
street crimes
who
Sposi),
home and
were swift to reach for arms. There were very
and homicides, often
for vengeance
were accused of rape, incest and sodomy, and

(in 1585 six together) for street murder.
mysterious hints that Caravaggio

street violence
without
and on the wrong
may
side
There
and
theft;
many were
are, in
many
executed
the early sources,
already have been involved in this
of the law; he was undoubtedly,
in
true Milanese tradition, an expert swordsman. Bellori states plainly that
Caravaggio 'ground colours in Milan, and having learned to colour, and

having killed a companion, he fled from his country'. 40 But a series of
29
Caravaggio A Life
random
jottings in
may
able,
read:
Mancinis manuscript, which
almost indecipher-
is
suggest a different sequence of events. These jottings perhaps
'They committed a crime. Whore/police spy/and gentleman.
Police spy daggers gentleman and the whore slashed.
know who
Then
the accomplices were.
to see his property sold.
He
goes to Milan. Prison he does not confess
courtesans or whores, but refused to say

result suffered a year in prison.
some degree
at least to
to
and he wanted
a year in prison,
comes to Rome/ 41 Perhaps Caravaggio was involved
and
They wanted
in a street brawl over
who was
This would explain
his strange lack
of
involved,
his
and
as a
need for money,
activity at this time.
The
criminal archives in Milan have so far yielded nothing, but they too are
hard to read, and often damaged. In any event Michelangelo's rapid
of
his property does suggest
he
left
some kind of
He may
Caravaggio in a hurry.
crisis,
first
or major decision, and
have travelled to Venice, to
admire the naturalistic art of Giorgione, 42 and he

in Bologna,
sale
may
also have
paused
where the Carracci family were exploring a new kind of nat-
on
uralism, based
Michelangelo
from
intense drawing
left for
Rome
after a
life.
childhood spent in the shadow of
and desolation, and he took with him something of the
plague, famine
darkness of Carlo Borromeos Milan. Uncle, grandfather and father had

died in quick and terrifying succession, and his mother before he was
twenty; he was later to shun close
satirical nature.
Carlo died in
ties,
to be feared for his
proud and
and Caravaggio (who may have known
1585,
him, so closely were the Colonna and Borromeo households connected)
was perhaps present
drama of
at the
his funeral,
when
the celebrated
Franciscan preacher Francesco Panigarola delivered a moving oration
which evoked with intense passion the charisma of Carlo s physical presence. 'Behold,
Milanese/ he implored, 'that your and
dead, behold our crown

I
am
brow
left in
'.
.'
pallid,
is
have absorbed, at the deepest
50
no body more
our light
he was dead
it is
is
Cardinal
spent,
is
and
always cold, his
afflicted
more bloodless ...
years, for in life
In Caravaggio s art there
set;
Carlo s hands had been
there could be
more weakened, more
many
our sun has
fallen,
misery and grief
fevered:
lived for so
is
my
by penitence,
a miracle that he
43
.
deep sense of abandonment, and he may
level,
the terrors that ring through Carlo
Milan
5.
Nunzio
Galiti, Milan in
the
Plague, 1578,
(print)
Borromeos
Memoriale (1579),
passionate
plea
to
the
Milanese to
contemplate the horrors through which they had passed, and to remain
united in their search for salvation; he may, too, have absorbed something of Carlos austere grandeur, his sense of the dignity of the poor
and humble. To Carlo the plague had been sent by God,
punishment for
and
solitary,
sin,
and
for worldly vanity.
from which
moving
evoked a
city
abandoned
'there fled the great, there fled the low, all
people'; 44
abandoned you, both nobles and

Galiti's
He
a terrible
votive image
of
1578, in
it
which
is
the city of
Nunzio
a single gilded carriage
moves along the road, past appalling scenes of desolation, while the
spires
of the great churches yearn for the heavens. But only death
remains,
'in
a terrifying desert, full
graves', 45
where gold and velvets
jewellers
weep. Milan, once so
heavens,
and whose
of poison,
glitter
lovely,
vainly,
full
of death,
full
of
and merchants and
whose grandeur reached the
riches spread to the very limits
of
this world,
is
Caravaggio A Life
another Babylon, or Nineveh, and in Carlo s stark prose there echo the
rhythms of the Old Testament prophets and of the penitential psalms.
The
of
Memoriale
vanity,
and
is
a harsh
its
of death, and of
But
darkness
and to touch the
poetry,
man
art
is
to beat through seventeenth-century lyric
of Caravaggio, so deeply pervaded by
as a pilgrim in this
was to come. As Caravaggio
all this
bring to
reminder of mortality, a sonorous denunciation
Rome, whose
ancient art
a sense
harsh world.
left
Milan
had long
it
was, above
attracted artists
all,
to
from
throughout Europe, the newer pleasures of a freshly naturalistic northern

at
art.
A madrigal by Comanini addressed to Figino s
about
skilled
this
Still Life
with Peaches
time evokes Figino s astonishing naturalism, his colours so
and so
lovely that his peaches
seem
fragrant, in
forward to the magical illusionism of Caravaggio s
words that look
first fruits:
'On the painting of certain very

naturalistic peaches*
Nature was mother to us
On the second bough

Now we are sons to Painting
Fruits in unfruiting
Not
wood behold
us here.
only will you be persuaded by the colour,
But scent too emanates from what you
see.
Sweet, soft and mellow,
Your eye devours us
What
all,
gentle skill
Guided the hand

beauty.
46
that immortalised this fragile
CHAPTER TWO
Ro me
'The
every
man
city
1592
court and
is all
all
nobility:
shares in the ecclesiastical idleness/
Montaigne'
sixteenth-century Rome, where
Iate
1592, at the age
of twenty-one, was
a city rising
period of decline and desolation to a
beauty. In the middle years

1527, its
of the century,
population had dwindled.
The
Caravaggio arrived in
of
Sack of
Rome had
Rome
of
earth, were reminders
now
the
its
mounds
of past grandeur. The forbidding Tarpeian rock
Monte Caprmo
the Hill of the Goats
renamed the Campo Vaccino, was the

of
in
been aban-
doned, and the majestic antiquities, covered by vegetation and
was
a long
new and unsurpassed
after the
hills
from
monuments engulfed by
site
risen earth.
of
and
the
Forum,
a cattle market, with
many
A medieval tower crowned the
Arch of Septimus Severus, while small shops and shacks clustered

against the walls
6.
of the great Arch of Constantine,
Tommaso
itself
Laureti, The Triumph of Religion
(Rome, Vatican
Palace, Sala di Costantino)
deeply sunk in
Caravaggio A Life
the earth. In these years visitors seeking the splendours of classical antiquity grieved over
moved by
as over a
dead
Montaigne, in
city;
1581,
was
the tracts of desolate wilderness within the walls to declare
that nothing of
had changed.
ties,
Rome
Rome
remained. Yet by the end of the century
wealth of
new
was creating a modern
all this
buildings, palaces, churches, confraterni-
city.
Domes
were beginning to replace the
Rome
old medieval towers, and the narrow, twisting streets of medieval
were giving way to straighter and grander
This new Rome, Roma
Sancta,
was above
arteries.
all
a celebration
of a renewed
was the creation of Pope Sixtus V, an energetic pope
Christianity. It
possessed by the powerful vision of a city whose beauty should draw

pilgrims
from throughout Europe
to
the
of
capital
restored
Catholicism, where they could be reconciled with God, and their sins
forgiven. Sixtus's secretary,
Rome,
Antonio Maria Graziano, commented that
made holy by
the centre of Christian power,
the blood of the
Apostles themselves, should be, as far as was humanly possible,
fell
churches,
its
on the beauty of the Christian
catacombs, the tombs and
relics
sites
its
ancient
of the martyrs. In 158890
the cupola of St Peter's had been finished, and
enormous metal
lantern.
The
sphere,
church
still
surmounted by
basilica
on
18
November
1593
dome became one of
its
the
of Santa Maria Maggiore, where
Sixtus was buried, was to provide a second dramatic focus, and the
created a series of long straight avenues radiating out
and linking the seven great
an
a golden cross, was put over the
lacked a facade, but
wonders of Europe. The great
of Rome,
most
All the
grandiose temple, embellished with the utmost splendour'.
emphasis
'a
basilicas visited
from
by pilgrims
indulgences. All the vistas culminated in an ancient obelisk,
this
Pope
church
in search
of
whose pagan
splendour both upheld and was conquered by the Christian symbols
which crowned them. The most celebrated and imposing of Sixtus 's
avenues, the Strada Felice
(now
via Sistina
and Quattro Fontane), thrust
from the heights of the Pincio, across the Esquiline
Hill, to
Santa Maria
Maggiore, where a dramatically placed obelisk drew the eye. Beyond, the
avenue swept on again to Santa Croce in Gerusalemme.
and Trajan columns were crowned with

both martyred
in
Rome.
^4
statues
The Antonine
of St Paul and St
Peter,
Rome
Thus
physically linked, these, the
1592
most holy
places of Christianity,
were then embellished with frescoes which encouraged the pilgrim to

meditate both on the power of the Church and on the mysteries of the
Christian faith.
from
At St John Lateran
a covered portico led the pilgrim
the grandeur of the Piazza San Giovanni towards the Scala Santa
had walked down), which
(the staircase of Pilate's house, which Christ
the pilgrim ascended
on
and where
his knees
of frescoes on
a cycle
themes of the Passion of Christ stimulated meditation on the events of
Holy Week. In
the Vatican Library a vast team of fresco painters covered
new Rome and
the walls with scenes celebrating Sixtus's creation of

serried ranks
of high churchmen convey the absolute and authoritarian
ambitions of the Church.

is
the
Tommaso
of
a powerful rendering
Laureti s Triumph of Religion (Plate 6)
Sixtus's vision.
This contrasts sharply with
Raphael's decoration of the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura, where his
with the Fathers of the Church encircling an
Disputa,
altar displaying the
Eucharist, faces the School of Athens, an ideal gathering of the philosophers
of Antiquity, and pagan past and Christian present

severely
composed
isolated
pagan sculpture
this, at
architectural setting
lies in
of
Here, in a
fuse.
richly coloured marbles,
an
fragments before a Crucifix, and beyond
the end of a long perspectival vista, stands a circular temple, sym-
bol of the Catholic Church.
The
to
physical city of
Rome
was transformed.
whom Christ had handed the keys,
It
was the
and of the Apostles;
of
city
it
Peter,
was the one
holy centre of the Church, and preachers and orators elaborated ideas of
peace and glory, of continuities with the Church's early days.
aroused nostalgia for the classical past, but glory in

Jesuit priest
where
all
Gregory Martin exulted
the beautie was
upon
desolation and solitarinesse?

there
no
in
Roma
its
of
Sancta
the seven hilles, what

dwelling,
downfall; as the
1581: \
is
and consider with
me
there
finally
now
but
no house, but onely here and
manie goodly and godly Churches of great Devotion?
gentle Reader, see
no longer
It
how
in
Rome
And
here,
Christianitie
hath succeeded Paganisme, the kingedom of Christ, overthrowen the
Empire of Satan
.' 3
Within the resonant symbolic patterning of

created by Sistine
Rome, new
streets
and monuments
areas were being rapidly urbanised.
35
The
c aravaggio
traveller arriving
from the north,
as
Lif.
Caravaggio did, entered
Rome
through the Porta del Popolo, from which the Piazza del Popolo was
flanked on the north by the church and monastic buildings of Santa
Maria del Popolo, and on the south by houses of modest
?6
size.
In the
me
^^^l^^^î^^^^^^^^'
k&m^mvirfo
nSlifcîra tihffitt^mtv&J:
'*&&
1592
*U. ?*
"
7.
Antonio Tempesta,
M^ of Rome,
(detail
593
from print)
37
ml^*ste*3
fTBTFSSs
Yj/mWi
aVbr.
4:
l~yr-
Caravaggio A Life
centre stood an obelisk, erected in 1587,
and beyond
Despite these attempts to create a grander entry to the

retained a remarkably rural
and
resting,
just
their flocks.
Beyond the Piazza

of
city,
a fountain.
the Piazza
with animals wandering about, carters
air,
beyond the gate
area, the rione, or district,
it
and
fields
hills
lay the city's
Campo
and shepherds grazing
most densely populated
Marzio, the heart of medieval and
Renaissance Rome. Here lay the Platea Trinitatis (now the Piazza di
Spagna), from which a grassy bank led to the newly completed facade of
Santa Trinita dei Monti, whose twin towers crested the
hill.
The
Platea
was circled by modest two-storey houses, many of them the homes of

artisans
and
and was already famed
artists,
for
its
taverns
and eating
houses; near by, the via Margutta, surrounded by gardens, with a splen-
did view of the Pincio, and tax-free to foreigners, was already, as
remained, the
of
site
of
a lively colony
artists,
of alleyways such
Caravaggio was later to

the
home of
live,
as
the Vicolo del Divino
streets
and
Amore, where
which runs alongside the Palazzo Firenze,
the Medici ambassadors. Another densely populated area,
where high narrow
streets still retain a
medieval atmosphere, lay
foot of the Capitol and included the Jewish ghetto. Grander and
spacious,
has
many of them from
northern Europe. South lay an ancient quarter of small

squares,
it
and increasingly sought
after
at the
more
by the wealthy (the French pas-
try-makers lived here), was the area around the two great squares, the
Piazza
Navona and
the ancient
the
Campo
de' Fiori.
The
Stadium of Domitian, was then
Piazza Navona, built over
circled
by
relatively
modest
houses, and was already the site of festivities and spectacle, while the
Campo
de' Fiori,
then as now, was a marketplace. Near by stood the
churches of the Spanish and
German
nations,
San Giacomo
degli
Spagnoli, and Santa Maria delTAnima, and to the east of the Piazza
Navona
rose the church of the French nation, San Luigi dei Francesi.
constant flow of pilgrims passed to the Vatican across the Ponte
Sant'Angelo, where once the heads of executed prisoners had been displayed; here the luxurious Ostaria dell'
them Montaigne) and
in the Piazza
Sant'Angelo a
vendors and acrobats entertained the
housed
in the medieval
38
Tor
di
Orso welcomed
traveller.
lively
Close
visitors
(among
throng of
street
by, at the prison
Nona, public executions offered
more
Rome
gruesome
diversion.
The
1592
spacious via Giulia, which had been
to the Florentine colony in early sixteenth-century

artisans,
craftsmen and jewellers
Rome, and where
ran parallel to the
lived,
still
home
river,
culminating in the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini and the vast
Ospizio Sistina (now destroyed), which the Pope had intended to house
two thousand beggars. This remains one of the
loveliest
streets
in
Europe, a sequence of the most subtly elegant Renaissance palazzi,
mostly opening
into
courtyards,
and externally embellished with
chiaroscuro decorations by such artists as Polidoro da Caravaggio,
Federico Zuccaro and Raffaellino da Reggio. Near by, the
and Parione were

of Santa Maria
busy section of the
in Vallicella
city,
was being
rioni
of Ponte
where the Oratorian church
rebuilt, close to the
houses of
businessmen, lawyers, scholars, and nobles and great cardinals.
Rome was
In these years
growing (in 1600

a
it
major European
the Popes, and
still
a small city, although the population was
was to number 109,729 persons). Nevertheless
capital, subject to the
at their head.
triumphalism of the new Rome, lay
temporal and spiritual power of
In the early 1590s, beneath the
and tensions.
fears
On
January 1591
newspaper reported: 'Every day we hear that someone has died of
hunger'; 4 famine,
The stormy
and consequent
fear
of bandits, constantly threatened.
conclaves and rapid succession of four popes in 159091 had
fostered chaos and insecurity,
and
a sense
of desolation was exacerbated
by the Protestant menace throughout Europe and by the continuing
of the Turk. In
wrote: 'Our
own
tion of the great

in
was
dominated by the Cardinals, with the cardinal nephews
of the reigning Pope
it
Germany,
in
1591
time
fear
Cardinal Agostino Valier, the Bishop of Verona,

is
one of the greatest
kingdom of
suffering, with the desola-
France, the baneful progress of the heretics
England and elsewhere, the growing horrors of the cruel
Turkish tyrannicide, and the peace shattered by the hideous doings of
unscrupulous hired assassins, subversive of peace, and famine, of a

seriousness unrivalled in the chronicles
.'
Street fights
supporters of France and those of Spain were
common,
between the
for these rival
powers were engaged in a bitter struggle for political domination over the
Papacy.
Henry
IV, the French king, had, in 1593,
to return to the Catholic Church,
and
in 1595
announced
his decision
had declared war on Spain;
59
Caravaggio A Life
in
Rome
the Spanish king, Philip
II,
ambitious to defeat Protestantism
by dominating western Europe, exerted such pressure on the Pope to

reject
Henrys conversion
seemed
With
that the independence
of the Papacy
itself
at risk.
the election of Ippolito Aldobrandini as Clement VIII
on
30
January 1592 a measure of security and stability was restored; Clement
was not anti-Spanish, but he was

possibility
opened up of
of undue influence, and the
free
his receiving the emissaries
majestic presence and grave manner, Clement
of Henry
IV Of
came from an ancient but
undistinguished Florentine family. Guido Bentivoglio, whose Memorie

give a lively picture
a constitution
of
him
his court, described
as 'of average height,
with
between the sanguine and the phlegmatic, of grave and
noble aspect, with a body which
is
He
heavy rather than otherwise'. 6
was
an infinitely conscientious administrator, cautious and diplomatic by
temperament, perhaps to the point of indecisiveness, and neurotically
of
suspicious
advice.
An anonymous
revealed 'prudence, forbearance
secrecy and silence where

in speech'. 7
A man
it
and
skill in
by nudity
moment,
fasted rigorously, per-
popes of the mid-century, presided over a court from
he arranged a pastoral
with the aim of removing
from
he
of abundant emotion, Clement,
virtue.
of Rome, and, only four months

in art,
how
for his copious tears, participated in
which he demanded simplicity and moral

prostitutes
waiting for the
who
piety,
religious ceremonies with displays
heir to the austere
described
was necessary, circumspection and maturity
of outstanding
formed harsh penances, and, famed

all
chronicler
all
their altars (the objects
St Lawrence, and, above

rules for the production
all,
of
He
waged war on the
after his election, distressed
visit to
the churches of
Rome,
unsuitable and disturbingly profane images
of greatest
St
dislike
tended to be images of
Mary Magdalene) and of drawing up
religious art.
The
resulting Edict
of Cardinal
Rusticucci created an intimidating array of penalties and fines for

painters
and
builders,
and demanded that painters should show cartoons
or drawings to the authorities for approval.
At Clement's
and Cinzio
became
side there reigned his nephews, Pietro Aldobrandini,
Passeri.
generally
Both were made cardinals
known
40
in 1593,
when Cinzio
as the Cardinal di San Giorgio. Initially
it
Rome
1592
seemed that the Pope favoured Cinzio, but Pietro was
endowed with
ter,
witness
bear
to
magnificence
his
tougher charac-
of the Villa Aldobrandini
larger political role, while the splendours
Frascati
and he was to play
greater gifts for diplomacy,
of the
patron
as
writes, favoured
and of
nobility;
little
asthma, which
from
made
became laboured'.
commonly held
and
desires,
far
from
erotic
...
he was pock-marked and his chest was attacked by

his speech
He
almost incomprehensible; he suffered
of
his breathing
desired to be a zealous ecclesiastic, but
him by
that 'there prevailed in
he was desirous above
all
of
it
was
way temporal
a long
satisfying the senses'. 9 Pietro,
commission one of the most
seventeenth-century paintings), played a lively role in
all
also attracted
and
his face reddened,
averse to nudity in art (he was to
Rome's night
He
by nature, who had made him very small,
of coughing so that
'fits
at
arts.
Bentivoglio gives an extremely unflattering description of Pietro.
was not, he
life,
women, but being
displaying a weakness for married
by courtesans.
10
became an academy where
Cinzio's palace
those branches of knowledge fitting to a prince of the church were

studied
cosmography, mathematics,
The most
Capitol; Tasso,
on the edge of
death, was too
prosperity, but he spent his final days
Cinzio Aldobrandini. Tasso'
seemed to herald
new
return to
ill
up
Rome had
German Johann
Giulio Mancini, a Sienese doctor
repressive; Patrizi
cardinals,
and
himself
subject of light. In
scientists
Italy,
were drawn to
Faber, Francesco Stelluti,
who had
hopes were to be dashed, for
Around
The Pope
on the
in
and
studied medicine, astrology
and philosophy, and was to become Caravaggio's
become
a symbolic value,
Giordano Bruno returned optimistically to
the
his
the chair in Platonic Philosophy at
and mathematicians, medical men, and natural
Rome, among them
from
admired and protected by
the Sapienza, where his teaching concentrated

this favourable climate
coronation on the
to profit long
era of courtly patronage.
invited Francesco Patrizi to take
their fine
literature.
celebrated poet of the age, Torquato Tasso, was invited by
Clement to Rome, where he was to be honoured by
new
and
ethics, politics,
first
biographer. Sadly,
time Clement's reign was to
was humiliated, and Bruno burned.
the papal court there clustered the smaller courts, of the
of the great
Roman
aristocracy,
of the ambassadors of the
41
Caravaggio A Life
major
Many
patronage.
ous
swarm of
each with their
states,
Renaissance, for
was incumbent on the great cardinals to uphold the
it
of the papal court, and to devote
Rome. The
churches of
of
with which the Cardinalate had been synonymous in the
lifestyle
prestige
retainers, each the source
patrons lived in great splendour, preserving the luxuri-
cardinals
their wealth to maintaining the
from great dynastic
families
enhanced
the Cardinalate with the lustre of their names and splendid lifestyle
which involved
a generous patronage
Medici arrived
de'
in
Rome
of the
arts;
Cardinal Ferdinando
of 'more than three
in 1569 with a following
hundred mouths' and 180 horses,
display
caused
that
Cardinal
Alessandro Farnese, one of the wealthiest and most glittering of

Renaissance patrons, dubbed the 'great Cardinal' to fear looking
like a
beggar.
Such
and princes
cardinals
The map of
Caravaggio
the
gardens,
sumptuous
memorial to the
Rome
and the
large tracts
in urbe.
And
and
friend
1593 (Plate 7), vividly
how
these great villa
man and
and
creat-
nature was re-cre-
facades of the Villa Celimontana, and the Villa Medici
busts,
of
here the classical world was not banished,
Pincio, were encrusted with a dazzling array
urns,
later
Hills.
of uncultivated land, invaded Rome,
but the ancient, Virgilian harmony between
The
of
and summered
of the Alban
suggestions of light and shade,
its
ing a veritable rus
ated.
palaces,
in the green
engraver Antonio Tempesta
a perfect
conveys, with
lived in
of Rome, or
in the villas in cool parts
of
on the
classical sarcophagi,
their gardens repopulated with antique sculptures,
which together created a kind of open-air museum. Travellers
in
Rome
were overwhelmed by their beauty; to the writer Jacob Spon, 'the

beautiful gardens
wondrous and
places,
Mattei
such
and pleasure grounds of
Rome
have everything that
curious; they are truly earthly Paradises,
as the Villas
of the Borghese, Pamfili, Montalto, Ludovisi,
.'"
.
But by the end of the century other, more austere

ity
and
frugality,
and particularly charitable
praise; Bentivoglio particularly
'most upright in
as
is
and enchanted
life
virtues,
activities,
admired Anton Maria
and mind, great
lover
of simplic-
were attracting
Salviati, a
man
and benefactor of the poor,
demonstrated by the [institutions he] founded, greatly enlarged, or
-P
Rome
entirely erected
anew with much splendour of
Salviatis art collection
portraits
1591,
when
celebrated the patronage of art as
The
art,
but could
fittingly
with no mythological or
Odoardo Farnese was made
cardinal.
should avoid vulgar and lascivious
enjoy music and paintings that offered repose and
which 'no ugly action
portrayed. Pictures of this kind might
is
represent trees, fish, birds and other singular animals,
and nature, while seemly, have something of the

about them.
him, and
treatise, II Cardinal*, to
amongst the duties of the
ideal cardinal, wrote Albergati,
delight, in
saints,
the young
Fabio Albergati dedicated a
a cardinal,
and expenditure'. 12
charity
was small, and consisted entirely of landscape,
and very many paintings of
profane pictures. In
1592
The same might
rare
be said of medals and
enjoy those works which confirmed
him
whose appearance
and marvellous
He
should
own
virtue,
statues.'
in the habit
of
his
seeking pictures which showed examples of 'strength, liberality, temperance,
and above
of
all
piety,
and devotion, of such
which induced Gregory of Nyssa sweetly to
weep'.'
kind
as
were those
Although
his advice
was to be boldly ignored by Odoardo Farnese, for the most part the
sensuous mythological decorations that had graced so
many Renaissance
palaces yielded to landscape friezes and personifications of the Virtues.
The
Farnese, a family of great wealth and power, were ancient enemies
of the lowlier Aldobrandini, and conflicts between them were to trouble

Clement's reign.
But while simplicity was admired,

the
Roman
tation
nobles,
in the
of bankers, lawyers, and
and luxury flourished unbridled. In
Paolo Paruta, described the
The
city
city's
world beyond, the world of

financiers, a love
1595 the
of osten-
Venetian ambassador,
richness at length:
and court of
Rome
are presently at the
height of their greatness and prosperity, as anyone

living there
such
may
pomp and
see
through clamorous examples of
splendour; and since, in this age,
every province and court, even in the
and barbarous nations,

pleasure; so, in the city,
is
most
far-flung
steeped in luxury and
and court of Rome, such
manifestations are especially prevalent, and
-^
Caravaggio A Life
among
proliferate, since here,
the greater part of
most distinguished persons, the
the
desire to live in
great magnificence, with every convenience,
is
conjoined to the excessive wealth required to do
Whence
there
and that
lavish living
is
now
the
most
which
in other ages
was the
prerogative of a few of the foremost cardinals,

leaves its
mark upon
so.
excessive spending:
now
the magnificence of the
buildings and the rich and noble decoration of the

Palazzi, with truly regal
latter years as
many
pomp. Indeed,
in these
public and private buildings,
churches and palaces, streets and fountains have been
made, that they alone would

noble
city.'
suffice to
adorn
Parutas description of Rome's increasing luxury contrasts sharply with
Agostino Valiers sense of the harshness of the times, and the

perity was indeed based
on slender foundations, while
its
city's
pros-
ceremonial
splendours were increasingly threatened by the ever more turbulent and

threatening world of the poor and dispossessed.
Rome acted as a magmen outnumbered
net to a vast itinerant population. It was a city where
women,
and, dominated by celibate churchmen,
from
over
all
Italy,
The number of
who formed
attracted courtesans
it
of
a colony in the none
Campo
Marzio.
pilgrims and beggars, attracted by indulgences, and by
the charitable institutions, was huge, and in the Jubilee years outweighed
the permanent population. Ruthlessly suppressed by Sixtus V, bandits
none the
less
remained a constant
beyond the
fear
city walls.
And
the
poor, whose humility had, in the Middle Ages, been exalted as a spiritual value,
were growing in numbers, in
Rome
as
throughout Europe.
Camillo Fanucci, the chronicler of the good deeds of Gregory XIII and
Sixtus V, described how,
are so
numerous that
their thronging
as a
danger to
At Rome you
it is
see
nothing but beggars, and they
impossible to walk
down
the street without
around you/ They became increasingly hated and feared

15
stability
and to the very
sures were taken against them. Sixtus
44
fabric
of
society,
and stern mea-
V had delivered a startlingly harsh
Rome
8.
c
He saw
the faces
1592
Ludovico Ciamberlano
of St Carlo and St Ignatius Glow':
scene from the Life of S. Filippo Neri

(print)
tirade against beggars in a papal bull
he
railed,
roamed the
bellies; their
streets like
of
1587,
Quamvis Infirma.
wild beasts, intent only on
wailing and lamenting disturbed the faithful
45
as
The
poor,
filling their
they prayed
Caravaggio A Life
in the churches.
16
He had built a new hospital near the Ponte Sisto
over a thousand beggars were confined. Their
numbers grew
where
in the
famines of the early 1590s, and the streets were plastered with notices
and
expelling
beggars
courtiers,
rowdy followers of
and the
factions,
political
In the taverns,
gypsies.
brawled and fought, delighting in their prowess
Roman
police force, the
Roman
them, and the
sbirri,
brothels,
and of opposing
of foreign ambassadors,
armies
private
and
inns,
different noble houses,
as
swordsmen.
The
universally despised, struggled to control
prisons were crowded with Jews, gypsies, slaves
and vagrants.
The world of the poor was newly

for
many
centuries,
seemed
threatening, but their suffering had,
Christ-like,
image of the suffering Christ. In the
and the poor were the earthly

of
streets
Rome
the
new
the Jesuits, the Theatines, the Capuchins, the Oratorians
amongst them,
it
laboured
and mortification, harshly reminding
exalting humility
the world of the court that
orders
was through the attainment of
virtue,
through alms-giving and good works, that the Catholic hoped for
salvation.
The
Jesuits
were the most powerful of the
new
Orders;
they believed in an active, heroic Christianity, and for them Christian
martyrdom, often sought
in far-flung quarters
most glorious of
goals.
Christian
combat, a battle against
life as
of the world, was the
Their language was militant, and they saw the
the world, the flesh and the devil. But
heretics,
Rome
and a struggle against
itself
was a
city
of
saints,
and martyrdom was to be sought amongst the poor and dispossessed

that thronged
of
its streets; its
saints
suffering, constant reminders
became symbolic
figures, incarnations
of the conflicting Christian ethos of
humility in a world obsessed by honour and luxury. St Camillo de
who
Lorenzo Scupolis
quarters of
street, a
Rome;
Spiritual Conflict,
the Capuchin Fra Felice da Cantalice offered, in the
constant reminder of an ideal of simplicity.
his aquiline nose, his small eyes
of
life,
tended the sick in the most ravaged
But perhaps most revered was Filippo Neri. With
full
Lellis,
carried in his pocket the best-selling guide to a Christian
life,
though to
of
a celestial blue, a little sunken, but
17
Filippo,
his short black beard',
magnet, had long been famous.
46
his 'high forehead,
who drew men
Now
ill
and
to
him
tired, his
as
beard
Rome
white, he lived in retirement in three small
Nevertheless his presence was
gregation of the Oratory
communal
to a
life,
rooms
at the Vallicella.
throughout Rome, and the Con-
felt
brotherhood of secular
and devoted to
which he had founded
1592
priests,
remained a powerful
in 1564,
committed
and to prayer
charity, to discourse
spiritual force.
charismatic and eccentric character, witty and ironic, yet gentle and
tender, averse to mysticism
and extravagant
palpitations, violent trembling
and
fits
asceticisms, yet troubled
of fainting
('his
by
heart glows and
emits flames and sparks, so that the passages of his throat are burned as
though by
showy
a real
displays
fire'),
of
At the Oratory, he
and
and
low,
18
Neri was
piety,
a scourge
of
intellectual pride
and of
which he attacked with barbed practical
strove to create a
community which should
revive the simple faith
jokes.
unite high
and love of the Apostolic Church;
he wished his teaching to be accessible and familiar, concerned with

concrete subjects such as the
lives
of the
saints,
that was full
of tenderness. There was
arid learning
and the dullness of
and conveyed
widespread reaction against
scholastic teaching;
solace to the medieval Imitation of Christ
spiritual
thirteenth-century Franciscan tract, the Meditations on

their
nity
who
for
of Christ,
the Life
with
piety.
centre of the Oratory's charitable concern was the confrater-
of the Trinita
de' Pellegrini,
arrived in the
became
founded
Holy City from
in 1548 to assist
poor pilgrims
every part of Europe, and which
increasingly important in the struggle against pauperism. In
comforting the poor and

their
many turned
and to the great
emphasis on passionate feeling and on an individual
At the
in language
own
sick, eating
with them, and tending them with
hands, the Oratorians stressed that they were seeking Christ;
they sought, not the material poverty of the Capuchins, nor the extreme
asceticism of the Theatines, but meekness of spirit, and
absorbing the
the
spirit
was through
of poverty, of mortifying pride and moving close to
Roman streets, that they hoped to address the

world. And rich and powerful Romans, fearing
poor and lowly of the
values
of the secular
damnation, tempered the pleasures of courtly

ly
it
splendour with
life
and displays of world-
tears, ecstasies, self-mortification,
and resonant
of abasement. In imitation of Christ they washed and kissed the
rituals
feet
of
beggars and pilgrims, and Clement VIII invited twelve poor men, for the
47
Caravaggio A Life
twelve Apostles, to dine, and served
them with
In the
590s, Filippo
Neri s three small rooms
remained open to everyone, saw a
revival
commented
Cardinal Cusano
knowledge no
his
life, 'to
that,
during the
ecclesiastic,
nobles,
as
Members of
courtiers,
the
most
illustrious
Salviati, Altieri, Farnese,
to
all classes,
who
er
virtue,
of
that
had
roots in the days of Carlo
its
fortune'.
close
his
the
to
on
Medici strongly advised

a high opinion
way
to get
of
on
now
too great
all,
also
proves but the stepmoth-
shown
herself to be a
most
20
Neri s innermost
influential in
in his fifties,
tormented by the
Neri for
in
'all
though sometimes she has
and had been close to Neri
zealot,
I de'
Clement entertained
but concluded that Rome,
Baronio. Baronio,
Italy,
particularly
fashionable; Bentivoglio recalls how,
Ferdinando piously advised Bentivoglio to follow the path
mother of
Most
had
folk as
and popes'. 19
cardinals
associated with the Oratorians, and this was the
virtue,
partial
secular,
common
noble families, the Colonna, Massimi,
Rome, Grand Duke Ferdinando
in the world.
of
made them
to visit the Vallicella, for
those
celebrity;
twenty years of Neri s
whether religious or
and Anna Borromeo. Clement VIII was
way
which
remained devoted to the Oratory; and Federico
Borromeo continued an intimacy
Oratorians and this
Rome.
at the Vallicella,
last
bishops,
prelates,
in
immense fame and
been held in greater veneration by people of
him
Through
of the informal discussions on
sacred topics, and at this date he enjoyed
his
hands.
and an intense devotion to the Eucharist was revived
saved,
well
own
his
and through the sacraments, they were taught, man might be
Christ,
rise
severity.
circle
had come
for
many
was the historian Cesare

to
Rome from
years;
southern
he was a religious
of Protestantism, and was often chided by

In the 1580s he had been the dominant
fig-
ure in a revision of the Roman Martyrology, weeding out error and superstition,
and
critically
and martyrs. At
his
examining ancient sources for the
this date
written at Neri s request; Neri encouraged

great biblical scholar St Jerome. This
Catholic Church
Centuries,
of
saints
Baronio was beginning to reap rich rewards for
long and arduous labours on the Annates
Roman
lives
Ecclesiastici,
him
to
which had been
model himself on the
immense work was
a history
of the
intended to refute the heresies of the Magdeburg
written three decades earlier by a committee of Lutheran his-
48
Rome
who
torians,
1592
Church had plotted
believed that the
corrupt the
to
Christian faith, and portrayed the papacy as the instrument of the devil.
In the Annates Baronio set out to demonstrate the authenticity of the
He
Catholic Church.
wrote simply, without rhetoric, in the belief that
the straightforward narrative of events
from the
Church to the present would ineluctably
establish an
The
in 1593,
world of Europe
it
volume
in 1588; the fourth vol-
The
was dedicated to Clement VIII.
greeted with relief and
tradition.
days for meditation. Baronio laboured
its first
for thirty years before publishing the first
ume, published
days of the
unbroken
and presents memories of the
Annates revives the Church's history,
purity and simplicity of
earliest
Annates were
immense enthusiasm throughout the learned
seemed
though
as
a dark
menace had been mirac-
ulously averted; Baronio became a celebrity in Protestant as well as
Catholic countries.
of
Asti,
who was
Italian, wrote,
The popular
later to
make
first
1 have never seen such
an ocean of beautiful things;
complete books,
a
preacher Francesco Panigarola, Bishop
the
all
of them
it is
like
ancient customs.'
a rich work;
and
heretics,
New Testament,
a
me
like seeing
book but four
most minute
a brave disputation
of
all
the
had deep implications
for
collection
21
and new standards of
religious painters. It
historical accuracy were
demanded from
was no longer acceptable to incorporate motifs
from the thirteenth-century
Golden Legend, that collection
anecdotes and legends about the

saints
to
available in
competent history of the Church,
Baronio's passionate historical research

painting,
it is
reading not just one
classics; a
most learned commentary on the
amongst the modern
volume more widely
lives
of picturesque
of Christ and the
lives
of the
which had been so loved by the Middle Ages, and had provided so
rich a source
for artists.
Gabriele Paleotti, had
In 1590 the Bishop of Bologna, Cardinal
moved
to
Rome, where he too frequented
the
Oratory, and became, with Cardinal Federico Borromeo, director of the
Accademia
on
di
San Luca, the
artists' guild. Paleotti
religious art, Discorso intorno
alle
immagini
was already well known in Rome.

should be
and
He
seemed
real
and
a treatise
sacre e profane (1582),
22
which
believed that sacred painting
easily accessible to everyone. It
create figures that
had written
should imitate
tangible;
it
visible reality,
should convey the his-
49
Caravaggio A Life
torical reality
of
biblical scenes, clearly defining time
and
He condemned
age and physical build of the figures.
and the
place,
allegory,
for
eyes.
He believed
that an art addressed to a wide public should be traditional
and conser-
painters should
show everything
as
it
appears to
human
vative;
he opposed novelty, and unusual motifs; he wanted art to reassure
by
adherence to tradition, and by showing the expected. Art should
its
not
idealise,
but none the
less
naturalism should be tempered by
To him
cism and should not shock or disrupt.
of
and
a sacred mission,
at the
much emphasis on
there was
Accademia
di
classi-
the artist was the bearer
San Luca
in these years
Christian doctrine and piety.
The
labours
of Baronio and Paleotti were backed up by scholars and Christian

archaeologists
who
attempted, through immense scholarly efforts, to
establish the history
of the
early
Church, and to shore up with solid
evidence the much-loved stories of the
This then was
Rome
was a
city
of the
in the early 1590s,
and unknown, arrived from Milan.

lectuals, scientists, artists,
lives
It
was
saints.
when
Caravaggio, young
cosmopolitan
city,
of
intel-
businessmen, ambassadors and diplomats;
it
of extreme splendour and luxury, and of miserable poverty
and extraordinary violence; the centre of Catholicism,

renewed confidence with a rich ceremonial
the 1590s remained troubled and tense.
life.
it
displayed
But even so
As the century drew
its
Rome of
to a close,
apocalyptic fears spread, and in the poetry of the period, alongside the
celebration of courtly pleasures, there
of terror
at the
is
prospect of damnation.
so
a sense
of
fear
and desolation,
CHAPTER THREE
Flowers and Fruit
the autumn of
IN
artist
Colonna was
some of
the
Rome,
now
1592, Caravaggio,
with no reputation, arrived in Rome.
way
there in September,
in her entourage.
Lombard
twenty, a
The Marchesa Costanza
and maybe Caravaggio
travelled
the centre of an ancient civilisation of unparalleled splend
our and authority, and made glorious, in the early years of the sixteenth
by the works of Michelangelo and Raphael, had long been
century,
a
magnet
to artists
from northern Europe and from
all
over
Italy.
A jour-
ney there was an essential part of an ambitious young painter's education,
and Caravaggio 'went to
Rome
discipline with diligence'.
with the desire of learning
Above
all,
artists
this
admirable
were drawn by the fame of
and the Mannerist painters of the mid-century
the ancient sculptures,
spent long hours drawing, not only from the posed model, but from the
antique and from admired
modern
painters. Federico Zuccaro, thirty
years older than Caravaggio, captured the
dreams and sufferings of the
provincial artist in a series of drawings that he
Rome. Taddeo, born
elder brother Taddeo in
made of
in 1529,
the youth of his
went to
Rome when
he was fourteen, and suffered the romantic hardships of rejection and of

menial and unworthy work; but Federico shows Taddeos imagination
teeming with images and ideas of the antique; he draws the ancient sculptures, the
Laokoon, the Apollo Belvedere, the paintings of Michelangelo
and Raphael, and the
classical friezes
his fevered brain as
fill
of Polidoro da Caravaggio, which
he sleeps on the banks of the Tiber.
In the middle years of the century, however, art was dull, and
many
painters limped haltingly along in the
Michelangelo. There flourished the maniera
an idealising
art,
in
which the
figures,
in
shadow of the
statuina (statuette
divine
manner),
complex, unnatural poses,
resemble statues, their stony flesh pallid, as if whitewashed, and bled of

life
and passion. In the
creativity
early years
of the sixteenth century the godlike
of Michelangelo had been
idolised,
but after the unveiling of
Caravaggio A Life
the Last Judgement in 1542 in the Sistine Chapel voices were raised against
him 'Who would
dare to maintain, railed Lodovico Dolce in 1557, 'that
Church of Saint
in the
Peter, chief
of the Apostles,
Rome
in a
the whole world assembles, and in the Chapel of the
Pope ...
where
it
who
proper that one should see depicted such a quantity of nudes,

display their fronts and backs in an
immodest way
in 1564, Gilio da Fabriano, an ecclesiastic
abuses of contemporary religious
and
was
a little later,
concerned with the errors and
accused Michelangelo of wishing
art,
to leave a memorial to his 'marvellous talent, while laying aside devotion,

reverence and historical truth'.
By
the 1580s
new
ideas
had begun
to challenge the excessive idealism
of the academic Mannerism of the mid-century, for

centre of the Counter-Reformation, high
Rome,
in
churchmen and
the
writers were
redefining the ideals of the Christian painter, laying fresh emphasis
of
qualities
and emotional stimulus to
simplicity, clarity,
emphasising that painters should adhere

Scipione Pulzones Holy Family
of
naturalistic
religious
idealised, that fulfilled
traditional, looks
rustic,
(r.
cradle rough-hewn,
religious
1590) (Plate 9), represents a
painting,
unthreatening,
The
such demands.
The
a sweeter piety.
and
texts.
new kind
and devotionally
composition, reassuringly
back to Raphael, but the
and suggesting
to
strictly
piety,
on
mood
setting
is
is
humbler, more
unadorned, the
and homely woven draperies muffle the
figures,
revealing only a hint of flesh, while the suitably tender faces of the
Virgin and St
Anne
are
brought close to the spectator, appealing to his
emotion. In the Vatican the colossal undertakings of Pope Sixtus V, the

decorations of the Sistine Library in the Vatican Palace, and of the Scala
Santa at St John Lateran, provided work for huge teams of fresco

painters,
and quick and simple
results
were
much
in
demand. Painters
were organised in large studios, and merged their individuality in teams
who
laboured together more humbly for the glory of God, aiming to
produce works which brought religious truths to a wider public
in a
straightforward and easily reproduced style.
The
and the
presence of the papal court, the

rise
of the
of work for
religious orders,
artists.
52
An
all
many diplomats and
meant that
cardinals,
there was a great deal
artist freshly arrived in the city
might seek
Flowers and Fruit
9.
Scipione Pulzone, Holy Family
(Rome,
employment
in
Galleria Borghese)
one of the great studios. These were dominated by the
leading figure painters, but
still
provided jobs for a host of specialists in
such minor genres as architectural perspectives, landscape and
53
still life.
Caravaggio A Life
Yet more desirable was the position called
servitu particolare,
whereby the
painter lived in the palace and in the service of a prince or cardinal,
through
whom
name might become known.
his
would have the pleasure of working

and through such
as well as religion,
In such a position he
for a courtly
a patron his
elite,
interested in art
fame would spread and
he might aspire to fashionable public commissions.
To
the connoisseur avid for the lustre of a glorious collection,
ever, there
many
were very
but few great
artists
talents.
how-
Laments over the
poverty of art were commonplace in the 1580s and early 1590s: in 1582
Francesco Maria Del Monte,
commented
enthusiastic protector,
Rome
then in
who would become
Caravaggios most
that the only distinguished artist
was Scipione Pulzone, a naturalistic portrait painter
well as religious artist.
Much
later, Bellori crystallised this
memorable sentence 1 have more
to say that will
seem
mood
as
in a
fantastic: nei-
ther within nor without Italy could a painter be found, although not
much
of
time had gone by since Peter Paul Rubens
Italy.
Fedenco
Barocci,
aid to art, languished in
Outside the
who might
Urbino
official art world,
first
carried colors out
have been able to restore and give
and the courts of the great
princes,
innumerable jobbing painters survived without protection, dependent on

dealers
who
sold their wares in small shops, amongst the booksellers and
lute-makers of Parione and
Campo
Navona and Trastevere. Some

and Annibale
Picture Seller,
Carracci's series
who
sports a
Marzio, or in
stalls in
pictures were even sold
by
of drawings of tradesmen included a
Madonna and Child
forgotten
prestige,
Such works were churned out
Roman
artists.
he was young and desperate.
members
its
lamenting that
'it is
in large
votos,
and other
numbers by long-
But to paint for the open market lacked
and an ambitious Italian
guild, forbade
Many
like a billboard.
traders specialised in small devotional works, rosaries, ex

religious goods.
the Piazza
street vendors,
artist
would only turn
The Accademia
di
to dealers
San Luca, the
all
when
artists'
to engage in such undignified activities,
serious, lamentable, indeed intolerable to
everybody
to see works destined for the decoration of Sacred Temples, or the splen-
dour of noble
goods for
sale'.
palaces, exhibited in
8
54
shops or in the
streets like
cheap
Flowers and Fruit
Rome
own
was
of immigrants and each group tended to carve out
its
so that the Flemish gathered in the Via Margutta and
full
district,
around the Trinita dei Monti, while Lombards
streets
called Pantani, near the church
Many
of San Lorenzo
artists lived in the parishes
Andrea
delle Fratte, sharing
local taverns.
Caravaggio,
in the rione
Campo
who was by no means
and who came to
a prodigy,
with no reputation and 'without lodgings and without provi-
The
accounts in
years are inconsistent
and confus-
wealthy protector was crucial.
the early sources of his
first
they
of
later to establish his studio.
sions', 9 the search for a
ing,
Lucina and San
colony of shopkeepers, craftsmen, and swordmakers
Marzio, where Caravaggio too was
To
in
houses and drinking and gambling in the
from Caravaggios own home town was established
Rome
lived in an area
of Santa Maria della Consolazione.
and
it is
Roman
not possible to establish a chronology for the events which
some of which may be apocryphal. Yet
relate,
all
emphasise the
harshness and poverty of those years; from each emerges the picture of
a restless artist,
ator
in
moving from one hack job
of cheap devotional images,
Roman
as
to another
He
stantly (at least ten times in these first years),
of
copyist, as cre-
lowly painter of fruits and flowers
studios of varying reputations.
in the palazzo
as
changed lodgings con-
sometimes granted
room
high churchman or noble family, sometimes with
painter friends, once at least at an inn. There are suggestions that he was
often at odds with his surroundings, chafing at a lack of dignity, but full
of energy, ambitiously planning and working for advancement.

Yet this poverty, perhaps romanticised for dramatic effect by the early
writers,
may
have been to some extent self-inflicted, for Caravaggio was
not entirely lacking
without money
m influential connections,
though
and he had not
left
Milan
perhaps, already a stormy character, he had run
through his inheritance very quickly. His uncle, Ludovico Merisi,
had played
a large role in his youth,
had moved to
Rome
who
in 1591 or 1592,
and the Marchesa Costanza Colonna may have introduced him to other
members of her powerful and
Roman
world of
affairs.
Her
prestigious family, so
dominant
in the
brother, Cardinal Ascanio Colonna, was
distinguished by his wide-ranging literary culture and celebrated library;

the family enjoyed, too, a close relationship with the Milanese
55
Borromeo
Caravaggio A Life
and Federico Borromeo, Carlo s cousin, was not only
family,
in
Rome
in
period but was principal of the painters' guild, the Accademia di San
this
Luca.
seems
It
likely that Caravaggio, fresh
from Milan, stayed
with an
first
otherwise unidentified Tarquinio, perhaps a compatriot, maybe a painter,

or perhaps
an innkeeper. But his next residence, with Monsignor
Pandolfo Pucci, a beneficed priest of St Peters, strongly suggests the

influence of the Colonna, perhaps encouraged by Caravaggios priestly
uncle, Ludovico.
10
For Pandolfo Pucci was steward, or Maestro
to Camilla Peretti, the sister of
family had close
Damasceni
herself to
become
later to
the
young Marchesa
V Camilla Peretti had retired to
where
it
may
Roman
Peretti,
would have been customary
di Caravaggio.
a
The
Peretti
On
the death of
wing of the Palazzo Colonna,
for her steward to live with her, so
well have been in this palace that Caravaggio

career.
and the
marry Costanzas son, Muzio Sforza, and
was
Sixtus
it
with the Colonna. Camillas great niece, Orsina
ties
Peretti,
Pope Sixtus
di Casa,
commenced
his
medieval palazzo lay between the church of Santi
Apostoli, whose portico fronts the elongated Piazza, and the dark and
narrow
via della Pilotta, today criss-crossed
by bridges that link
it
to the
formal gardens laid out in the seventeenth century. In the 1590s, though,
above this road, on the western slope of the Quirinal and linked to the
palace by three arches, rose a tract of garden and wilderness, crowned by
great ilexes
ple,
and adorned by the colossal fragments of
from where, Suetonius
tells us,
Nero watched Rome burn.
fied medieval tower rose against classical ruins,
of buildings, much sketched by Renaissance

established
It
letters
was thus
and
artists,
in the
temforti-
and the romantic blend
artists,
conveyed the long-
power and colourful history of the Colonna. In
in the mid-i54os, the poetess Vittoria
men of
a great fallen
this palace,
Colonna had gathered around her
among them Michelangelo.
home of
a celebrated
Roman
family, distinguished
patrons of art and literature, that Caravaggio s career began, but his stay
was brief and unsatisfactory.

there
is
a suggestion that he
complained
bitterly that
He
was asked to do unpleasant work, and
found
it
unfitting to his status; moreover, he
he was only given salad to eat in the evening,
'which served as appetizer, entree and dessert
56
as the corporal says, as
Flowers and Fruit

accompaniment and toothpick'. After
Caravaggio, having profited
'Monsignor Insalata. Yet the
him
much
as
little,
now
devotional images that are
few months of such treatment
dubbing
sarcastically
artistic tasks
Mancini
as the food;
left,
his
host
he was given must have annoyed
us that here he painted 'copies of
tells
in Recanati'.
Monsignor Pucci returned
to
Recanati in 1600, where he died around 1614: presumably he took some of
Caravaggio s pictures back with him, but none have come to

period Caravaggio was reduced to painting pictures for
subjects beneath the dignity
the speciality of artists
of the great
by a
boy who
is
lizard that
12
.'"
.
It
us that he
tells
out because he has been
tion suggests typically
copies are
After this
who
seems that he was then invited to return
(who, just possibly, was the innkeeper whose portrait he
painted), but the chronology
around
cries
peeling a pear with a knife, and a portrait of an innkeeper
to Tarquinio
lished,
boy who
and often
he holds in his hand, and then he painted another
had given him lodgings
many
'a
In this
of humble
figure painters,
from northern Europe. Mancini
painted for the open market

bitten
Roman
light.
sale,
of
impossibly confusing. Mancinis descrip-
Lombard works, of unassuming
known of
dispiriting
a series
is
genre motifs, and
the Boy Peeling a Fruit (Plate 10). 13
Caravaggio hawked his
talents
whose sequence cannot be
estab-
experience,
Roman
studios,
and for which there
are only the palest hints
of a possible
chronology. Perhaps he rose from working for the most minor artists to
the
more
elevated,
which would suggest that
his first spell in
an artists
studio was with an otherwise unidentified Lorenzo Siciliano, a studio
probably in the Pantani, south of the Forum, in the area colonised by
Lombard
artists.
Caravaggios
Baglione places this event at the very beginning of
Roman period, saying that Caravaggio 'settled down with a

who had a shop full of crude works of art* here, Bellori
Sicilian painter,
adds,
'as
apiece,
he was in extreme need and naked, he painted heads for a groat
and he did three a
were, but portraits of
day'.
14
It is
not clear what kinds of heads these
famous men had long been
a fashionable
decoration, bought both by noble patrons and by
Ferdinando
de'
the Pinciana. It
Medici had
may be
famous collection
at the Villa
that this was the speciality of
and one to which Caravaggio, with
his
men of
57
letters;
Medici on
Lorenzo
Lombard background
form of
Siciliano,
in portrai-
- A L
10.
Caravaggio, Boy
(London,
ture,
was well
suited. It
life
his gift for
already attracted attention, and
of Antiveduto Grammatica,
a studio in the Borgo.'
58
Peeling a Fruit
was demeaning work, but perhaps
a place in the studio
who had
f<
Phillips)
investing such heads with fresh
him
won
a Sienese artist
Flowers and Fruit

Antiveduto was a
He
Siciliano.
and Rome,
much more
problem which
him
his quirky
so').
He
At
famous men
tells
but already ran a successful
known
'No one was
as a specialist in paint-
him portray
better than he at shaping
excellent likenesses
or other illustrious Personage, came to
man; and indeed
Rome, but
their head;
and
his heads were so fine,
who
and no Prince,
called
this exercise
by to
see
made him
and well executed, that

,l6
culture,
he earned the nickname the "great head painter".
man of wide
told you
'I
us that he copied the celebrated series of
in the Villa Medici.
Antiveduto, to have
'foreseen, almost
as Caravaggio,
and colouring heads, and he made
a wealthy
than Lorenzo
figure
had foreseen and which thus gave
period Antiveduto was
this
and Baglione
ing heads,
his father
name (Antiveduto means
was the same age
business.
considerable
had been inconveniently born on the road between Siena
Antiveduto was a
delighted in poetry, and his studio must have
provided Caravaggio with intellectual stimulus; painting and poetry were

close
allies,
and many of Caravaggios painter friends were highly
vated, with aspirations as poets
and
as musicians.
culti-
Antiveduto was more-
over an ambitious man, of strong opinions, albeit 'of courteous manners,
Christian and
civil,
and most zealous
and busy
financial success
trade,
in his profession,
17
who, despite
was anxious to prove himself
ure painter, the pinnacle of painting for the Italian
artist.
his
as a fig-
What
he
wished for from Caravaggio was those half-length figures and portraits
which Caravaggio s north

these paintings,
done
in
Italian training
had equipped him to provide;
Antiveduto s studio, were more ambitious than
the heads Caravaggio painted for Lorenzo Siciliano. All are
although
it
has been suggested that a portrait of Cardinal Baronio, dis-
tinguished by
early
its
work, and
ing at this time.

It
may
sharp lighting and intense naturalism,
it is
of
18
have been in Antiveduto's studio that Caravaggio formed a
artists,
was
at the centre
ing prestigious commissions

style
of the
official
from
Roman
well-known famart world, receiv-
from the Pope, and developing an
deeply indebted to the antique and to Raphael.
friend
may be such an
surely close to the kind of picture he was produc-
friendship with Cherubino Alberti; Cherubino,

ily
lost,
and supporter of Caravaggio who stayed
He
eclectic
remained a loyal
close to him, perhaps
59
Caravaggio A
Lift
MARIO MENNITI
Marcellmo Merest Lxcrse
Portrait of
ii.
(print,
Memorie
dxi'etfo
ePAtttbamo Mimas
Mario Minniti
from G. Grosso Cacopardo,

de'Pittori Messinesi,
partly because his art presented
no
Messina
threat.
More
ed.
1821)
surprisingly, Caravaggio
seems to have remained friendly with Antiveduto, despite the

Antiveduto
later fell
under
his spell
and imitated
fact that
his style, a practice
which usually enraged him.

In the studio
of Lorenzo Siciliano (although the dates remain
puzzling), Caravaggio had also struck

Sicilian painter,
which was to
Minniti, whose journey to
last
up
a friendship with a
throughout his
Rome,
as
it
is
embroilments.
who
This was Mario
given by his eighteenth-
century biographer, Susinno, reads like a romance

fled Syracuse,
career.
young
Minniti, we
are told,
through Malta, to cast off some (unspecified) local
Once
in
Rome, he took up lodgings with
a Sicilian painter,
sold pictures by the dozen, and in that studio he formed a friend-
60
Flowers and Fruit

when both were working
ship with Caravaggio,

coarse artisan'.
19
both
Allies in hardship,
dissatisfied,
of emulation, they determined to win
spirit
aim higher, and for some time (though

they lived together.
may
It
spurred on by the
independence and to
their
not
it is
may
siders,
mood
on the
often in poverty,
humble
is
role
fringes
and
the earliest
model.
also have served as a
All these references create the picture of a group of young
resenting their
when)
at all clear exactly
made some of
be that Minniti
copies of Caravaggio s paintings, and he
labourers for that
as
of the
artists,
out-
official art world, yet
employment. The
striving for grander
touchingly re-created in the account of a young Spanish
artist,
Cristofero Orlandi, who, in evidence he gave to a magistrate, described
Rome, when, young and
his early days in
employment and moving

arrived in
Rome
in
much
the
painter called Vittorio
money
circles as
Caravaggio. Orlandi
who
lived in
Here he managed to earn enough
to be sent
from Spain, and came
to
degli Incurabili, opposite the
Giuseppe Cesari
'with
whom
better,
at the
to live without asking for
know many
whom
the said
with
painters.
who
sent
me
whom
d'Arpino) was building,
two
years,
here,
can
am
came
today.'
worked
'I
as that
my
mirror maker
now no
longer remember,
whom
lodged. After
to an arrangement with Signor Cardinal Piatto,

20
Orlandi's was to be a
account captures the atmosphere of the
Roman
humble
art world,
career,
to the studio
Grammatica; he worked for
of a successful
famous
Caravaggio, Vincenzo Giustiniani, and
collector,
finally
but his
where impov-
erished artists struggled to gain a foothold. Like Caravaggio, he
from rented rooms
in
and to Signor Vincenzo
earned eight scudi a day, and with

I
San
and having learned to paint
and fourth gentleman, such
and many others

I
a year,
Next he
lived near
palace which the painter
as the Cavaliere
more than
di Ponte,
two years
whom
known
new
25 baiocchi a day'. After
for the third
Magine
Giustiniani,
from
me
he gave
own room
(later
stayed for
his
One of these introduced him to a

Campo Marzio, and he stayed there
went to work with Antiveduto Grammatica, who then
Giacomo
room with
with only twenty scudi and looked for a
compatriots on the Via del Corso.
for a year.
same
penniless, he was seeking
artist,
moved
Antiveduto
and admirer of
entered the service of
Cardinal Flaminio Piatto.
6j
Caravaggio A Life
With
his
work
for Antiveduto
behind him, following the pattern that
Orlandi suggests, Caravaggio was well placed to look for advancement in
Roman
a grander
studio.
The most
celebrated artist in
Rome
was the
widely travelled and learned Federico Zuccaro, a majestic and handsome
man, who had

was
now
just returned
fifty-two,
and
from Spain laden with money and
thirty years older than Caravaggio.
been a member of various
artists'
gifts.
He
Zuccaro had
academies, and was passionately
com-
mitted to upholding the prestige of his profession, presenting an image
of the noble
artist, living in
worldly splendour, and enjoying the gentle-
manly academic pursuits of learned discourse and philosophical endeavhad completed Giorgio
our. In Florence, with overweening ambition, he
Vasari s
dome
signed on the
ions,
frescoes in the cathedral.

collar,
and dated on the
Here he shows himself (boldly
chest) towering over his
compan-
with square jaw and curly beard, his stature accented by his
strik-
ing headgear, and thrusting his palette, symbol of his pre-eminence,
before
He
him
was a
tireless
although Baglione
rewarded, nor
idealising
Zuccaro was mediocre, combative, and
(Plate 12). But
self-advertiser,
tells
us that no artist had ever been
intellectual art
withdrew to decorate
Rome, and
by the
more
own
art
and
the ambassador of
family.
on the Pincian
He
hill,
His endeavours caused
Urbino reported to
may perhaps
his master:
have heard from oth-
has embarked on the realisation of a poetical caprice which
prove the ruin of his children.
may
well
has started building a small palace
without rhyme or reason on a most extravagant
made
richly
early 1590s his
was out of tune with the times, and he
'Federico Zuccari, as your Highness

ers,
Princes,
his house, the Palazzo Zuccaro,
with frescoes glorifying his

stir in
and avid for glory and fame, but
more loved and honoured by
and
vain.
site,
which might have
a beautiful painting but will easily engulf whatever capital he has
accumulated/
21
With Zuccaro withdrawn, another
possibility for Caravaggio
was the
studio of Cristofero Roncalli, a fashionable religious fresco painter, universally
respected (even,
later,
by Caravaggio), who had trained in
Florence and Siena, worked in an eclectic Mannerist
style,
and became
the favourite artist of the Oratorians. Roncalli was a learned
whose company was sought by wealthy
62
virtuosi,
artist,
amongst them Vincenzo
Flowers and Fruit
Federico Zuccaro,
12.
(Florence Cathedral,
Giustiniani.
He
dome
Self Portrait
fresco, detail)
members of
taught drawing to various
noble
the
Crescenzi family, and was Very virtuous, honoured and God-fearing, and
always behaved with decorum.
tioners/
The
He
loved his profession, and
its
practi-
22
rising star
of the
Roman
art world, however,
celebrity humiliated the elder Zuccaro,
attracting
many young
Giuseppe Cesari
Marzio; there
artists,
d' Arpino.
still
from both northern Europe and
His studio was then

here,
exists
whose youthful
and whose busy studio was
'alia
Italy,
Torretta', in
was
Campo
between the Corso and the piazza
Fontanella Borghese, a piazza della Torretta. Cesari was only a
little
older
than Caravaggio (he had been born in Arpino in 1568), but his career had
been startlingly different.
The son of
an inferior painter of
Rome
ex-votos,
Muzio
Cesari, he
a state
of extreme poverty, but almost immediately joined the team of
fresco painters
had come
working
as a
young boy to
in the Vatican
with his mother, in
Logge, where he was swiftly
acclaimed as a prodigy and was lucky enough to attract the admiration
63
A Lif,
a r a v a
^frp max
\P/c cor-
oman'nijferjvm
Ottavio Leoni,
13.
Portait of the Cavaliere d'Arpino
(print)
of Pope Gregory XIII, who granted him eight scudi
month. Cesari
rapidly established himself as a fashionable fresco painter, working in

a graceful, elegant style, in pale, clear colours,
after
too
as
a painter
of
small, highly finished cabinet paintings
erotic mythological subjects, in
of
a variety
of
difficult
and an expression of
completed
a series
and was much sought

of
which he explored the Mannerist themes
and complex poses, dramatic
a sweet, poetic sentiment.
of enviable commissions,
in
and had won the protection of powerful
By
both
of
effects
1593
he had already
Rome and
cardinals,
Cardinals Giulio Santori, Paolo Emilio Sfondrato,
light
Naples,
among them
and Alessandro
Montalto; he was to become a favourite painter of Clement VIII.
An
early biographer cites a tiny but apparently telling incident as evidence
of
their familiar footing;
Cesari a large glass of

to drink; the
glass
Pope
and emptied
on one occasion,
Dutch
beer,
64
Pope offered
which Cesari began, out of
swiftly realised that

it.
after a meal, the
it
curiosity,
was distasteful to him, took the
Flowers and Fruit

With
aristocratic
good looks
and small pointed beard), 'of

rarely
ill
witty,
shows
(a self-portrait
mass of black, curly
aquiline nose, a
good complexion, and
and of wide-ranging
ideas',
23
lean face,
groomed moustache
hair, carefully
fiery
energy
Cesari was not only a
member of
the distinguished literary acade-
my, the Accademia degli Insensati, and
later established a theatre in the
cultivated artist but also a
He
grander palazzo that he bought in the Corso.
and took great pleasure
social ambitions,
arms collection
until his last illness, keeping a fine
cherished immense
which he did
in bearing arms,
in his studio.
He
was,
however, of a fiery temperament, difficult, always dissatisfied, and given

to melancholy. Success
somewhat
tartly,
crowned
all
his ventures,
and
yet, writes Baglione,
whom
although few have been more blessed than he, on
fortune had smiled since his earliest years and although he had been
loved by princes, and by the most noble families, he
on
their favours ... he
status,
far rather
than for eminent patrons ... he was very
had meted
out, lamenting
'set little
value
men of
lowly
have worked for
condition, and continuously brooded
his
of
would
little satisfied
on the
disasters
with
that fate
from one hour to the next against the blows
fortune'. 24
Cesari's brother, Bernardino,
second-rate
Giuseppe
was best known
artist,
in this
was his principal
medium), and
as a
assistant. Bernardino, a
draughtsman (said to equal
of some of
also as a skilled copyist
Michelangelo's famous presentation drawings for Tommaso de' Cavalieri.

In character, however, he was unlike his brother, delighting in the conversation of princes
lose
and nobles, commenting that one has nothing to
by mixing with those of rank more elevated than
one's
own.
Bernardino was good-natured, loving, loyal to his friends, but he was

rash and impetuous, and
death,
and
his
He
be
at this
13
condemned
freely
to
with bandits,
one 'signore Antonio Griettano, "leader of the ban-
fled to Naples, only returning to
pardoned on
1592 he was
goods sequestered, for consorting too
particularly with
dits'".
on 9 November
Rome
in 1593,
when he was
May, on the intervention of Cardinal Sfondrato.
moment
It
may
that Caravaggio entered the studio, for he seems to
have been befriended particularly by Bernardino, whose portrait he

painted,
and
this suggests a date in the
second half of
65
1593.
position
Caravaggio A Life
in so flourishing a studio also suggests that Caravaggio
some recognition
in the
Roman
had already won
art world.
In these prosperous times commissions were pouring into Cesaris
busy studio, and he directed a large team of
artists.
Self-consciously the
heir to Raphael, he employed, as his great predecessor

cialists in
minor genres of landscape and
the
an acute business sense, was
pictures, and, with

interest
of
pictures
still life.
Roman
collectors
in
had done, spe-
He
also dealt in
alive to the
growing
small Dutch- and Flemish cabinet
landscapes, or alpine scenes, or city scenes with small figures,
which, with their vivid evocation of the beauties of nature, bright with
colour and
light,
and
alive
with picturesque
innocent pleasure in sharp contrast to
and landscape were then novel forms of

both northern and southern Europe
in
century,
and
in Cesaris studio
The Dutch
creative interchange.
successful
art
sensuous but
posturing. Both
still life
which had begun to spread
in the later years
of the sixteenth
north and south mingled in a highly
who
Dyck,
Floris van
worked
painter in Haarlem,
still-life
detail, offered a
Roman
there
must have known Caravaggio; other kinds of novel
later
became
around 1600, and
still life
flourished,
and Francesco Zucchi (brother of the more famous Jacopo) painted

fanciful heads in the style
pleasure
lies in
of the Milanese Arcimboldi, works whose
the tension between naturalism and artifice, in the play
on the pleasure of recognition and the extreme fantasy of the composition. Baglione tells us that, 'Francesco
it
was who, in his canvases, devised
way of arranging and colouring the heads of

and other things which
their fruits, flowers
the Four Seasons, with
are customarily
produced
during the said season: and so cleverly did he plan them that he caused
all
the parts to appear outwardly just as
may
well be that Caravaggio, fresh
we
see in
human heads
25
.
It
from Milan where Arcimboldi was
famous, told him of these strange and unusual subjects, which then
became fashionable
and
flowers',
26
also
in
Rome. And Zucchi,
framed Cesaris
'an excellent painter
stately frescoes in St
of
fruit
John Lateran
with bright garlands of fruit and flowers, of overripe pomegranates and

transparent grapes, brilliantly coloured and naturalistic. Such garlands
were a characteristic product of Cesaris studio,
Raphaelesque
tradition,
66
and continued
one indebted to the legendary illusionism of
Flowers and Fruit

ancient decorative
art,
fragments of which could
still
be glimpsed in
Rome.
Most
Orsi,
importantly,
who remained
Roman
it
was probably here that Caravaggio met Prospero
his closest friend for several years,
and
days was constantly at his side. Prospero, a
in these early
little
older than
Caravaggio, came from Stabio, a small town in the outskirts of
man
small
Rome.
(hence his nickname, Prosperino) with a short and wispy
black beard, he had already
won some fame
as a fresco painter
and had
contributed to the decorations of the Scala Santa at St John Lateran;
now
as
he specialised in painting grotesques, so skilfully that he was
known
'Prosperino delle grottesche', a decorative speciality that endeared
He
to Cesari.
of
his art,
Rome.
27
was indeed a great friend of
and
striving to imitate
was a
It
lively
it,
and singing
studio where old and
Caravaggio took part in debates between

tional idealising artists,
praises
its
new
Roman
throughout
met, and doubtless
between
tradi-
and newer forms of naturalism. Lombard
artists
rival aesthetics,
were typecast as simple and unlearned, and Caravaggio

his skills;
him
admiring the grace
Cesari's,
set
out to defend
but he also absorbed something of the great traditions of
history painting, of Raphael, Michelangelo, and the Antique; he
may have
taken part, too, in discussions of poetry and literature, perhaps
of Cesare Ripas recently published
Iconologia,
to
become so popular with
artists.
Caravaggio spent about eight months in the studio of Cesari. Later

writers romanticised their relationship, suggesting enmity
between them, although
in fact Caravaggio (perhaps
and jealousy
out of self-interest)
continued to express admiration for Cesari. Yet there are hints that their
relationship was stormy;
Mancini
tells
us that Caravaggio was
made
to sleep
on
which
almost impossible to decipher, hints that he and the two Cesari
is
a straw mattress,
and
some
crime; he mentions Giuseppe's
his reluctance that Caravaggio
should be seen while working
brothers were together involved in

fear,
on
and
in a further, very confusing passage,
a painting, the Death of St Joseph. It
is
impossible to
tell
what crimes
had been committed, or who had committed them. Their relationship

finally collapsed
when Caravaggio became
to the Hospital of Santa
Maria
della
so
ill
that he
had
to be taken
Consolazione (a hospital for those
67
Caravaggio A Life
suffering
looked
from
painted
fever,
by the
after
many
or for the victims of street fights), where he was
pictures,
account of
Mancini's
whom, during
Prior, for
which were
taken to
later
incident
this
a long convalescence, he
or Seville. 28
of convincing
full
is
Sicily,
detail:
Caravaggio was wounded by a kick from a horse, and suffered from a

swollen
but the Cesari brothers, suffering from some obscure
leg,
would not
let
him be
seen,
and he was taken to the hospital by
friend (this perhaps was Lorenzo, or
him
visited
there,
and Caravaggio, once recovered, did not return to the
paint, as Bellori says, according to his
The
There
role
performed by Caravaggio
are hints that
as his assistant
a Sicilian
Mario Minniti). The brothers never
For the time being he endeavoured to
studio.
fear,
own
live
by himself, and to
inclination.
in Cesaris studio remains unclear.
he collaborated with Cesari, and he perhaps worked
on the
of the Contarelli chapel,
vault frescoes
in the
church of San Luigi dei Francesi, on which Cesari was working in 15923
and where he himself was
may
make
to
later
a dramatic debut.
Or
he
have contributed to the rich and glowing swags which surround
Cesaris frescoes in the Olgiati chapel in Santa Prassede, which intro-
duced a decorative opulence into
Roman
information; he says that Cesari 'had
art.
him
But only Bellori offers
clear
paint flowers and fruit, which
he imitated so well that from then on they began to attain that greater
beauty that we love today.
He
painted a vase of flowers with the trans-
parencies of the water and glass and the reflections of a
window of
the
room, rendering flowers sprinkled with the freshest of dewdrops; and he

painted other excellent pictures of similar imitations/ 29
It
would have seemed natural
Lombard
artists
worked
young and untried
painter with this kind of specialised task, for which northern
were famed, and yet Caravaggio chafed at such restrictions,
and longed to compete
reluctantly,
figure painting.
they
to Cesari to entrust a
may
No
pure
still lifes
well have existed,
a later date).
and
from
in the nobler
this early
Roman
arena of
period survive (though
certainly Caravaggio painted
still life at
But pictures which were almost certainly painted in Cesari s
studio, or immediately afterwards,

1607, include the The
Fruit (Col. Plate 2),
Sick Bacchus
and which were
(Col. Plate
1)
and these do include prominent
68
still
in his stock in
and the Boy
with a Basket of
still lifes.
Flowers and
These works
is
intensely suggest Caravaggio's presence.
a self-portrait,
deeply sunk
emblem of
showing, for the
first
whose black and
sinister
eyes,
dark
his
F ruit
Both
art.
time, the dark
The
Sick Bacchus
Lombard, with
appearance later seemed an
which Caravaggio,
are theatrical works, in
Roman
with some flamboyance, presents himself and his art to a
of
public; they are the response
northern
naturalistic tradition, to the classical art
sense provocative.
pitting against
it
They throw out
new
creating the sense

classical antiquity
naturalism, and yet at the same
to the illusionism
life
are in a
a challenge to an idealising tradition,
the resources of a
time bringing fresh
more
trained in a
artist,
of Rome, and both
of ancient
Roman
art, re-
of wonder which the most celebrated painters of
had aroused,
their very virtuosity a
reproof to the
crude frescoes of the Sistine painters.
The
insecure pose,
and the subtly sad
convey both longing and withdrawal;
it
of the
smile,
shows the young
artist, pallid,
him
melancholy, perhaps suffering from the illness which had put

hospital, and, semi-naked, an outsider, offering his
and
portraiture
symbol of
still life,
to the
Roman
art world.
his art, against the grey stone
astonishing
still life,
Lombard
And
of the simple
life
seems somehow touchingly small and
figure, so clearly studied
context, threw out a challenge
of wine, of poetic
Rome. But
from
table,
life,
placed an
isolated,
leaves.
The
plea for
the naturalism of the
so astonishing in a
of
conviviality, has
and only
vaguely classicising shirt (secured by the black
many
is
Roman
of another kind; Bacchus, the ancient god
inspiration,
boy, with coarse, dirty fingernails,
to use
skills, in
of deep black grapes, luminous, transparent, flecked
naturalism amid the stony rhetoric of
semi-nude
in the
before him, like a
with highlights, and sharp yellow peaches against yellowing

still
Bacchus
Sick
become
a sick
lightly disguised
bow
Roman
by
his
that Caravaggio was
times) and the trailing ivy leaves casually twisted in his dark
curly hair.
The
it
painting
both fresh
sense of his
a rethinking
of ancient myth, an attempt to
and mystery;
it
pallor
restore to
perhaps, too, conveys the artists
own power which none
figures startling
the grapes
is
reality
the less involves suffering.
the greyish lips subtly related to the
The
bloom on
suggests the deep shadows of melancholy, and perhaps
69
Caravaggio A Life
allude to the Renaissance belief that melancholy
privileges
spirit,
and dangers of
is
associated with the
creative genius. In a similarly self- dramatising
laden with suffering and despair, the poet Giambattista Marino,
who was
become
later to
portrait painter
of Caravaggios, demanded of a
a friend
Take the extremes of
ice
and
heat,
brown and shadowy
the horrors of a
and the pallor of death, and from
make my
Through
true portrait
night,
this strange
mixture
'
suffering the artist ascends to immortality.
Bacchus the traditional ivy crown conveys the
On
the
artists confidence in his
which the ancient
eternal fame, in the self-glorifying spirit in
brow of
Roman
poet Horace had written:
But
me
the ivy guerdon
Ranks with
And
on learned brows
Gods above
should you
I shall
The
the
me among the lyric bards

stars with my lifted head.
list
nudge the
32
other painting, of the glowing boy, with rosy skin, offering the
spectator a basket of fruits, stands in sharp contrast to this pallid
Bacchus, but this picture also courts the viewer, offering the sensuous
delights
of
of
newly
naturalistic art. It creates a
illusionistic presence, catching the figure in the subtle play
against the plain ground,
and introducing, for the
diagonal shaft of light which was to

art.
more convincing
The
basket
is
of woven
reeds,
become
and the
a leitmotif
cherries,
firm pears,
of
light
time,
the
of Caravaggios
leaves, just cut, still bright, yet
curling at the edges, delicately suggest the freshness
shining
first
sense
of the
fruits,
and transparent grapes. The
of
basket,
curiously unrelated to the figure, seems suspended before us, as though

inserted into the picture, and the highly detailed rendering of the varied
surfaces
and
in the face
textures contrasts with the broader
brushwork which sweeps
and drapery of the boy. The boy himself,
70
his hair
windswept,
Flowers and Fruit

immediate, caught in a transitory moment, but his
his lips parted,
is
white shirt
from
sculpture,
falls
and
Giorgione.
his
his shoulder in a
shadowed
way
that loosely evokes classical
something of the dreamy grace of
eyes have
The humble and rustic motifs the windfall apples, marked

look back to Lombardy, and yet there is something
and blemished
of the richness and abundance of ancient
of an old mosaic, or fragment of
Roman
art,
perhaps an echo
fresco.
Caravaggio would have been well aware of Pliny's
about
trite stories
the fabled skills of ancient artists, of Zeuxis' grapes, rendered with such
astonishing illusionism that the birds themselves swept from the air to
peck
at
may
them; he
known
well also have
Philostratus' sensuous descriptions
of ancient
See, too, the pears
on
You
on
pears, apples
heaps of them and piles of

golden.
the then fashionable
still life:
apples,
both
and
ten, all fragrant
not been
will say that their redness has
put on from the outside, but has bloomed from

within.
Here
in clusters
are gifts
heaped
of the cherry
in a basket,
here
is
and the basket
is
tree,
fruit
woven, not from alien twigs, but from branches of

the plant
itself.
And
woven together and
them and how

will certainly
if
you look
at the vine sprays
at the clusters
hanging from
the grapes stand out one by one
hymn
you
Dionysus."
describing a xenia, a painting of a gift offered to guests,
Philostratus
is
and conveys
a sense
of a bounteous nature which delights the
senses. In
Caravaggio's picture, too, the boy offers brilliantly coloured fruits, there
to be gathered,
and the motif has
Golden Age
note, a pleasure in
simple nature such as that celebrated by the Horace, who,

tranquillity
glories
rary
of
his Sabine farm, enjoyed
'a
fruitful
abundance of
[poured out] from a lavish horn. 34 In a similar
courtiers
enjoyed the pleasures
spirit,
the
rustic
contempo-
of the marketplace; Giovanni
Battista del Tufo, languishing in exile (perhaps himself indebted to
Philostratus), wrote nostalgically
of such beauties
in Naples,
where the
Caravaggio A Life
gardener s boys, and the courteous street vendors, at break of day, tempt-
ed with their
fruits:
That mannerly
Who
baskets
With
fruit seller
lays before you, choice
all
and
thousand
perfect, a
and mellow
their sweet
fruits,
Seeing them thus exquisitely laid out
Atop
And
the tender verdant fronds:
you, thrice blessed,
Are destined to sample these
Such
as
would make
Theirs were fruits picked
a serving
dawn and most
at
tempting
fruits, nay,
maid
queen
bait,
beautifully arranged
on
fresh
green leaves, the most perfect fruits placed at the summit. Their baskets,
of woven
reeds,
and he compared them to small paintings.
eye,
insistently real
'making a pattern graceful to behold', delighted the
yet
it
and modern,
theatrical, set in
is
Caravaggios picture
selling fruit in the Piazza
is
Navona
an unreal space, and touched with echoes
of these poetic evocations of

artistic skill,
boy
35
Golden Age. And
it is
also a display
designed to attract a patron through an attempt to
of
rival
nature herself, reminiscent of Comanini's wonder over the miraculous
naturalism of Figino's peaches.
group of works, once
in the stock
immediate impact of Caravaggios
whose enigmatic creator

a picture
ings, a
of
Fruits
Still Life
both now
is
in
in the
composite studio works
in
These works,
Master of Hartford, include
Vegetables,
and a
Borghese Gallery in Rome.
these works are apprentice pieces

are
as the
two Carafes (Plate 14)
with Fruit, Flowers and
Cesari, suggest the
startling naturalism.
now known
and Flowers
of Giuseppe
It
and two
Still Life
with
shows a carafe of wild
on the white
table, as in
cloth,
and
Caravaggio s
72
Game
Birds,
has been suggested that
by the young Caravaggio, or that they
which he may have collaborated. They do
indeed explore motifs familiar from Caravaggio s pictures.

Flowers
large paint-
flowers, casting a shadow,
a basket
of
London
lit
The
at
Fmmaus (Col.
and
in the centre,
fruit projecting over the
Supper
Fruits
edge of the
Plate 22).
The
Flowers and Fruit
The Master of
14.
Hartford,
Fruits
and Flowers
(Hartford,
of the
bright, crisp clarity
light,
perspective lines, recall the
in
two Carafes
Wadsworth Atheneum)
and the patterning of objects along the
same
But the painting does not
picture.
suggest an early phase from which the richness of Caravaggio s later

lifes
might develop;
naive artist has
it
has, rather, a simplified, archaic
become
has idealised and tidied
enthralled by the
up
his fruit
and
air,
as if a
power of Caravaggio s
flowers,
still
more
vision,
and touched the picture
with a Flemish charm by adding the butterflies and other insects of

an older tradition.
follower, perhaps
more
It
seems
likely that these
more than one
artist (the
pedestrian, cataloguing painter),
who
works
game
are
by a
united a northern passion for
and
descriptive realism with an Italian interest in light
may
by a precocious
birds are surely
space,
and they
date from after the turn of the century.
Caravaggio s pictures, the heirs to Giorgione's half-length paintings of
young boys from the
early years
of the sixteenth century, yet with
overtones, provocatively suggest a
new kind of
art,
Roman
and one sharply
73
at
Caravaggio A Life
odds with the metaphysical theories of
by Zuccaro
art elaborated
at the
newly reorganised Accademia di San Luca. Zuccaro, passionate to renew

the dignity of the artist as intellectual and as creator, and to restore the
noble traditions of Michelangelo and Raphael, was a key figure in

reorganising
November
14
The
ident.
He
academy.
the
1593,
presided
incongruously held in
the
feet,
Surrounded by
his advisers,
fall,
room, he began slowly to speak.
and academic
which brought
He
day, the
many noble
dilet-
opened with
and pious
a lengthy
make man happy, and
and the unbridled and extravagant behaviour
artists into disrepute.
Sunday and holy
sceptre.
and looking with dignity around the
exhortation to unity and virtue, which alone could

railed against dissolution,
elected pres-
behaviour: Zuccaro, he wrote, rose
and brother painters, and
tantes, waiting for silence to
on
meeting,
Alberti, vividly conveys
bearing aloft his palette,
slowly to his
first
a hayloft and was
Romano
account of the secretary,
pompous and ceremonial
Zuccaro's
over
He
proposed
members should enjoy
that, after
Mass each
and
theoretical debates,
discuss such subjects as the paragone (whether painting or sculpture was the
superior art form), decorum, and theories of gesture and expression.
'No one
statutes later elaborated were extremely severe;
reads one
prohibition, 'shall
modest way; one
in the
The
Academy',
dare to act otherwise than in a virtuous
and
be quiet and peaceful, and shall in no manner
shall
provoke by griping and grousing.'
He who
defies the Principe shall
be imprisoned on the Capitol, 'on simple order of Signor Principe'. 36
series
of
lectures at the
opened by Giuseppe
spirited
Cesari,
Academy was planned
whom Romano
young man', whose theme was
'figures,
stood from movement, gesture and attitude
on
grazia,
imitation of
lecture,
it
Longhi was to speak

artist,
of Cherubino, was to speak on 'what
reality,
and what
is
'a
and what may be under.
and the devoutly Christian, and cultured
Alberti, a relative
well'. 37
Alberti described as
.'
for 15934, to be
is
Durante
the true
the real essence of the art of painting
In the event Cesari lost his nerve and did not turn up for his
but Cherubino Alberti gave a
meant
lively talk
in regard to figures, expression
Accademia were
also attended
Asdrubale Mattei,
who
74
and
on decorum, and what
dress.
The
by interested amateurs or
in these years
began to take an
meetings of the
virtuosi,
such as
interest in purely
Flowers and Fruit

aesthetic debate.
as
The
lectures, however, fell very quickly
did the planned education of young
the secretary was lamenting that the academy

that nothing was
happening
there.
by the wayside,
and already by
artists,
But in Zuccaro s book on
art, Idea,
Dio
disegno {segno di
his belief that drawing, or
was supreme, and the grace and beauty which
in not),
should be the goal of the
artist pre-existed in the
be taught. In the frescoes of his house, which

artistic life,
he
who had
elaborated his theories. Here, in sharp contrast to the writers
dominated Caravaggio's Milan, he declares
1595
had been abandoned, and
he painted Disegno
as a
mind, and could not

suggested an ideal
itself
god enthroned, supported by
three
daughters, Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. To Zuccaro the purpose
of Christian
art
was to make
intellect to rise to the
contemplation of the divine. Zuccaro s theorising,
arrogance, and difficult language

ably theory-free 1590s,
and through the
visible the invisible,
when
so
seem oddly out of date
many new forms of
art
in the
remark-
were taking root,
and when both Annibale Carracci and Caravaggio were to express themselves briefly
and pungently. Caravaggio himself expressed admiration
for Zuccaro, but the older artist held
him
in
contempt.
In the early 1590s, Caravaggio was part of the ceremonial
of Rome, and in the autumn of 1594 was one of
artistic life
105 artists
who took
part in the liturgical devotion, the Forty Hours, performed as part of the
celebrations in
honour of St Luke, the patron
of
saint
painted the Virgin herself) which took place on the
October. These
Compagnia
di
who belonged
artists,
San Luca,
to
the
Luke
artists (St
first
Sunday of
Accademia or the
are listed in pairs: Caravaggio, partnered
by
Prospero Orsi, performed his devotions between two and three on the
Sunday afternoon. The Forty Hours was
a Eucharistic devotion,
com-
memorating the Forty Hours that Christ spent
in the
tomb; the Blessed
Sacrament, placed in a monstrance over the
altar,
was continuously
exposed, and adored throughout the
city,
an adoration accompanied
by passionate preaching. Caravaggio had not yet painted a work for a

public place in
Rome,
the fundamental requirement for an artists
admission to the Accademia, but he

a virtuoso,
career.
38
may
have been associated with
and he almost certainly became
Another pair of
artists
who,
a full
fascinatingly,
member
as
later in his
took place
75
it
in these
Caravaggio A Life
devotions together were Orazio Gentileschi and Caravaggio's biographer
Baglione.
They were an
ill-matched pair: Gentileschi, a Tuscan
troublesome character; the
a difficult,
Roman
artist,
respectable artistic society, passionate to rise to the knighthood.
were to be the
first artists
became
Gentileschi
to
Gentileschi and Baglione
under Caravaggio s powerful
fall
and most poetic
his best
became
was
Baglione was a pillar of
spell,
and
But in time
follower.
and
bitter enemies,
They
their lives
remained
stormily intertwined.
In this procession and in these studios,
Rome, and
centre of Catholic
art world.
became
His
his
of
Lombard
his
him
art
depends on
eye.
see Caravaggio at the
art,
and academic
official
rooted in the senses,
and Caravaggio
a fine painting
make one of
of hand and
skills
mature
as to
make
'to
we
of the
fruits, so
an emblem of his
in a sense
for
glowing
early works, his
Vincenzo Giustiniani that
much work
at the heart
figures',
39
as
provocatively stressing
But nonetheless much of the power
union of the natural and the
his
later told
of flowers was
ideal, and,
though he professed to scorn the antique, he remained on good terms

with
artists
from the
and Michelangelo
and the compositions of Raphael
official world,
later influenced his work.
He
perhaps absorbed poses
and compositions through the engravings of

Alberti,
skilled
professional
Renaissance and Mannerist

Floris van
er,
in
Dyck
of the most celebrated
artists.
sent back to Carel van Mander, the
Holland an account of
and something of
engraver
friend Cherubino
his
their
tion of Caravaggio, the
his days in the studio
atmosphere
first
is
Dutch biograph-
of Cesari d'Arpino,
caught in van
Mander s
... he has climbed
up from poverty through hard
work and by taking on everything with

courage, as
some do who
will
foresight
faint-heartedness or lack of courage, but
everywhere seek their advantage boldly

will rarely
themselves
4
.
come
and
not be held back by
who push
themselves forward boldly and fearlessly and
Luck
descrip-
to appear in print:
to those
who do not
who
for
Lady
help
CHAPTER FOUR
Gypsy, Cardsharps
and
Cardinal
left the studio of Giuseppe Cesari dramati-
Caravaggio
situation clouded with suggestions
cally, in a
enmity. Illness and ambition spurred

his role as
Lombard
At
acclaim of Cesari.
two
the
leave
.
still-life
painter, his genius
his side, egging
him
him
of violence and
on; he was tired of
rebuked by the immense
on, was Prospero Orsi.
When
met, wrote Bellori, 'Caravaggio took the opportunity to
artists
Giuseppe
compete with him
in order to
of painting
for the glory
despising the superb statuary of antiquity and the famous paintings
of Raphael.'
Prospero, once so enraptured with Cesari, had turned
violently against him. Baglione puzzled over Prospero
menting,
less
'I
don't
know
for
what reason,
friendly towards Cesari,
inconstancy
rebellion,
but, after a little time, he
and became
Cavaliere',
made him
known
Rome
in
for helping
grew
concluding
generally disliked. But
Mancini spoke more warmly of him, saying that there was no

project in
com-
henchman of Caravaggio,
doing his best in every way to oppose the

brusquely that Prospero
artistic
which he was not involved, and that he was well
young
artists establish a
was, moreover, particularly well placed to

Orsi, was a distinguished poet,
foothold
do
m court circles. He
this, as his brother,
Aurelio
and secretary to the powerful Farnese.
Perhaps the freshness of Caravaggio's naturalism had been a revelation,
and Prospero had
in a sense
convinced of the power of

in
Rome,
undergone conversion.
this startling
new
art,
touch with many noble families, he
career, singing his praises
was so
had become so
that he encouraged Caravaggio to kick over the traces, to reject
old-fashioned authority, and to risk independence.

in
He
so unlike anything else
set
throughout Rome,
effective that his efforts
But independence was
A powerful advocate,
out to launch his friends

as
once he had Cesaris; he
were resented by other
risky,
and
initially
artists.
hardship followed for
77
Caravaggio A Life
Mancini
Caravaggio.
Asdrubale 4
us
tells
he
that
(just possibly a later patron,
stayed
first
with a certain
Asdrubale Mattei,
who
at this
time was involved with the Accademia di San Luca) and then with a
who
churchman, Monsignor Fantin Petrignani,

a
room
in
Campo,
which to
close to
live',
'gave
him
in his palace in the Piazza di
where Prospero Orsi
the comfort of
San Salvatore
in
lived with his mother, Carlotta. It
was in a poor part of Rome, described
an
in
census as consisting
earlier
of two hundred houses with low and dishonest people, very many prosand some Jews' 6 and close to Sixtus s
titutes,
is
likely that
vast refuge for the poor,
As Petrignani was away from Rome
the Trinita dei Pellegrini.
Caravaggio s stay with him was early in
hand, Baglione
tells
us that he tried to
live
1595.
and
in 1594,
On
it
the other
by himself, painting many
works for which he could find no buyers, and suffering harsh poverty;
own
too poor to afford a model, he painted his
face in a mirror
and was
forced to accept humiliatingly low prices. For help Caravaggio and Orsi
turned to a dealer, Costantino Spata. Costantino had been a dealer since

1593.
He
lived over his
wife, Caterina Gori,
the shop
shop
and
in the Piazza
San Luigi
and he worked
his four children,
when he went
dei Francesi with his

alone, closing
was a friend of the two painters,
out. Spata
He
spending his evenings with them in the neighbourhood taverns.

a
good
eye for
new
talent,
attention of Cardinal
and through him Caravaggio was to
Del Monte,
a collector
Caravaggios introduction to the
Del Monte was most important,
on the look-out
circle
missions.
Roman
for
Del Monte was the most
years,
and
his tastes
and
it
new
was through Del Monte that he
Roman com-
significant figure in Caravaggios
interests
were important to Caravaggio s
voracious intellectual, with a dazzlingly wide range of
knowledge, in music, theatre,
literature, art
education he took the most detailed
more auspicious
Fondaco
interest.
for such a career than those
No
young
78
artists, in
and
whose
origins could have been
of Del Monte. Born
dei Turchi in Venice, his baptismal
by the greatest luminaries of the Venetian
skills
and archaeology, history and
the natural sciences, he was also a protector of
in the
for
of Cardinal Francesco Maria
was to win a wider fame and to obtain the most prestigious
attract the
and for works that were not too highly priced.
artists,
art.
had
literary
in 1549
ceremony was graced
and
artistic
world: the
A Gypsy, Cardsharps and
Cardinal
and dramatist Pietro Aretino; the painter Titian, and
poet, letter writer
the sculptor and architect Jacopo Sansovino.
Monte,
family,
a friend
of Aretino, was
and he himself, and
His
of the Delia Rovere
in the service
his brother,
Del
father, Ranieri
who
Guidobaldo,
became
later
mathematician and distinguished writer on perspective, were educated
a
at
the Delia Rovere courts in Pesaro and Urbino, with Torquato Tasso and
Maria Delia Rovere. The two Del Monte brothers
the prince, Francesco
spent a period in Padua, from 1564 to 1570, where the prestigious Studio
Padovano attracted scholars from throughout Europe.
At
the court of
refined
Urbino Del Monte enjoyed
and subtle worldly
pleasures, for
which the place was famous.
Guidobaldo da Montefeltros Renaissance court

setting
of Baldassare Castigliones Book
of
youth distinguished by
at
Urbino had been the

which defined the
the Courtier,
courtly ideals of sprezzatura (seemingly effortless accomplishment and
Del
physical prowess), and of delight in sophisticated pastimes, and
Monte
flourished in that atmosphere. Castiglione gives a vivid picture of
this early
Renaissance court;
that was to bee
found
the opinion of
'to
in all Italie;
implements belonging thereto, that

in
forme of
a palace,
also for sightlines;
many men,
and so furnished
it
with
it
the fairest
all
necessary
appeared not a Palace, but a Citie
and that not onelye with ordinarye matters
and to decke
it
out withall, placed there a
number of auncient Images, of Marble and

paintings and Instruments of Musicke of
Here Del Monte enjoyed
all
but
wondrous
Mettall, very excellent
sorts
8
.
charmed youth, and there
are hints
of
its
pleasures in his letters. In his later years he wrote nostalgically to a

friend,
[melerie]
'One remembers when we played
ball,
and
all
with the Artemisias and the Cleopatras, yet
particularly touching vignette
Agostini,
who
him another
of the cultured
life at
the sweetnesses
all
passes
Urbino
is
given by
described an outing on the lake, where there drifted past
boat, bearing 'the celebrated political thinker
and moralist
Fabio Albergati and the mathematician and musician Guidobaldo Del
Monte, who
invited us
all
to sing
remained a lasting passion, and

Titian's Venus of Urbino, that
to
its
brilliant
colour and
some motets from WillaertV Music

it
was also
Del Monte became
warm
at
Urbino, the
home of
attracted to Venetian art,
naturalism, and to
its
79
richness of surface
Caravaggio A Life
and
texture.
To such
tific interests
art
of Flanders, long popular in northern
commissioned
in
beginnings Padua added the stimulus of the scien-
of the Studio Padovano, and an
his first
work of
interest in the naturalistic
Italy.
Here, in
medal (now
art, a
hair,
and on the verso
his impresa,
the words Sidera
lambit,
The
ambition.
become
museum
profile portrait, with
of the seventeen-year-old Francesco Maria,

which consisted of
a flaming
mountain, and
an invocation suggesting, courage and boundless
whose son Ottavio was to
medallist was Ludovico Leoni,
a protege
Del Monte
in the British
London), which shows on one side an elegant
high collar and curly
1566,
of Del Monte, and,
as a
famous portrait draughtsman,
was to draw Caravaggio.

Steeped in the cultural interests of northern
Monte moved
Padua, Francesco Maria Del

1572.
He
young
swiftly
artists
became involved
from Urbino,
detailed interest,
in
and expressing
Scipione Pulzone. His
in the
whose
art world,
encouraging
education he took the most
his admiration for the naturalistic art
eminence was ensured by
rise to
of Venice and
Rome, probably around
to
Roman
artistic
Italy,
his
of
winning the
patronage of Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici, whose closest and most

valued adviser he became.
Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici was the second surviving son of
Grand Duke Cosimo

years,
I,
and, destined for the church from his earliest
he had been made a cardinal
up residence
in
Rome. Here he
a reputation as a patron
at the age
lived in great princely splendour,
of music and of
Medici on the Pincio, and created there
some of
the
religious
Rome, and served
Pellegrini,
most celebrated ancient

as
of fourteen and had taken
art.
winning
In 1587 he bought the Villa
a sculpture garden, enriched with
sculptures; but he was active too in
protector of the hospital of the Trinita dei
founded by Filippo Neri
He
in 1548.
contemporaries, admired for his quick
was well liked by his
intellect, his skill
and caution
in
diplomacy, his wide learning, and his pleasure in mixing with scholars,
scientists
and men of
conversazione,
letters.
He
drew men to him,
and mixed gravity with sweetness. His
for he delighted in
secretary,
Usimbardi,
wrote his biography, his tribute warmly evoking Ferdinando s charm of
manner: 'He was of a generous

he was
sincere, free
and open
80
spirit,
drawn to great undertakings
in his behaviour
And
with this manner,

accompanied by
of
Cardinal
enhanced by the majesty
a certain natural cheerfulness,
his bearing, he attracted everyone,
drawing them to him
He
did
not lack an inclination to licentiousness, but did not so abandon himself
won
that he
disfavour
.'"
.
Del Monte had been
politically involved
with Ferdinando in the 1570s,
and had many times
travelled to Florence with him.
become indispensable
to the Cardinal; there were
of the heart. But
also his secretary in affairs
dramatically,
and
when Ferdinando's
in 1587 all this
elder brother,
his wife, Bianca Capello, died
of
By
1586 he
was to change
Grand Duke Francesco
fever within a
Tommaso
with him. In 1588
no one to
Contarini, the Venetian ambassador to
moment of
neither
The Grand Duke, he
the country, nor in the
was in Rome, did he leave

letters
and other learning
in his being praised
Francesco
a subtle
'took part
nor for any reason, while he
city,
person
his
who
tireless in his service, that
[Del Monte]
and the Duke
loves
is
well versed in
him and
takes pleasure
and esteemed.' 12
had been deeply unpopular, and by contrast Ferdinando,
diplomat
Almost
Florence.
father
was so
secret thoughts ... he
Ferdinando's
wrote, ate alone, admitting
with the exception of Del Monte,
his table,
most
in all his
his vows,
become Grand Duke, taking Del Monte
Florence, described the Medici court at the
accession to the throne.
I,
day of each other.
There were rumours of poison, and Ferdinando, renouncing

hastily returned to Florence to
had
rumours that he was
after his years at the

at
Roman
court, was well liked in
once he reversed the pro-Spanish policies of his
and brother, deciding to marry
a princess
May
of Valois France,
1589,
was accompanied by
extravagant theatrical entertainments, planned to
honour the Medici
Christine of Lorraine. Their wedding, in
dynasty.
above
There were triumphal
all,
musical interludes
settings, the
most
entries,
or
naval battles, comedies, and,
intermedi,
in
spectacularly
complex
The Grand Duke had brought the

Cavalieri (the son of Tommaso Cavalieri,
lavish ever created.
Roman composer
Emilio
de'
the beloved of Michelangelo) to Florence, where he administered the
wedding
festivities,
and was
also
made
As the wedding preparations took

on
14
December
1588,
overseer of his artistic workshops.
place,
Del Monte was
in
Rome,
for
through the offices of the Grand Duke, he rose to
81
Caravaggio A Life
the purple, thus ensuring the continuation of a Medici supporter in the
affairs
of the Curia. Thrown off balance by
he wrote to Ferdinando on 9 January

a Cardinal,
Rome
1589,
sudden turn of
this
'..
and
He
13
.
the Medici palace in
Rome, and
was deeply involved in the most
of
Rome and
the
Grand Dukes
collections
over, interested in science,
naturalia;
he
of
and
and
brilliant
of the Medici court, both musical and

art
and
stay
at the
Palazzo
over the next years he worked
Rome.
Ferdinando's political agent and artistic adviser in
A link between the artistic worlds
returned for the
wedding, but in the autumn of 1589 he took up residence
as
am
withal, although I
without you seems no longer Rome, nor can
longer without coming to render you service
Madama,
events,
Florence,
lavish entertainments
theatrical,
science.
Del Monte
and
up
in building
Ferdinando was, more-
in enriching the
Medici collections of
corresponded with the Bolognese
Ulisse
scientist
Aldrovandi, and artists of such distinction as Jacopo Ligozzi were
employed to make drawings of plants and animals. Del Monte moved

easily in
such a context, and in Rome, in his
science,
he was to echo the Medici
Rome
in
1587,
interests.
and Galileo was
Guidobaldo. They
failed,
own
collections
Emilio
life
however, to win for
in the Palazzo
de' Cavalieri
in a letter
Madama
of
him
is
in
much
desired chair
of
Pisa.
touchingly described by
November
19
and
art
supported by his brother,
also
in Florence, but negotiated a similar post at the University
Del Montes
of
He may have met Galileo
1593,
addressed to
Marcello Accolti, the secretary of Ferdinando de' Medici:
Del Monte amazes me

he can
It is
live
in regard to
on what he has and do
spending that
it
so honourably.
true that for his clothing he doesn't spend a
giulio:
he has had only one livery made; his coach
also the first he has had; he
makes
is
the best of what
he has; he has bought himself a carriage and with

this
he keeps himself; the mouths [he feeds] in
don't
amount
to fifty;
all
he doesn't keep horses or
gentlemen but his servants are treated well and given
good meals
82
all
that
is
seen through your highness s
Cardinal
favour of a beautiful home, which

a cardinal
of Rome, he formally
morning with
his silverware;
more Romans than

which
is
now
finished; as
receives in the
and he
is
courted by
cardinals for his great trafficking,
honest, with his metalworkers; and his
is all
antechamber
is
always filled with people; there are no
The
high-ranking clergy.
reason for this
is
that he
is
not involved in important transactions and those that
come do
Del Monte was not a
so only to
is
his
his life
is
a recurrent
charm of manner. In
and
attractive,
knew him
is
14
he had an income of 12,000
rich cardinal (in 1605
scudi, comfortable but very far
modesty of
visit.
from
and the simplicity and
lavish) 15
theme
in
contemporary descriptions,
atmosphere of
his court
on the
Caravaggios move to the Palazzo. But he was also well

his pleasure in the world, in the elegant refinements
quality caught vividly in an
anonymous description of
1603
comes, has a thirst for
life,
and has friends
in the
world of
theology was beyond question, but to some his delight in

extreme;
it
of
ambassador wryly remarked
his
The contemporary
'more
lively youth'.
descriptions
dictory, but perhaps the subtlest
which sums up
intellect,
and
'Monti
is
world
letters/
life
for
life,
as
16
it
His
seemed
was only in his old age that he took up devotion, and
then, as the Venetian

for the pleasures
known
of
eve
of courtly
a gentleman, a fine musician, a ready joker: he takes the
little
who
conveyed with freshness and directness by someone
well, capturing the
as
Del Monte's simplicity seems
Cavalieris letter
all
these
his
skill
traits,
in
is
are
that
and yet
in 1623, to
compensate
17
often
bewilderingly
contra-
by an anonymous writer of
also conveys the sharpness
1621,
of
his
negotiating the world, in treading warily
amongst the great and powerful, with an appearance of modesty and

charm:
No
one was ever
leisure,
drew
a greater lover
and none more
all
of recreation and of
skilful at negotiations.
hearts unto himself.
He
His quickwittedness,
83
Caravaggio A Life
charm and
adroitness,
and
curious,
his
wit: his interest in all things
knowledge of sounds and songs;
intellectual nimbleness
and other aspects
keeping with the sweetness of his temperament:
and
these,
him
his fortune.
of
People say that
that he
is
this jesting
singular rectitude
and
in public
and sparing
commensurate with
at
home,
modest
in his quiet,
in
his fortunes:
is
and
letters
to have
wit, a
is
he dresses in
is
second to
and
lives
18
dry turn of phrase,
of the structures of worldly power
this letter.
In the early months of
who seems
of
works of piety
he
courtesy,
he reveals a sharp
a mocking, ironic acceptance
which accord well with
said
open-handed
unostentatious, uncalculating simplicity.
own
is
and that he
integrity:
the fashion of the ancient Spartans,
In Del Monte's
and
never carried away by any partisan
feeling in gatherings or councils,
man of
none
whence
leisure conceal a certain ability to set great
things in motion, should occasion arise. It
him
all
modest and unassuming ways, earned
the goodwill of Ferdinando de Medici,
came
love
his
his
yet, in
had
1595,
Caravaggio stayed with Fantin Petrignani,
little interest in art,
19
although Anton Maria
Panico, a Bolognese pupil of Annibale Carracci, had decorated his palace
with frescoes that were
much admired
for their colour
and
skill.
20
Caravaggio however turned to his friend, Costantino Spata, and, with
two colourful and Venetian genre

Plate 3)
and The
pictures, The Gypsy Fortune Teller (Col.
Cardsharps (Col. Plate
5),
redolent of the popular theatre
which Del Monte so admired, Caravaggio and

Cardinal.
21
Del Monte bought the
Gypsy Fortune
Teller,
now without
price
of eight
Cardsharps,
from Costantino, the
protection, was forced to

scudi. It
is
84
sell
tempted the
and perhaps the
earlier
work which Caravaggio,
for the humiliatingly
low
possible that Caravaggio brought this picture,
painted over a used canvas, with

after taking lodgings
latter a
his dealer
him from
with Petrignani.
22
Cesaris studio, or finished
it

These two works, whose
Roman
art,
human
character,
brilliant
and which are so
Cardinal
colour was quite unlike anything in
humorous and
and so strong
direct in their portrayal
of a
in the sense
moment
frescoes, often crudely painted,
and by the
maniera statuina
sixteenth-century painters, they assert the power of a
and the pleasure of
tic art,
street life that
the same
Caravaggio
of so many
new and
naturalis-
a startlingly novel subject, the tavern
knew
so well.
The theme of both
and
paintings
is
deception and the snares that beset innocent youth.
In The Gypsy Fortune
gypsy
of
seen, were
an art world dominated by large-scale
In
provocative.
deliberately
from
steals the ring
young man
and
his finger,
Women and cards
the hands of cheats.
Renaissance
the
Teller
literature;
falls
sweetly in love as the
in The Cardsharps
he
falls
Aretino had described cards
into
much
appear as two great perils in
as the prostitute's
greatest enemy, for only they could arouse as great a passion. Bellori
(who
is
writing of the second version of the painting,
Louvre, Paris) makes

Fortune Teller
Caravaggio
to his
own
as
left
it
He
manifesto of naturalism.
now
in the
very clear that Caravaggio intended The Gypsy

tells
when
us that
the studio of the Cavaliere he began to 'paint according
inclinations'.
With
challenging bravado, he professed his
Roman
scorn for those idols of the
art world, the
famous paintings of
Raphael, and the superb statuary of antiquity. Instead he considered

nature to be the only
fit
To demonstrate
subject for his brush.
when he was shown
the
most famous
this:
statues
Phidias and Glykon in order that he might use
of
them
models, his only answer was to point towards a
as
crowd of people, saying that nature had given him

an abundance of masters.
his words,
by
m the
he called a Gypsy
to give authority to
who happened
to pass
street and, taking her to his lodgings,
portrayed her in the act

is
And
of predicting the
the custom of those Egyptian
young man who
sword and
women.
places his gloved
offers the other
He
hand on
hand bare
painted
his
to her, which
she holds and examines; and in these two half
85
he
future, as
aravaggio
gg
figures
Lif.
Michele captured the truth so purely
confirm his
beliefs.
as to
23
However, the relationship of Caravaggio's painting to nature
complex and
Gypsies had
indirect.
first
been chronicled in
when they had been welcomed
early fifteenth century,
is
Italy in the
Very
as pilgrims.
quickly this welcome had turned to fear and contempt, and by mid-
century they were universally described as beggars and robbers. There are
many
descriptions of their skill and deftness as thieves, and
Cospi's
II
Giudice Criminalista, a magistrates'
Anton Maria
handbook, provides
a collec-
tion of gypsy stereotypes. 'They are robbers by nature, the descendants of
Cos, the son of Cam, cursed by Noah'; 24 and 'the
women
steal hens,
and
while they pretend to predict the future from the palms of the hand, they
steal
from the
gypsies led a miserable
emblem of
Condemned
peasants'. 25
poverty.
life,
and
to eternal wandering
gypsy was an
in Ripa's Iconologia the
newspaper of 14 June 1570
us that
tells
remained in Rome, and that Filippo Neri had protested

desire to
round them up and send the men to the
aura that they brought with

erotic promise,
of
them of
arcane, perhaps dangerous
so popular in the theatre,
popular songs, called
and were performed
They
to give to
It
was perhaps
you
this that
and they became the subject of

in
Rome,
one such song the gypsy sings
distant countries
Weary, are we come,
Only
knowledge of magic and
which flourished particularly
zingaresche,
in the streets. In
From
of mystery, the
air
and mysterious worlds, of
strange
prophecy, exerted a considerable fascination.
made them
many
at the Pope's
But the gypsies
galleys.
were also objects of curiosity. Their exotic dress, their
and poverty,
and strange
little
by
delight,
places,
little,
and
festival
26
.
also figured frequently in the Commedia deWArte, a type
of popular
drama, often performed out of doors, which employed stock characters
and depended on spontaneity and improvisation.
Many of
these
comedies are intrigues of disguise and of recognition, which spin out

vast
webs of trickery and
86
lying;
and show innocence and
virtue snared
Cardinal
by wily and corrupt opponents. They bear such

Theft,
you
the declaration 'Here shall
see the tricks
you
shall
The Deceived, The
of
with
cunning gypsy', and
another pastoral eclogue promises
Here
titles as
One anonymous comedy opens
The Furious Lover, The Gypsy Thief
see an innocent gull
Fooled by a crafty gypsy and a peasant
27
.
In 1589, at the sumptuous wedding celebrations for Ferdinando de'
Medici and Christine of Lorraine, the Gelosi,
company of
Giancarli's 1545
comedy, The Gypsy, in which the gypsy plays
as
actors,
and
a long-established
distinguished
had performed Gigio Artemio

a central role
kidnapper, temptress and subtle thief These actors brought a popular
touch to the celebrations, but they were court entertainers and were
almost certainly invited by Del Monte,
star
by
who was
himself present.
The
performance of Vittoria Piisimi was much admired, and described
a spectator
with delight and wonder
Vittoria perform the
Gypsy
(that
is
'but
whoever has not heard
imitate the language
and customs of
gypsies) has neither seen nor heard something rare and marvellous'.
became her
piece de resistance,
amused by her
rivalry
Isabella Andreini,
may
It
have
with the other leading actress of the Gelosi,
a series
The costumes
of French engravings, which Caravaggio
that Caravaggio was already trying to attract the attention
of the Cardinal, and
his treatment
is
appeal to the most
audience.
and
elite
tatters
beautifully dressed
of the
and
of
popular theme
work of
(like the
highly sophisticated and subtle, intended to
the Gelosi themselves)
rich
La Pazzia (Madness).
known/ 9
may be
the dirt
It
for which she was famed, and the court was
who performed
became known through
28
The
gypsy, far
street, as Bellori's
from bringing with her
anecdote might imply,
carefully posed, while the
young man
and elaborate costume, with plumed hat and short
cloak.
gypsy's dress, lovingly described, with the chemise gathered
trimmed round the neck with
band of embroidery
is
flaunts a
The
up and
(that Caravaggio
often used), conforms to descriptions in contemporary costume books.
Cesare Vecellio, for example, in a costume
book of
87
1590, describes the
Caravaggio A Life
cloak of long woollen cloth (panno) that gypsies wore, 'over the shoulder,
passing
it
under the other arm; and
their feetV
Her
face
it is
down
long enough to reach
to
caught in the play of light in the corner of
is
Caravaggio s studio, suggesting that Caravaggio has re-created a fleeting
moment
in the life
of the
in the theatre, an imitation

illusion,
is
and
it
of an
kind of
itself,
The
of
Roman
picture seems a plea for the
for an art that
and beguiles the spectator
tired pedantry of
in a
shadowy forerunners
way
is
far
warm,
removed from the
Rome, and has only
in
north Italian and north European
in
instinctive,
classicists.
theme was unprecedented
Caravaggios
comic subjects were permissible

1
art that creates a different
dell'Arte.
magical deception of painting
ridiculed vice,'
moment
also a painting
it is
evokes that atmosphere of deceit and enchantment that
so central to the Commedia
that enraptures
But
street.
art.
Such
in a Cardinal's collection because they
and Ripa described the Gypsy
as
an emblem of comedy,
because she was low in society, as comedy was low in the hierarchy of the
arts;
her dress was to be of various colours, their variety signifying the
diverse actions dealt with
The
of an
frontispiece
Comedies
by comedy, which delight the eye of the mind.

early seventeenth-century edition
shows a gypsy very similar to Caravaggios, with
and a mantle draped over the
left
shoulder. 32 It
transformed by the magic of his
and her power to
art.
don't
subject,
was the beauty of the gypsy,
it
Or
clear:
know which
The woman, who

you,
who
is
the greater sorceress:
dissembles,
painted her
35
.
picture continued to be read in this
Tronserelli, in his L!Apollo
Gypsy Fortune
a turban,
that Caravaggio
deceive, that enchanted his contemporaries, as Gaspare
Murtola's madrigal of 1603 makes
But
may be
new kind of popular
intended his picture as the emblem of a
The
of Ariosto's
Teller
of
way the poet Ottavio
1634, addressed three
poems
to Caravaggios
(although he was writing about the Louvre version,
then in the collection of his friend Alessandro Vittrice) and in each

played on the theme of illusion and
88
reality.
One
such concludes
Cardinal
Even when painted, woman

Hence, never shorn of
To one
And
forcefully
The
cards
may seem
lies:
tricks,
lifelike,
34
to you, alive
suggesting that the painting was seen as a kind of manifesto.
of The
theatrical figures
Tortune Teller
and on
she
ever
and
literary
like
companions of
Cardsharps are
her they draw both on the
life
of
street
frescoed walls of the Casa
Borromeo
known during
and
in Renaissance art
Berni, in his Capitolo
in
courtier;
skill at
on the
Milan (which Caravaggio would
his youth), elegant courtiers play cards,
literature
del Gioco,
and
games of chess and cards subtly convey
of love and power. In the
allegories
and tavern
and iconographic prototypes. In the Renaissance,
had been amongst the accomplishments of the
certainly have
The Gypsy
early sixteenth century Francesco
had sung the
praises
of Primiera, a game
not unlike the modern poker, playing on the sexual connotations of the
word:
A mans
whole three score years and ten
Even Tithonus' lengthier span
Would not
His Commento
Primiera
alia
is
suffice to tell
of primiera.
a light-hearted
55
formal play on the same low
Caravaggio's art was to do, inverts hierarchies and
theme, which,
as
attacks stylistic
decorum.
But beyond the court, preachers thundered against the

ing, cards
Hans
and
dice; in
of gam-
satirical print
by
Holbein, The Gamblers, from a series of The Dance of Death, death and
the devil
fall
upon
led to bloodshed
Sixtus
a brawling card player. In Italy gambling,
and to
duelling,
issued an edict against
he, however, that

ly,
northern Europe, in a harshly
evils
it
was seen
in 1588.
which often
as so great a social evil that
So desperate
for
money was
he separated dice from cards, banning the former utter-
but levying a useful tax on card players. But writers continued to
inveigh against both. In 1617 A. Rocca, in his
and for
the preservation
Treatise for the health of the soul
of property and goods against card and dice players,
89
wrote of
Caravaggio A Life
'the
many sins and horrendous
disaster
which
are
born from these abom-
36
inable games'.
Despite such tirades, gaming was a true passion in every sector of
Roman
the
society.
Ferdinando
Pope himself
Medici was
de'
for leaving thousands
by
a great gamester, reproved
of scudi on the gaming
table,
and Del Monte enjoyed playing with Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini. In

letter
of 22 August 1597 he described
Pietro Aldobrandini, where they
and Aldobrandini and

Camillo de
had gambled
however
lost,
a dinner with Ottavio Farnese
Lellis suffered over his
'there
more than
was a great
he'.
37
The
and
battle,
saintly
youthful love of cards, and instruct-
ed his followers to urge gamesters to penitence; the angelic Guido Reni
was addicted to the
And
in the squares, taverns
and guardhouses,
and gardens of the great palaces of princes and
in the stables
soldiers
table.
and servants played cards and
cardinals,
dice. In 1595, a police captain,
Valerio Baroncelli, while patrolling the Strada delli Greci, entered the
Tavern of the Blackamoor, where Caravaggio and his friends often
ate
whom,
'he
and drank, and there arrested
had often been

Dionysio,
had
told,
lived, like
group of three dice
had reputations
One of
as cheats'.
Caravaggio, in a rented
lost a great deal
players,
room near San
of money that summer, particularly
the Piazza del Duca; another, Bartolommeo, was well
and had been thrown out of

vivid picture
these friends,
his lodgings for this.
Salvatore,
in the
known
and
game
at
as a cheat,
Their evidence
gives a
of cheating, of the sudden appearance of jewels and of
gold chains, and of where they played, on holidays, and on other days
'when there was nothing to do'
in the gardens
of Cardinal Montalto,
with the grooms of the house of the Contestabile Colonna,

del Duca, in the palace
Orsini. 38
The
Wednesday
craze continued,
in the Piazza
on the following day

cards there
of the Marchese del Riario and of
all
and
in 1611 a
idlers
Caravaggios picture
is,
who had
and
played
then, vividly topical, a warning against the
which he may well have seen

is
were taken,
through the day without any respect for Lent/ 39
dangers that beset the gullibility of youth.
immediacy
newspaper announced: 'On
Borghese some card players were seized
30 vagabonds and
Piazza
at the
Don Verginio
enriched by
90
its
in the
It
was
a scene
of cheating
Tavern of the Blackamoor, yet
allusion to the conventions
of the
its
theatre.
Bellori described
it
in detail:
'He showed
the cards, his head portrayed well
on the opposite
side there
the card table with

false card
cards
Its
diers
from
from
a simple
life
a dishonest
young man holding
and wearing dark
youth
in profile,
clothes,
who
his belt; a third
man
them
fingers reveals
characters, the cheat
close to the
and
two
his accomplice, are
on
slips a
young one looks
to his companion.'
and
leans
one hand while with the other behind him he
and with three
main
is
Cardinal
at his
40
bravi,
or sol-
of fortune, a type thrown up by the disastrous upheavals of the
six-
teenth century, without trade or home, hangers-on at the small courts of

the nobility, fomenting
Milan
idlers
in 1583,
civil strife.
Such men had been banned from
where the edict embraces
'all
vagabonds,
rascals, cheats,
and others who wander round the squares, taverns and brothels,
calling
on God, under the
from the
wars'. 4
They
'
dy, the heir to the
pretext
of being poor
soldiers just returned
were, however, absorbed into Renaissance
Latin
miles,
come-
the rough footsoldier. Poor, bedraggled, in
torn clothes, but sporting odd bits of
finery,
often brandishing weapons,
they swagger across the Renaissance stage, snaring innocent youth in

their toils.
They
are forced to live
by
their wits,
and
act as pandars,
pimps, hangmen's helpers; through gaming and cheating they struggle to
keep body and soul together. Such
Venturino da Pesaro's La
is
Spampana, who
Farsa satyra Moral (1521)
features
in
and tempts the godly
youth, Asuero, with dicing, cards and other idleness; or Passamonte, the
loathsome braggart of
II
Parto Supposito.
Most famous was Capitano

literary sources,
cursed with
and who
adept at dicing and cards.
He
who
was made famous by

played
husband of
him
for
many
1607 collected together his dialogues as Le Bravure
Capitano Spavento (The Brags of Captain Frightall of Hell
the
luck at gambling. 42
Spavento, a remarkable amalgam of complex
Francesco Andreini, leader of the Gelosi,

years,
ill
Isabella, star
Del Monte may well have
Valley).
del
Francesco was
of Ferdinando's wedding celebrations, and
known him.
Caravaggio's cheats, predatory in gaudy blacks and yellows, wear raffish finery, brilliantly coloured
damask doublets patterned with bold
applied stripes of black, torn gloves
and ill-matching
sleeves, the elder
sporting a tattered doublet patterned with small sprigs. In their midst

sits
the
young and wealthy boy,
his features delicate, his
91
plumed hat
neat,
Caravaggio A Life
and voluminous, and trimmed with
his sober black sleeves rich
He
Italian embroidery.
is
the innocent gull, but he
image of the young cheat, and

model, reversing the pose.
The
seems that Caravaggio used the same
it
elder
man
more comically
is
grimace and swirling moustache adding a touch of the stage

his finger, its tip revealed
by the torn gloves
against
a literary genre,
chapter to them.
He
villain,
is
and Cospi,
perhaps the poltricks
catalogue of such tricks
in II Giudice Criminalista,
how some
described
and
of the
of the cardsharper, one of the many
which contemporary writers warned.
became
sinister, his
at the very centre
composition, the apex of the triangle. This finger

ished, oversensitive finger
delicate
also the mirror
is
'use cards thick
devoted a
with colour, so
thick indeed that they have a noticeable bulk, and are held by the middle finger
of the right hand
in fact that they have
at the top,
which
what amounts to
is
very smooth, so
a thin skin,
and for
smooth
this reason
they give out a very precise message in that area, so that in running said
finger over the card
senses those colours,
it
and knows which card
is
underneath; particularly the chalices, and the court cards, where the most
solid colour has been applied
should take
least deter
it
.'
43
He
continues: 'and if an outsider
into his head to play with other cards, this does not in the
such cardsharps: quite simply, one of them stands behind the
person playing with them during the game, and
which cards the player has
Most
interesting
cards,
but
of the
also embraces a
warning against
of low-class card
in the polished hilts
of
lets his
companion know
hands by means of nods and winks'. 44
Pietro Aretino's Le Carte
evil practices
of cards
of
it
is
in his
Parlanti.
is
a defence
of
cheats,
with a dazzling array
who
catch the reflections
cheats,
their swords,
clever cheats, are highly polished,
This
whose
fingers, the
and whose touch
'is
hands
dextrous like
those of gypsies', 45 and illustrated with small vignettes from the every-
day world. Nevertheless, Aretmo also saw in the card player something
robust, happy,
This, too,
classical art
lightly
colour,
and
is
world with
worn, and
and
of
full
life,
which he opposes to academic pedantry.
the theme of Caravaggio's picture; he startled the
its
a story
subject
from the everyday world; the morality

is
warmly human, glowing with
vivid in gesture. Caravaggio
he had seen, a
moment
92
rooted in
reality,
is
lifelike
began with something that

but turned
it
into a story, a
painted novella.
He knew the
Cardinal
Rome,
inns of
the Tavern of the Turk, and
the Tavern of the Blackamoor, where he dined with Prospero Orsi and
other
artists,
and where gamblers played; they were famous, and
characterised in a contemporary comedy,
Monello, an old waiter
who had worked
learned in the famous hostelries of

the bottles at night.
stables.
At the Eagle
At the Star
Rome,
in
Rome: At
the
to rob fodder
to live as a predator.
moor [where Caravaggio
The Inn
at Velletri,
wittily
in
which
describes what he has
Moon
to put water in
from the horses
At the Turk and
in the
the Blacka-
drank] to be bad at paying/ 46 Cavaraggios
picture, like The Gypsy Fortune
Teller,
shows the
of the tavern, but
life
rendered as comedy, and brilliantly displayed for the delight of the

court; he rejected the world of the ancients, those celebrated sculptures
of Antiquity which Taddeo Zuccaro had so

painted the
life
of the
streets,
tempted the world of the courts, where

strong overtones of Venetian
Monte.
The Cardsharps
with the brilliance of
of
it.
And
Monte
it
was
art,
all
after
its
colour,
buying
was
illusion;
he
trickery,
and with
their
he perhaps particularly courted Del
won him immense
all
feverishly drawn. Instead
and with these paintings about
success, startling
and many
Rome
above
collectors sought copies
this picture, Bellori tells us, that
rescued Caravaggio, and gave
him an honoured
Del
place in his
household.
the earliest picture by Caravaggio that
It is significant that
owned was
The Gypsy Fortune
Del Monte,
after his death,
boys,
and Caravaggio's
Teller,
Del Monte
symbolic of the lures of woman, for
was to be maliciously described
later paintings for
him have
as a lover
of
often been seen as
homoerotic works for a patron of similar tastes. In a group biography of

Cardinals, the Flemish writer
Amayden
suggested
first
that
Del Monte
acted as a pandar for Ferdinando de' Medici, and then mercilessly
mocked
and
the simplicity of his
saving, so that he
in public.'
He
life
'In his
house he was frugal
used cheap and ragged clothing, and though he
sometimes carefully covered
worn-out shoes
way of
his throat with silk underpants, he
Worse
wore
sins follow:
was of unusual sweetness of behaviour, and
loved to be familiar with youths, not, however, for
93
Caravaggio A Life
from natural
a criminal reason, but
This
sociability.
presumably connected with the
is
prudently hid
it
before
Urban was
fact that
elected.
Urban was made Pope he threw off
he
When
all restriction;
in the longed-for reign he indulged his inclination
openly, and, though aged
trunk than a
man and
young man of short

him.
Amayden
Monte was
ribus'y
4*
more
blind,
stature got a benefice
from
47
adds, for
'stoked
and almost
thus incapable of allure, a
up
good measure,
the startling remark that Del
mediocre learning*
in
('litteris erat
imbutus medioc-
In the early 1590s, however, the young Cardinal was struggling
against criticism that he was too easy a prey to the sweetnesses of
Artemesia and Cleopatra. In a passionate

Belisario Vinta, the
dispel
Medici
Secretary,
He
one by one, beginning with the
As
for
my
inconvenient;
his
Dukes
way of
written to
criticisms
submit that
no one
receiving
go out either to
of
careless
life:
so given to pleasure,
home,
stay all day at
of
and
pleasure,
answers the Grand
frivolity
life,
1593,
Del Monte goes to great lengths to
rumours that he was too dedicated to
Florentine political interests.
of 9 July
letter
fulfil
if the
my
time
I
is
duties, or
towards the evening, around half past ten, and by
midnight
since I
entered
shall
am
back home.
It is over
have gone out at night
my
show
house, or at least
ten
rarely,
and
have never
all this I
to be the simple truth; and if you wish
to send a witness,
I shall
but have him sleep in
my
not only provide for him,
room. 49
In the rest of the letter he declares his loyalty to the

interests,
months
Women
Grand Dukes
whose reputation he defends, and whose views he conveys,
with freedom and
liberality, in
concludes, throw himself
94
down
the papal congregations.

a well should the
He
would, he
Grand Duke
so wish.

The
in
rift
Amayden was
unreliable historian
to enjoy the protection
to
politically
and extremely
weight. Caravaggio,
it
he moved into the Palazzo
him
Cardinal
seems to have healed, for there are no further suggestions of
the letters.
little
seems,
opposed to Del Monte, an
hostile witness,
felt
Madama
no such
in the
elite circles
whose report
hostility. It
autumn of
of the Cardinal for
win an introduction to
it
of
1595,
several years,
Roman
95
is
carries
likely that
and he was
and through
patronage.
CHAPTER FIVE
In the Household
of Del Monte
the autumn of
1595 Caravaggio entered- the service
InFrancesco Maria Del Monte,

Madama.
coronation
as
taking
up
of Cardinal
residence in the Palazzo
Filippo Neri had died in May, and, on the eve of his
poet laureate that year on the Capitoline Hill, Torquato
Tasso died, in the monastery of Sant' Onofrio where, protected by

Cinzio Aldobrandini, he had spent his
final days.
Cardinal Federico
Borromeo, on being created Archbishop, returned to Milan;
his place as
the director of the Accademia di San Luca was taken by Cardinal Del
Monte, and shared with Cardinal Gabriele
Paleotti, the great
Bishop from Bologna (a Latin version of whose
had come out
With
artistic
this
treatise
on
reforming
religious art
in 1594).
new
residence Caravaggio was placed at the centre of
Rome. The Palazzo Madama, now
more modest and the comparatively
and imposing, was then
vast
austere fifteenth-century facade bore
only a grandiose rendering of the Medici arms, proudly proclaiming
Medici power
at the heart
of Rome. Even
Apart from the main
state
to
partitions
palace was
Monte by
rooms
some of
make monks'
complement of
the palace was a sizeable
time, measuring almost ninety by sixty metres.
building in Caravaggio
various floors, and
so,
these
cells.
there were
for courtiers
on
had been divided up by wooden

Additonally,
servants' quarters, cellars, coach
made splendid with
rooms
tapestries
there
was the usual
house and
stabling.
The
and paintings sent to Del
Ferdinando, and, in 1589, as soon as he took up residence, the
Cardinal had been concerned to create a
salone for
music. Here there was
the nucleus of his distinguished collections of books, science, musical
instruments, oriental carpets and
art.
His
art collection
comprise 599 pictures and 56 sculptures in marble,

medals, gems, cameos and small bronzes.
96
It is
was eventually to
as well as
many
not clear what works were
In the
when Caravaggio moved
already there
period,
this
collection
his
sixteenth century,
and on
but,
in,
concentrated entirely on works
antiquity,
Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci. Del
of a soldier
himself,
flute,
Monte
and perhaps already owned

in
del Sarto,
particularly liked Venetian
a picture ascribed to Giorgione
armour accompanied by
woman
carrying a
while his Mary Magdalene, a copy of a celebrated Titian then in the
collection
Urbino, attracted admiration. His collection had
at
optimistically claimed as
Titians,
all
Venetian
artists
Amongst
originals,
Palma Vecchio, Bernardino
of
a Cupid with a
nary acquisition, the celebrated Portland
and Jacopo Bassano.
of ancient
Bow stood
five
and pictures by the
Licinio,
a comparatively small collection
naturalistic sculpture
the
among
central Italy,
them works (presumably copies) by Michelangelo, Andrea
painting,
of the
and he may well already have had
of Old Masters paintings from
traditional array
for
characteristically
out,
a strikingly
art,
and one extraordi-
was already admired by
Vase,
most distinguished European connoisseurs. And he presumably had
too the beginnings of what was to be an overwhelming collection of

portraits
of famous men, many of them copied from Ferdinando s
cele-
brated collection in the Villa Medici. His portraits honour the great
names of
and were
history,
built
up
in sets. In a
much
later inventory
one
entry reads: '277 pictures without frames, d.4 palmi each, of various
men and
popes, emperors, cardinals and dukes and other illustrious
some women,
The
yet another: 'eight portraits
of
women
Palazzo offered Caravaggio not only the splendour of rich
collections
of
art
and
science, but also an
environment rich in
intellec-
tual interest and a stimulating meeting place. Del Monte was in touch
de' Cavalieri
among them
men of letters,
as
Emilio
and Girolamo Mei, with connoisseurs and men of
letters,
with poets and
Battista Guarini,
and who was to make a brief
his
Iconologia
to
whom Del Monte had known

visit to Rome in 1600, and the
who was
Del Monte
emblems, Cesare Ripa,
of
with musicians and singers, such
in Florence,
to dedicate the second

in 1603,
writer
Roman
on
edition
and the doctor, biographer
and connoisseur, Giulio Mancini; he knew
scientists
such
as
Johann
Faber and Federico Cesi and his distinguished brother Guidobaldo;

he corresponded with Galileo; he was in touch with such celebrated
97
Caravaggio A Life
antiquarians and bibliophiles as Fulvio Orsini, then in the service of the
Farnese.
Caravaggio probably lived in one of the small rooms on the upper
of the
floors
palace, at first eating with the servants,
whom
Mario Minniti, with
sharing these lodgings with
and possibly
he remained
closely involved in these years. Singers, musicians, as well as other artists,
were also quartered there: the French sculptor Nicolas Cordier lived
there in the 1590s;
Ottavio Leoni
who
portrait drawing
ator of the
it
may
met
(probably for Del Monte) executed the famous
of him
map of
well have been there that Caravaggio
and
1593,
the printmaker Antonio Tempesta, cre-
who was
also associated with the Cardinal.
Ottavio Leoni was the son of the Paduan medallist Ludovico Leoni,
whom
Del Monte had known
had moved
to
in his student days in Padua;
Rome, where he
entered the service of Gregory XIII. His son,
described as
may
'a
his
many
above
all
Madama. He became
of those
and men of
artists
its
and
Del Monte
for portraits
and
in 1599
it
famous draughts-
seems extremely
whose
himself,
life
the
Roman
popes, and cardinals, but
letters
with
closely involved (particularly in the early years
century),
Del Monte
portrait drawings bring vividly to
world of Caravaggio and Del Monte, of
most
whom
young pupil of mine', 2 was protected by the Cardinal and
have lived in the Palazzo
man, and
Ludovico
lived near the Piazza del Popolo,
likely that these
whom
they were
of the seventeenth
were undertaken for
collection so strongly suggests his passion
of famous men.
At the Palazzo Madama Caravaggio was
also well placed to attract
the attention of other wealthy and influential
very small area of
Rome, which
is little
Roman
collectors. In a
changed today, lived a group of
distinguished and wealthy collectors and connoisseurs, high churchmen
and men prominent
in the
Roman
world of
and
influential role in Caravaggio
s life,
Cardinal Del Monte. Del
Montes
Cardinal Alessandro Montalto, the
and immensely
rich,
of
who
were to play an
whom were associated with
closest friend
was the powerful
nephew of Sixtus V, who
power through the reign of Clement

worldly,
all
affairs,
retained his
VIII. Witty, brilliantly intelligent,
Montalto
lived only a step away, at the
elegant Renaissance Palazzo della Cancelleria, cultivating his pleasure in
98
In the
15.
Claude Mellan,
(print,
Portrait of Vincenzo Giustiniani
music, and passionately addicted to the chase.
Monte formed
Aldobrandini, Montalto and Del
much of
the ceremonial
of Rome, and
life
With
the Cardinal Pietro

a trio,
dominating
their banquets were vividly
described in the newspapers.
Almost
vast
ily.
and
directly across the
road from the Palazzo
home
severe Palazzo Giustiniani,
Vincenzo, born in 1564, and his
a decade earlier, were the sons
much
Madama
was the
to the rising Giustiniani fam-
older brother, Benedetto, born
of Giuseppe and Gerolama Giustiniani.
Giuseppe, a Genoese nobleman, had ruled the island of Chios, but, on

its
occupation by the Turks, had moved his family to
had been attracted to

above
all
of
Rome
it
first lived.
Vincenzo Giustiniani, an
He
relatives,
influential
was probably in the palace of another brother,
Giorgio, the Palazzo Giustiniani
family
in 1566.
by the presence there of powerful
his brother, Cardinal
Dominican, although
Rome
alle
Coppelle (now destroyed), that the
In 1586 Benedetto became Treasurer of the Apostolic
Camera, and was made a Cardinal; the younger Vincenzo meanwhile
99
a r a v a
gg 10
Lifi
R .E.CAJRD. 1 VSTINIANYS
FIL1VS
HI
16.
Michael Natalis,
.,.
Portrait of Cardinal
Benedetto Giustiniani
(print,
flourished as a highly successful banker, amassing fabulous wealth, and

at the
same time
built
up
knowledge of the
and sophistication. The family

portraits that
arts
of immense breadth
are vividly recorded in the gallery
forms part of La
Galleria
of
Vincenzo's lavish
Giustiniani,
publication of a volume of engravings intended to immortalise his

collection,
and the impression that together they convey
immense power and
assertive energy; Cardinal
is
one of
Vincenzo, imposing with
massive head and flowing beard; Benedetto (Plate
16),
dark-haired, with
neater beard, the face of a subtle administrator (though he had a stormy
and impetuous character) and

(though an English
visitor to
strikingly
his
like
Rome, Robert
father,
Giuseppe
Tofte, in 1589 left an
extremely unflattering description of Benedetto. In a letter to the Bishop
of London he commented on Benedetto's wealth

holds from the church
chased by his
own
is
industry',
100
'His living that he
but Sooo yet he has more which he has pur-
adding 'of visage he
is
somewhat hard
In the
!ILR.O\"i;/\
WST1NIANA
C05EPHJ IVSTINIANI
17.
FRANCISC1.F.
CO.VIV.MA'.
Theodor Dirck Matham,
Portrait of
Gerolama Giustiniani
from the
(print,
favoured and black, his beard being of the same colour.

is
spur blind and
when he
in stature, having a
17),
it
Giuseppe's wife, was a beautiful
lipped with a slightly heavy, sensual face, and

for
as
were over his
Gerolama (Plate
model
sight he
kind of odd fashion that
with any he turns his head and looks
talks
shoulder/)
low
is
Of
some of
it
may be
full-
that she was the
Caravaggio's paintings of the late 1590s. Vincenzo
himself, immortalised in the fine engraving by Claude

has, in contrast, a strikingly
individuality,
woman,
modern
Mellan (Plate
15),
look, and one that asserts a strong
suggesting an aristocratic and penetrating intelligence,
while the taut features convey a controlled passion.
But these portraits record the family
at a later date.
In the 1590s the
Giustiniani were concerned to win for themselves a secure place in the

aristocratic life
in
Church and
of Rome, buttressed by wealth, possessions and prestige

State.
The immense
Palazzo Giustiniani dominated the
Caravaggio A Life
Rome
fashionable centre of
by
sheer scale and magnificence and
its
had already been sumptuously decorated. Many of the rooms had
wooden
and
ceilings
with frescoed
The
rich wall hangings.
rich
of paintings
friezes, ideal for the display
Palazzo stands opposite the church of San
Luigi dei Francesi, and one vast facade,

the via Crescenzi, where six bays
on
little
changed today, leads down
either side flank a
grand main door-
way: in this wing Giuseppe, Benedetto and Vincenzo occupied separate
apartments.
Closely associated with Giustiniani was another wealthy Genoese
banker, Ottavio Costa. Costa was a
member of
the
minor nobility from
Albenga, a small city near Genoa; he was related to the most influential
Genoese
families, for his wife
Costa came to
Sant'
Andrea
Rome
was a Spinola, and her mother a Doria.
young man, where,
as a
status
city.
He
and the splendour of
around
pursued a highly successful career in the
della Valle, he
financial world, amassing great wealth
papal banker in the
living in the area
and becoming the most important
was passionately concerned to maintain the

his family
and name, and he enriched
his
palace at Albenga with ancient sculpture, and a spacious garden. In
Rome
his
main
close to that
interest
seems to have been his pictures, and
his taste
was
of Giustiniani; he had works by Caravaggio, Lanfranco and
Guido Reni.
Roman
Another old and distinguished

cultural
life
of Rome,
beyond the Palazzo
family, long involved in the
lived in the Palazzo
Crescenzi, which stood
Giustiniani, facing the Pantheon,
the Piazza del Pantheon.
The
and overlooking
family was closely involved with the
Oratory, and shared Del Monte's interest in the natural sciences.
ground floor of the Palazzo Giovanni
many
Battista Crescenzi ran
private academies then fashionable in
Rome
arts
the
one of the
for the practice
of an understanding of the
virtu, for the cultivation
On
and
of
sciences.
Cardinal Federico Borromeo, before his departure for Milan, had lived
near by, and on his return to
the
Palazzo Giustiniani
Giustiniani, the brother
These men were
Rome
he was to
live for a
period in
Coppelle, which belonged to Giorgio
alle
of Cardinal Vincenzo.
at the centre
ests in music, science, art,
102
in 1597
and
of
Roman
antiquities.
intellectual
As
life,
a collector
sharing inter-
of painting Del
In
the
Monte was perhaps
men
closest to Cardinal Federico
were friends, and corresponded for
many
Borromeo. The two
years. In his letters to the
Medici court Del Monte was proud to describe him

friend'
that
and
'Borromeo
projects'.
Grand Duke, with
in 1595 told the
me
offers
The two
his friendship
cardinals exchanged
considerable pleasure,
and includes
works of
'my very great
me
in all his
sending each other
art,
of the most sophisticated workmanship.
pictures, clocks, glasses, all
Del Monte protected
as
friends artistic interests after Borromeo's
his
return to Milan, writing in 1596 to
him know
let
that the clockmaker 'has
put aside the work which he was doing for Cardinal Farnese, and
concentrating entirely on yours. Scipione Pulzone has sketched
now
is
[sbozzato]
the head of the Madonna.' Cardinal Federico was particularly attracted

5
by Flemish
art,
and
it
was probably
at the
Accademia
di
San Luca, over
whose opening he presided, that he made the acquantance of Paul
an extremely fashionable fresco painter, and one of the pro-
at this date
fessori accademici at
the Accademia. In the
(son of the famous Pieter Bruegel),

1593
same year he met Jan Breughel,
who had been
in
Rome
he had scrawled his signature in the catacombs) and
in small paintings
on copper, executed
since 1591 (in
who
specialised
in a highly detailed, miniature-like
technique. His paintings were to delight the Cardinal for very

years,
Jan
and
their
friendship
probably the result of one of the
many
were very frequently involved
palazzo, the
Palazzo Vercelli.
many
opened dramatically. Federico rescued
from prison, where he had been detained
artists
Brill,
On
unknown crime
for an
street brawls in
and
gave
which northern
him lodgings
in his
Milan the painter
Federico's return to
accompanied him
Del Monte,
had developed
of Venetian
like
Borromeo, came from northern
a love for naturalistic painting,
art,
sixteenth century,
some of
and virtuoso
effects
of
Madama
touchmgly conveyed
and
Brill,
Caravaggio's early paintings there are

light reflected in glass,
strongly reminiscent of Flemish pictures, and
is
both for the naturalism
and Del Monte was to own two pictures by
Jan Breughel in the Palazzo
group
where both
and for Flemish landscapes, popular there since the
ten by Jan Breughel. In

flowers, fruits,
Italy,
it
may
in these years.
in 1606,
which
well be that he
The
when Vincenzo
103
are
met
closeness of this
Giustiniani, with
Caravaggio A Life
who
the painter Cristofero Roncalli, and with Bernardo Bizoni,
ed their adventures, made a five-month
churches, works of art and famous men.
During
a lavish
Nuremberg
Roman
friends,
the travellers
toast to the Republic
remembered
their
and speeches with copious wine
Baglione's account suggests Caravaggio
'a
relief
.'
.
'after
making the
on winning the
Concert of Youths, from nature, very
removed from the bravura of
The
Cardsharps
well', 7 a
securi-
for
work
far
and which suggests
Caravaggios pleasure in a refined and courtly ambience.

his
and drank
of the Palazzo Madama, and the pleasure with which he painted
the Cardinal
at
in generous glasses, all fell asleep
and vomited, from the signor Marchese onwards
ty
banquet
of Genoa, to Cardinal Del Monte, to the Medici
and to Benedetto Giustiniani. And, concludes Bizoni,

toasts
record-
around Europe, studying
trip
works painted expressly for the Cardinal, and the
the
It is
first
of
first
of
group of
works which show Caravaggios close involvement with the rich musical
environment in
Rome
In this period
Rome, was
of musical
culture,
from throughout Europe, where churches,
colleges
Italy,
attracting musicians
in the 1590s.
above
all
and seminaries offered employment, and

ished by the
priest
many
opportunities
Gregory Martin delighted
It is
the
it
where he
visitors to the city
to so
wil, so
The
varietie in the world,
many
Jesuit
of sacred music:
where
churches in one day, chose
heavenly served, with such musike,
such voices, such instrumentes,

majestie, al
were aston-
offered to hear music.
in the variety
most blessed
man may go
a centre
al ful
of
gravitie
moving to devotion and ravishing
and
mans
hart to the meditation of melodie of Angels and

Saintes in heaven.
shriller
With
the Organs a childes voice
and louder than the instrument, tuneable
with every pipe;
Among
the quyre, Cornet or
Sagbut, or such like above
The
al
other voices.
Oratorians, too, saw the power of music, and at their meetings
spiritual laudi
were performed, and enjoyed by noble Rome; in 1593 a
104
In the
newspaper reported that Cardinal Aldobrandini had given dinner
home of
the fathers of the Chiesa
Montalto,
'after certain
Nuova
to Cardinals
spiritual recreations'.
ancient pilgrimage to the seven basilicas of
in the
Del Monte and
Neri had renewed the
Rome,
a pilgrimage that
passed through grasslands and fields fringed with catacombs, offering
Alban Hills and the horizon of the
distant views that stretched to the

sea.
Throughout
and
laudi in
the
Roman
it
was accompanied by music, by the chant of
the vernacular, and

villas
it
ended
the Villa Mattei,
in a picnic breakfast in
Crescenzi, close to the pyramid of Cestius. Here, beneath

all
one of
from where great Roman arches
frame views of the distant Colosseum, or the nearby
majestic ruins
litanies
Vigna
of the
pines, with
tall
around, pilgrims, bare-headed, and seated on the
ground, ate a simple meal to the accompaniment of singing, horns and

lutes, the
music blending with the beauties of nature.
In aristocratic circles musical
and intimate groups delighted
who
skills
had long been
in the skills
valued,
and small
of the gentleman amateur
sang of the power of love; Castiglione, in language that has the
most
delicate erotic undertone,
times
when
man
is
in familiar
thought music should be played
'at all
and loving company, having nothing
else
adoe. But especially they are meete to be practised in the presence of
women, because those
make them
and
the
sighes sweeten the
more apt
hearers,
and
to be pierced with the pleasantnesse of musicke,
also they quicken the spirits
had flourished
mindes of the
in the earlier years
of the very
doers.'
10
The
madrigal
of the century, when the Flemish
composers Jacques Arcadelt and Adrian Willaert had been popular, but
the 1590s witnessed a
new and
lovely flowering,
of madrigal
settings for
the richly coloured verse of Tasso, for the delicate pastoral of Guarini,
and the
sensual, erotic
poems of Marino. The emphasis was now on
emotional intensity, and on an increasing virtuosity, and the nobleman
amateur yielded to the professional performer. Music played a

in the
then popular pastoral play, in which courtiers themselves took
part, seeking relief

life
in
role, too,
from the
intrigues
and sophistication of worldly
the feigned simplicity of a rural Arcadia, where shepherds and
shepherdesses sang, with great poignancy, of the passing of a Golden
Age and the pain of
lost love.
105
Caravaggio A Life
In this culture Cardinal Del Monte, an enthusiast for 'curious things
and the knowledge of sounds and

and Ferdinando
de'
both he
songs'," played a leading role;
Medici were passionate
lovers
of music,
in
touch
with leading composers and performers of the day, and eager to encourage in
Rome
the
new
above
styles,
in Florence in the 1580s. Here,
on
of singing, which had developed
all
many
his
visits
to the
Del Monte
city,
absorbed the new aesthetic of the Florentine Camerata, an informal

association of
noblemen and musicians who gathered
patron of music, Giovanni de Bardi.
new
music a
in
and abstract beauty of recent polyphony. Their
spokesman was Vincenzo
Galilei,
father
of the astronomer, and
knowledge of Greek and Latin authors'
writer, steeped in
descriptions
The Camerata sought
and power to convey human passion, condemning the
simplicity
artful relationships
humanist
house of the
at the
of the enchantment wrought by Greek musicians, by
Orpheus, who moved inanimate things, and by Arion, who charmed the
dolphins in the
passionate plea that

poetry,
and
His
sea.
Dialogue on Ancient and Modern Music (1581)
modern composers should
restore classical music's fabled emotional power.
that this lay in the purity
summit of
tion.
And
perfection;
among
if the singing
is
the ancients solo singing
of many together was
melody and not o so many
singing of one
He
believed
and simplicity of ancient monody, comment-
'Today the singing in harmony of many voices
ing:
is
again unite music and
this reputa-
also esteemed,
.'
considered the
had
I2
it
was the
Galilei's ideals
were
taken up by the composer and singer Giullo Caccini, whose singing
enraptured Clement VIII, and
who
created a
new
style
of song
for the
solo voice; he published a collection of solo songs with basso continuo

as Le
Nuove Musiche (1601) and in the preface described
this style to
Rome
in the 1590s,
house of Signor Nero Neri

to continue as
'
where
it
how he had
taken
was rapturously received in the
and everyone can
testify
how I was
urged
had begun, and was told that never before had anyone
heard music for a solo voice, to a simple stringed instrument, with such
power to move the
affect
of the soul
not think a soprano part sung by

soever,
itself
as these madrigals
alone could have any
without the artful interrelationships of
all
they did
affect
the parts.'
13
what-
Caccini
contributed to the sumptuous musical intermedi for the wedding of
106
the
In
Ferdinando and Christine of Lorraine in
was the wondrous power of music. Arion
on
enchantress,
moon from
where again the theme
1589,
carried by dolphins; an
is
golden chariot, sings of her power to charm the very
the skies. In the 1590s Cavalieri encouraged the development
of pastoral themes; Tasso was
and shepherds,
draped
lightly
and
in Florence in 1590,
of that year Cavalieri staged Tasso's
for the Carnival
where nymphs
lyrical pastoral Aminta,
alVantica,
lament the transience of love and
and look back with longing to the sensual freedom of
life,
a lost
Golden
Age.
Del Monte moved
easily
between musical
Florence. Emilio de' Cavalieri often visited
such
shared
with
interests
papal
the
in
circles
him
in
nephew,
Rome and
Rome, where he
Cardinal
Pietro
Aldobrandini, Cardinal Alessandro Montalto and Vincenzo Giustiniani.
As soon
as
he had moved into the Palazzo Madama, he had hastened to
create a small
room
in this house,
has taken such a liking to
me
with frequent
cardinals enjoyed
many
it,
where
good enough
that he says that he will be
visits,
room
have set aside a
and other instruments, and he
for harpsichords, Guitars, a Chitarrone
favour
Grand Duke: 'Today
for concerts, informing the
Montalto was here for a time
and come and dine with
lavish entertainments together,
me.'
14
The
to
three
m both Florence
and Rome; Del Monte and Montalto, with the Grand Duke, were pre-
Mans
sent in Florence at the performance of Cavalieri's Blind

Gioco della Cited),
on
its
from
Battista Guarini's
Del Monte
revival in 1599.
their entertainments in
// Pastor lido,
at a
it
Rome; on
banquet
'at
Grand Duke
that he
Cardinal Deti 'with a
walk in Rome.
all
the day'; 15 later that
which the usual music was performed'.

it
He
little
Monte
guests
A month
later
On
29 August 1600 Del
Monte
had entertained Cardinal Aldobrandini and

music',
and afterwards they had enjoyed
added, as an afterthought, that Baronio had just sent
him another volume of
A lively picture
16
continued, with increasingly lavish
parties as the Jubilee year approached.
told the
of
9 June 1595, he described a banquet
the host, and Aldobrandini and Del
was Del Monte's turn, and so
Bluff (11
and again
gives tantalisingly brief glimpses
held by Aldobrandini 'where there was music
month Montalto was
in 1595,
17
the Annales.
of the opulent and abundant musical
107
life
of
Rome
is
Caravaggio A Life
given by Vincenzo Giustiniani, who, in 1628, in his Discorso sopra
form of
written in the
some
nostalgia to the musical world
cultured and noble dilettantes.
The
of the 1580s and
Discorso
forswearing theory and philosophy, and
in
rooms designed
it
1590s, a
world of
written with a light touch,
is
conjures up, with pleasure and
for that purpose, perhaps decorated with
paintings of musical subjects.
He
experience
Musica,
world of noble amateurs, of intimate musical perfor-
affection, the
mances
la
young nobleman, looked back with
a letter to a
have acquired while
on
bases his thoughts
'the
little
was conversing in houses where there
was no gambling, but rather delightful occupations, particularly music,
performed without the assistance of paid performers by
men who took

it
is
lords
pleasure and delight in
it
divers gentle-
through natural inclination
knowledge acquired through 'conversations engaged

and gentlemen
practices,
in
my
in
.';
by many
house where, among other honourable
making music was the custom
.'
The main
l8
Ferdinando
are vividly sketched in: the then Cardinal
de'
protagonists
Medici,
who
hastened to acquire excellent musicians, spurred on by rivalry with the
Dukes of Ferrara and Mantua, who had noble

singing 'entire days in
some rooms designed
and beautifully decorated with

'with extraordinary feeling
clearly heard',
and
ladies
especially for this purpose,
paintings'; Giulio Caccini,

a particular talent to
make
who
sang
the words
and Cardinal Montalto, who 'played and sang with much
more martial than
grace and feeling, even though his appearance was

apollonian, and
who had
a scratchy voice
accompanying himself on the Spanish
These men were

Later Del
and gentlemen
also collectors
Monte had
cal instruments,
and
beautifully crafted,
a remarkable
a 'chest
Del Monte,
.'
guitar.
of musical instruments and
extremely high prices.
scores.
room, displaying thirty-seven musi-
where the
viols
are'.'
were themselves works of
The men competed,
most celebrated and virtuoso
too, sang,
singers,
These instruments,
art,
and commanded
too, for the possession
whose
excellence cast lustre
of the
on the
patron: Montalto supported singers and musicians in his house, and
often begged the
Grand Duke
for the loan
of the celebrated castrato
Onofrio Gualfreducci. His success spurred on Del Monte, who provided for the Spanish castrato Pedro Montoya,
108
a singer at the Sistine
In
the
Chapel since
1597 Emilio
in
1592;
how
described
Cavalieri
de'
the
Cardinal 'was amazed because he can sing on a level with Onofrio, and
if
he doesn't create problems, within a month he will surpass Onofrio'. 20
In the
the
summer months
Grand Duke's
earthly Paradise';
Duke
lent
him
Montalto summered
the lovely gardens of
Hill, 'which truly
is
an
where the Grand
at Bagnaia,
the services of Onofrio. It was fashionable, too, to enjoy
the small towns of the
Alban
Romans too had sought

Pietro
Frascati
on the Pincian
Villa Medici,
21
the Cardinals dined
Hills, Tivoli, or Frascati,
from the heat of
relief
Roman summer. At
Aldobrandini was building the
Aldobrandini, which recalled the
villas
of
where the ancient
spectacular Villa
and which
classical antiquity,
was the centre of elaborate gardens and rich collections of
art.
Here
too the three Cardinals enjoyed music, and pastoral plays, with their
evocations of the classical past, and in 1599 Del
of a summer
delights
at Frascati to the
Monte
described the
Grand Duke. The Pope and
Baronio, he wrote, had been staying nearby and the Pope had ridden with
him, and honoured
him with
his conversation. Later
Aldobrandini passed the time with
warm
Aldobrandini held a most perfect concert'
'Montalto and
displays of friendship,
22
and
in the splendid setting
of
his Villa, causing Montalto to think longingly of Gualfreducci's perfor-
mances
in the past.
Caravaggio's
first
painting for Del Monte, The Musicians
Plate 4), suggests his pleasure in this refined
rooted in Venetian
and yet
it
is
art, in
(c.
1595) (Col.
and courtly world. 23
It is
the concert pictures of Giorgione and Titian,
disconcertingly
Caravaggio's having painted
novel.
from
life,
24
Baglione's
and
it
is
was
emphasis
clear that
on
Caravaggio
has pieced his composition together from studies of only two models,
painted from different points of view.
He paints
group of young musi-
cians, clad in loose-fitting shirts,
preparing for a concert in one of the
small chambers in the Palazzo
Madama. The
lutanist
is
tuning his
them
instrument; the singer studies his part book, and behind
the cor-
netto player (perhaps a self-portrait) turns to look at the viewer.

picture
is
haunting and
erotic desire
sensual,
its
and to convey human passion,
Renaissance art and
literature.
The
The
theme the power of music to arouse

a
theme long
lutanist's eyes glisten
109
familiar in
with
tears,
and
Caravaggio
the red of his lips
taken up in the
is
A Life
world of the
illusory
theatre,
and voluptuous red of the heavy
full
brocaded mantle. Painted from nature,
yet evokes an unreal world, the
it
creating
vaguely mythological and
pastoral aura, and evoking the atmosphere of contemporary pastoral

plays,
where gods, courtiers and shepherds mingle, and, with exquisite
melancholy, lament lost love. Tasso s celebrated Aminta, itself so musical,
and so often
set to music,
amongst the shepherds;

quiverful of arrows,
opens with Love,
in Caravaggio
in pastoral guise,
picture a
winged Cupid, with
unheeded by the rapt musicians, plucks
reminding us that music and wine both lighten the

for love.
The music
such a plea
as that
wandering
is
indecipherable, but
made by Aminta
Rocks and waves
it is
spirits
a grape,
and prepare
surely a pastoral lament,
to his cruel lover:
have seen
moved
to pity
by
my
complaints
I
have heard the trees accompany
But
cornetto, a gently curved
simplicity of pastoral,
with
many
types of
of cornetto
many
with sighs,
and
25
.
wood
carries
instrument, has the feigned rustic
with
it
the erotic charge associated
wind instrument. Giustiniani delighted
players,
in the skills
mentioning the celebrated Cavaliere Luigi del
Cornetto from Ancona, who, Giustiniani

'played
tears
have never found, nor hope to find, compassion
in this cruel fair
The
my
times in one of
my
little
recalls
rooms
with intense pleasure,
to the
accompaniment of
cembalo which was closed up and could scarcely be heard; and he
played the Cornett with such moderation and exactitude that

ished
many gentlemen
present
who
it
aston-
liked music, because the Cornett did
not overshadow the sound of the Cembalo'. 26
Such
a painting surely delighted
in the pastoral
intertnedi
Del Monte, who took such pleasure
performed
at
perhaps adorned his musical Camerata.
many Roman
The
directness evoke the expressive simplicity of the

lutanists tear-filled eyes, a virtuoso passage
suggest the
new emphasis on
palaces,
and
it
pictures naturalism and
of
new
music, while the
naturalistic painting,
passionate emotion. Del
Monte s copy of
In the
was admired for
Titian's Magdalene
and the beauty of her
this quality,
who
weeping eyes was deeply admired by Mancini,

'overlaid
and
with
tears,
tears,
so that this light takes
on the shape of
some small sprinkling of ruby around

27
Tears were the
to behold'.
Murtola subtitled
loves
.',
described
them
as
with the light reflected and refracted in both eyes
his Rime
a great
great pearls, a
diamond, with
most
lovely thing
theme of many madrigals, and Gaspare

of 1604
'eyes,
tears,
pallor,
beauty spots,
describing how:
Yours
is
the face of April,
Which gathers roses, and lilies,

And the eye is the fount, which opens
Crystalline humours,
To make more
lovely the flowers.
Seeing this picture in the house of his friend
28
may
have inspired the
noble and wealthy amateur, Vincenzo Giustiniani, to commission a

similar musical theme, The Lute Player (Col. Plate 6). 29
one of the
and most poetic of Caravaggio's works. Here, caught
in a bright shaft
light, a solo singer
shirt, his thick

slab, lies
black curls tied by a white
fillet;
is
framed by
a carafe
He
is
of
clad in a loose
before him, on a marble
of simple
painted than the instruments, and a cluster of

fig,
lute.
an open part book, turned towards the viewer, and a violin and
The youth
bow.
accompanies himself on the
loveliest
cucumber, on which drops of water
more
flowers,
an overripe
fruits, pears,
glisten.
The
freely
picture has an
extraordinary freshness and directness, and yet at the same time
it
is
highly refined, exquisite, rendering the varied beauties of texture and

surface with virtuoso
skill,
and creating an intensely
erotic
mood
of
melancholy and longing. In the part book are portions of four madrigals
by Jacques Arcadelt,
emphasis
is
all
passionate (if
trite) love songs.
given to the line 'Voi sapete ch'io vi amo' ('You
love you') with
which
the singer regales the viewer.
carry an erotic charge, and yet here

the
somewhat
bawdy humour of North
beauty of fruit and flowers
it is
The
that
fruits themselves
veiled, courtly, far
Italian concert scenes.
and
know
Most
removed from
The
evanescent
here they are so fresh that they shine
Caravaggio A Life
with dew, and the leaves seem to curl before our eyes
transience of youth
of the
fleeting strains
worn and
slightly
and beauty, which
its
which
lute,
ribbed cage
is
suggests the
evoked, too, by the delicate,
is
a fragile instrument, its surface here
Long
split.
associated with love, the lute
was the most noble and refined of instruments, and Galilei had
described with passion
such
its
ability to 'express the affections
as hardness, softness, harshness
and weeping, with such grace and wonder'. 30
shrieks, laments, complaints
But
was becoming
it
Spanish
guitar,
as
less
popular, yielding to the easier theorbo and
were the songs of the Flemish composer Jacques
Arcadelt, which at this date
had been most famous

Libro
of harmonies,
and sweetness, and consequently
would have had an
archaic flavour; Arcadelt
in the decade before 1550, but his four-voice Primo
had been many times reprinted and
is
of madrigals ever published. Giustiniani
book
the best-known single
recalls that
he had,
as a boy,
studied the compositions of Arcadelt, and in a sense the picture looks
back with nostalgia to Giustinianis youth, and laments the passing of

youth
itself. It
seems to evoke
a lost age, that 'lovely
Tasso had invoked in the Aminta;

cal
it
Golden Age* which
perhaps looks back too to the
classi-
world, the power of whose fabled musicians, of Orpheus and
Amphion,
the
new music sought
to re-create.
The picture does not show an amateur musician, one of those noblemen with scratchy voices, such as Cardinal Montalto, but one of the
who began
professional musicians
to replace them. It
may
portray the Spanish castrato singer Pedro de Montoya,
household of Del Monte, and the
(whom
lived in the
effeminate beauty of the
Bellori described as a girl) supports this identification.
of the solo
brates the mystique
poems
fleshy,
even perhaps
who
singer, to
whom many
31
sitter
It cele-
contemporary
are addressed.
Caravaggio's picture was clearly successful, for a

15978, he created another Lute
Player, for
little later,
perhaps in
Cardinal Del Monte, a more
prosaic painting perhaps not entirely from Caravaggio s hand, and which
replaces the
still life
musical instruments
of
fruit
and flowers with an increased emphasis on
a tenor recorder, a violin
of which Del Monte had
a large collection.
other paintings of musical subjects
112
and bow,
a spinettina
Del Monte was to
among them
collect
concert scenes by
the
In
Gerrit van Honthorst and Antiveduto Grammatica, which later
were to hang together in a small room, with the
life
de' Barbari
but perhaps
map of
his
Jacopo
period his Lute Player and The Musicans
this
Madama, where
decorated the musical camerino in the Palazzo
the
Cardinal entertained Montalto.
Del Monte was
as passionately interested in
botany, medicine, pharmacology, physics

tion towards alchemy
with an interest in a
shared with the
geography and science
as in
music, and his attrac-
and alchemical experiments
new
existed side by side
founded on observation. This too he
culture
Grand Duke, who continued
a long-established
Medici
had created the Studiolo
tradition; his brother, Francesco de' Medici,
the Palazzo Vecchio at the centre of Florence, and decorated
in
with
it
paintings of alchemy and of the elements, and Ferdinando correspond-
ed enthusiastically with the celebrated Bolognese natural scientist Ulisse

Aldrovandi,
who was
building
up
a vast encyclopaedic collection
of
drawings of natural history. In the garden house of the Palazzo

Avogardo, which Del
and
a collection
of
with portraits of
Hermes
ings
Monte
scientific
scientists,
Trismegistus. Del
he was to have a
later acquired,
instruments and utensils;
of such famed
Monte
and
did the Grand Duke, draw-
liked, as
Jacopo Ligozzi,
distillery,
was decorated
figures as Paracelsus
of plants and animals, and acquired such works
scientific illustrator
it
who worked
from the famous
for Ferdinando.
Such
drawings were enthusiastically welcomed in Rome, and in 1599 Del
Monte
assured Ferdinando, 'The painting of the red bird
tional beauty,
.' 32
and has pleased everyone
by pharmacology, and enjoyed providing

ety
is
of excep-
Del Monte was fascinated
his friends
with cures for a
vari-
of ailments, creating an atmosphere of pleasurable secrecy around
experiments. In 1607 he wrote wryly to Belisario Vinta,
remedy to put time back for forty

scription, I
promise you
all
the
years,
rest.'
33
and
if
you
will
'I
send
His patronage of
his
lack only the
me
this pre-
scientists
was
often brilliant; he supported Galileo, and spotted the talent of Fabio
Colonna,
and
who became one of
whom
the
Del Monte recommended to the Grand Duke
Guidobaldo Del Monte dedicated

a seminal
most celebrated botanists of the
work of
reference
on
1606.
- which became
projection to Francesco
his treatise, Perspectivae
perspectival
in
age,
113
Caravaggio A Life
Maria.
that in his household Caravaggio was present at the
It is likely
most modern and stimulating discussions on perspective and on the

projection of cast shadows, and his
sophisticated,
Such
and more subtle
interests,
small
and
new
collectors.
museum of
science,
of
and shade.
light
for an exact observation
Del Monte shared with
The German
spatially
his circle
doctor Johann Faber,
who
of
of
kept a
animals at his house near the Pantheon and Santa
Maria sopra Minerva,
Adam
in their use
and the growing passion
nature created by the

scientists
own works became more
also enjoyed
mixing with
artists
Rubens and
Elsheimer frequented his house, and Rubens was
later to
look
back with deep nostalgia on the good conversation he had enjoyed

these circles in
Monte
of
Rome. In
1603 he
to cure a reaper of a viper bite. In a
his palace near the
painter, ran
room on
ground floor
the
Pantheon, Giovanni Battista Crescenzi, himself a
one of the many private academies then fashionable
for the practice
of
in
was to use an antidote mixed by Del
in
Rome
virtu; Cristofero Roncalli, a painter closely associat-
ed with the Oratorians, instructed the family in the art of painting, and,
wrote Baglione:
Signor Giovanni Battista was eager that virtu should

always be exercised in his house, and continually had
various
young men studying
to painting:
and
his
there
academy was
who
were inclined
active there
by day and by night, so that they might

greater occasion to learn the subtleties
and he sometimes
life,
also liked to have
and he would go around
Rome
all
of
both
have
their art;
them draw from

seeking out
animals and other
beautiful
and curious
oddities,
which he would hand over to these young
men
fruits,
in order that they
might draw them,
hope that they would become
in the pure
skilled masters, as
indeed they did. His palazzo was a school of
and
114
fine artists issued
from
it
34
.
virtu,
In the
Cardinal Federico Borromeo shared this passion for the small and
curious things of nature, and
it
was these that he loved
in the tiny land-
scapes that Brill and Jan Breughel were painting in the 1590s. Paleotti, in
on
his treatise
might take
many
had sanctioned the pleasure
religious art,
and genre painting,
in landscape
places, speak of the sun, the
doctors, soldiers, merchants:
not learn of
all
and
Scriptures, in
named
Christian could
if a
in holy books,
.'
35
and partic-
For Cardinal
Breughel's paintings lay in their evocation of the
infinite beauties
contemplation of which the mind
works gave
churchman
winds, animals, fishes, pearls,
of the Fathers of the church
Borromeo the power of

variety
Holy
for 'the
would be unsuitable
it
these things, so often
ularly in the writings
wondrous
stars,
spiritual delight
and
may
solace,
by the achievements of the new
of the created world, through

ascend joyfully to God. These
and
science.
was a delight nourished
it
He
took intense pleasure
in
the newly visible worlds revealed by the telescope and microscope,
and
in experimenting
with the prism, mirror, and camera obscura.
new
telescope, he later wrote, has discovered for us
microscope has shown
animals that are
'that little
same species
eye of a needle are of the very
appear to be, they truly can be!
with
the
naked
Workmanship of
the
eye.
nature
first scientific society,
emblem
36
On
17
smaller than the
even if they do not
animals that are visible
demonstrates
August 1603 Federico Cesi founded
rich in interest for Caravaggio,
artists in the
he developed
this interest in paintings
effects
of
(una
seems
description
in the
of flowers and
a painting
described in his inventory simply as
Caravaggio'
lost. It
Monte owned
caraffa di
likely that this
mano
who had
intensity.
fruit,
Now
exploring the
light in glass carafes, in transparent water,
ed by mirrors. Del
is
its
studio of the Giuseppe Cesari,
and who had already painted natural objects with sharp
which
supreme
the sharp-sighted lynx.
mixed with northern
complex
the
the Accademia dei Lincei, which took as
Such an environment was

already
as the larger
of which
All
,'
worlds, while the
much
The
and
reflect-
of a carafe by Caravaggio,
'a
carafe
del Caravaggio') 37
from the hand of

and which
is
now
was the work described by Baglione, whose
somewhat confusingly
Hermitage painting of
describes the
The Lute Player, yet
still life
as a detail with-
who probably meant
"5
to
Caravaggio A Life
describe two paintings
ing.
The Lute Player
His description suggests
of refraction and
as the carafe
of
reflection
reflection:
of flowers
filled
of the flowers there
petals
are
virtuoso effects
everything seemed lively and
real,
such
with water, in which we see clearly the

objects in the room, while
dewdrops imitated most
was the best he had ever done';
this picture (he said)
oped these
'.
window and other
and an independent flower paint-
his delight in Caravaggio
38
on the
exquisitely.
And
Caravaggio devel-
interests in other works, in the Boy Bitten by a Lizard (Col. Plate
n) and the Uffizi Bacchus (Col. Plate

ed Netherlandish painters, and
it
10).
is
responding to the art of Jan Breughel,
now
Carafe of Flowers,
in the
Such
effects
possible
had long
Caravaggio was
that
who may
interest-
have painted a small
Borghese Gallery, Rome, strikingly similar to
the flowers in the Hermitage Lute Player (where the choice of flowers,
particularly the
seems to look back to an older Netherlandish
iris,
tradition) in
Rome
paintings by
him
in the early 1590s, although the first certain flower
date from 1606. 39 These works delighted their public,
and perhaps Vincenzo Giustiniani wanted

life,
as
much
copy of Del Monte s
still
he desired a musical painting.
as
Yet Caravaggio's only surviving pure
still life,
the Basket of Fruit (Col.
Plate 12), contrasts very sharply with the minutely detailed and joyous
paintings of Jan Breughel. Breughel went with the Cardinal to Milan in

1595,
but only two years
and
later
Federico was back in
he commissioned the Basket
remained until
1601,
of Fruit directly
from Caravaggio, perhaps shortly
Borromeo's
it
seems
likely that
Rome, where he
after his return in 1597.
later devotional tracts, Le Piaceri (1625)
and Le Laudi
convey his belief that the seasons, the elements, and
all
(1632),
created things
reveal the glory
of God, and through praising them the mind ascends to
the divine.
The
grander vases of flowers that Breughel began to paint
from
showing a rich abundance of exquisite blooms encircled by
1606,
gleaming
shells
ful variety
and
fragile butterflies, are full
of nature, of the
fragile perfection inspired
rarity
of
a sense
of the wonder-
and beauty of the specimens, whose
contemplation on the brevity of
life
and
earthly things. In sharp contrast Caravaggio's basket holds everyday

fruits,
windfall apples and bruised pears, and yet they too perhaps
conveyed to Borromeo a spiritual significance. In Le Laudi and Le
116
Piaceri
PLATE
i:
The Sick Bacchus
plate
Boy with
Basket of Fruit
late
plate 4
The Gypsy Fortune
The Musicians
Teller
PLATE
plate
The Cardsh arps
The Lute Play>er
late
Mary Magdale lie
PLATE
The Rest on
PLATE
the Flight into
Egypt
The Ecstasy of St Francis
plate
10: Bacch us
plate
1 1
Boy
late
Bitten by a Lizard
12: Basket of Fruit
plate
13: Judith
plate
and Holofternes
14: Medi
In
the
Household of Del Mont
18.
Jan Breughel, Vase of Flowers
(Milan, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana)
he
stresses, as St
John Chrysostom had done, the beauty of the small
and humble products of nature,
as in the latter,
where he mentions the
attention that should be paid to creatures 'which are not outlandish and
117
Caravaggio A Life
notable as curiosities, but utterly ordinary and everyday', such as the
and
fruits
other
leaves
Lombard
of the chestnut
painters of rustic
tree (subjects
still life).
which were to
attract
We should contemplate these
lowly things 'without seeking out Indian herbs and flowers from the
Orient, but remaining always within our
painting, so isolated
from any
own
And
woods'. 40
Caravaggio's
context, so startling in the
projects, shadowless against the brilliance
way
that
of the background, with
it
its
evocation of the gold backgrounds of religious works, seems offered to

the spectator as an object of contemplation, or prayer.
To Caravaggio himself
force
that
of
illusionistic skill,
the picture was also highly personal, a tour
which plays on realism and
became almost an emblem of
of realism
painting before, as
The
quite
is
way
For the immediate appearance
his art.
comprehensively interpenetrated by ambiguities, which have
is
the effect of checking and blocking
Nothing
illusion in a
de
fruit
is
many ways of responding
were, they have
it
what
it
to the
had time to gather momentum.
seems.
massive and palpable, and
its
weight
emphasised by the
is
depression and slight unravelling of the basket's left-hand edge, but this
weight and centrality

goes floating
airily
is
neutralised by the vine stem
'belong' to the grapes in the basket
and
outside source about which the viewer

still life
there
is
is
it
must
originate
one cast by the foot of the basket where

is
insufficient to tell us
most of the
and
lighting
in front, the
told nothing at
Most of
is
it
its
all,
which
all.
overhangs the
whether the basket
is
leaves
Caravaggio makes
Within the
shelf,
round or
consistent with a light source
uppermost
from some
boundaries
and the ones
it
is
the
and even
oval.
While
from the
left
at the right are, quite
painted as silhouettes, as though they were
arbitrarily,
right
system of light and shade, but the
a carefully painted
only shadow that the composition throws outside
that
on the
out of the picture frame. This stem does not even
lit
from behind.
impossible for us to be confident
about the way in which the objects he has created are related to their
surrounding space.
The
to a teasing token strip,
vertical
edge of the supporting shelf
is
is
constantly forced to ask himself
actually viewing the painting from,
118
reduced
and the horizontal plane merges into the back-
ground so cunningly that the viewer

where he
is
and whether the
fruit
is
the
In
own. Perhaps the most subtle of
in the pictures space or his
devices
the fruit
on the
and
leaves
surface
component
The
these
in
and the
on
and yet simultaneously appear to have been scattered
of the painting. 41
The mimetic
itself,
all
the astonishing virtuoso rendition of water drops that rest
is
in
skill
what
is
capturing textures and masses
entire project
is
is
one
just
about the nature of
essentially a statement
art
controlled by extreme intellectual rigour.
sense of the passing of time, delicate in Breughel's flowers,
more dramatically confronted. The
picture
is
here
must have created an aura of
melancholy in a collection dominated by the radiant and miniature

beauties of Breughel. In his Musaeum, a description of his collection,
Borromeo
lively tints. It
great
warmer
would have
no other having
of
little
value
is
a basket
was made by Michelangelo da Caravaggio,
m Rome.
name
nearby, but
excellence
'Of not
later wrote:
this,
m his
it
alone.'
42
Vase of Flowers (Plate 18)
Basket of Fruit, in the
Ambrosiana
who
acquired a
liked to place another similar basket
attained the beauty
remained
with flowers in
Yet his praise for Breughel
(which
in Milan,
preserved), Breughel 'painted at the
and the incomparable
is still,
like Caravaggio's
where Federico's collection
bottom of the
as such.
and
be
Around
at
an
is
as valuable as a
just
gem, and we payed for
it
the flowers there were flitting butterflies, green grass
shells scattered
sold
work
is
diamond,
vase a
whose view makes us understand that which we would have thought

the same, namely, the
is
on the ground,
expensive
price/
43
for
which any other painting would
The
astonishing
of
description
Caravaggio's painting as a basket of flowers suggests that perhaps the
Cardinal was more deeply involved with the aristocratic and costly vision
of Breughel.
Borromeo, Ferdinando and Del Monte shared many

interests,
and, before the spring of 1598, Caravaggio
astounding image of the Medusa (Col. Plate

close interests that united them,
14),
which
and which was
is
scientific
had painted an
a product
of the
either sent or taken to
Florence by Del Monte, probably to spread Caravaggio's fame, and to

the
Grand Duke
see the
works of Del Monte's new protege.
It is
paint-
ed on canvas mounted on a convex poplar shield, and was exhibited
prop
in
the
Grand Duke's armoury, amongst an
119
exotic
let
as a
display of
Caravaggio A Life
armoured knights. In
Medusa, was
killed
classical
the
literature
snake-haired
Gorgon,
by the Greek hero-Perseus and her head adorned the
of Zeus and of Athena. Her eyes turned men to stone, but Perseus
aegis
tricked her by showing her her
own
reflection in a mirror, so that he
could decapitate her. Caravaggio shows the precise
Medusa
catches sight of herself,
Her
falls like stalactites
decapitated head seems to project from
the surface of the shield, and to cast shadows against
done when embedded
which
in
and with a shriek of appalled terror
senses her harsh fate, as her blood, already hardening,

against the concave surface.
moment
in the aegis
it,
as
it
would have
of Athena. Caravaggio has painted the
true shield of Athena, and images of the
Medusa, bringing
terror to the
enemy, had been traditional on shields and armour since Antiquity.
Although the shield

a concave surface,
is
convex, Caravaggio has created the illusion of
and then used the physical shape to project the image
down
forcefully towards the spectator, so that the
Gorgon seems
upon
us from a startlingly close viewpoint.
We,
selves
caught up in her horror and are mesmerised by the picture s power;
it
an unreal, necromantic subject, yet
is
it
to look
the spectator, feel our-
has a haunting presence.
It
fascinated poets: and Giovanni Battista Murtola, perhaps soon after the
work was
painted, wrote:
Is this
the Medusa, her poisoned hair
armed with
thousand snakes?
Yes, yes;
do you not
see,
how
the eyes roll and dart?
Flee, flee her anger, flee her scorn,
For should she catch your gaze,

She'll
His poem
change you too to stone. 44
creates a powerful sense
we do
to spring to
life as
increased the
Medusas
ment
had
so. It
of looking
at the picture,
conveys Murtolas sense that art has
petrifying power,
and that wonder and astonish-
will enthral the spectator, will truly turn
traditionally
been a display of
tinuation of such a
common
skill,
him
to stone.
The
and Murtolas poem
is
subject
a con-
Renaissance conceit as that by Andrea
Navagero, on the power of a sculpted Medusa:
120
which seems
In the
Verior est ipsa quae ficta ex arte
Medusa
Spectantum magis hac obstupuere animi.
('The Medusa crafted by art
more
is
real
than the creature herself; the
minds of viewers have been even more stunned by

It
45
was a theme which had strong links with Florence and the Medici,
for the
Medusa had
ture. In the
the
it'.)
long and rich history in Florentine art and
Piazza della Signoria stood Benevenuto Cellini's
head of Medusa, a
work which seemed
to astound the spectator with
becomes marble before
it
of many Florentine poets.

seen as a tribute to
its
a conceit
to symbolise the
Perseus with
power of
art so
beauty that the spectator himself
which informed the
lavish tributes
had, too, a political reading, and could be
It
Duke Cosimo, an
and to triumph over
peace
living
litera-
vice.
allegory of his
Duke Cosimo,
power to bring
owned
moreover,
another celebrated rendering of the theme, a Medusa painted by Leonardo
da Vinci, which the Florentine biographer of Renaissance
Vasan described very
'There came into his
briefly:
artists
mind
Giorgio
the idea of
painting in oil the head of a Medusa, with an array of serpents on the

head, the strangest and
imagine
Cosimo.' Del
Ducal
Monte would
surely have
surely have
which he had easy
collection, to
Leonardo's myth. But a
would
most extravagant invention
little
known
known
Leonardo created for
a peasant
image that would inspire

small room, where
flies,
locusts, bats,
too
detail,
more
of an image that
a small shield to
he had done with the Medusa, an
gathered together, wrote Vasari,
ma
else entered, 'Lizards, crickets, snakes, butter-
a horrific whole, a
poisonous and which breathed

terrified the peasant
Grand
Vasari wrote, far
and other strange examples of similar
from these he made
gests
He
in the
and Del Monte
who had brought him
create, as
terror.
no one
work
and the work was part of
access,
this passage
Leonardo wished to
this
before this description
memorably, and with a wealth of astonishing
decorate.
that one could ever
This was amongst the most excellent works of Duke
fire,
when he came
and whose
it
and
monster whose breath was

illusionistic
to collect his shield.
Leonardo the necromancer, and
creatures'
may
power
The
well be that
truly
story sug-
Del Monte,
himself so fascinated by alchemy, wished Caravaggio to pit himself
a r a v a 2 2
- A L
19.
the
Magdalene
(Detroit, Detroit Institute of Arts)
Lombard
against his great
natural
phenomena,
than that of Leonardo.
and the
gift
of
the Medusa,
predecessor, and by his close observation of
create an imaginary
He
Medusa
monster yet more astounding
shared these interests with the Grand Duke,

a courtly
compliment, for
armed them
against worldly
also carried with
who turned men
to stone,
it
temptation, and became a symbol of the triumph of virtue.

that encircle the Gorgon's head derive directly
Ligozzi
Monte
now
a
in the Uffizi
copy of
this
from
The
vipers
drawing by Jacopo
and presumably the Grand Duke sent Del
work. 46
Caravaggio's painting also suggests the contemporary interest in the
mysterious effects that could be created by mirrors, for

studied either his
face
of
model
own
lit
face
seems that he
(which he then considerably altered) or the
by a lamp
that creates the distortions
it
in a
and
darkened convex mirror, and

gives the painting
its
it is
this
strange power.
Baglione said that Caravaggio, after leaving the studio of Giuseppe
In the
some
Cesari, 'painted
portraits
tions that he used mirrors
in the mirror', 47 but sugges-
of himself
and other optical devices
in other
works tend
to be over complex. But a large convex Venetian mirror, with a darkened

surface
and courtly object that Caravaggio would
a highly expensive
have access to in the household of Del

the late 1590s, The Conversion of
the
Monte
appears in a painting of
Magdalene (Plate 19),
writings of the eccentric
ly
whose
popular.
Glasses',
He
this
reprinted and immense-
devotes a chapter to concave mirrors, entitled 'Of Strange
which they may be used.
in
'mirror' itself suggests wonder, for
'miracle',
and Caravaggio's picture was
a meraviglia that shocked the spectator.

as the silent yet lifelike
creates a
may be
Giovanni Battista della
scientist
many times
and suggests the wondrous ways
The word
word
and fascinating
Natural Magic (1558) was
it
He probably knew the
mirror that Caravaggio used to study the Medusa.
Porta,
and
And
it is
closely related to the
truly an object
of wonder,
deeply disturbing, for
it is
disembodied head replaces our own image,
deep sense of psychological shock. Such
contemporary poets, for
effects fascinated
though very expensive,
in this period mirrors,
created clear images, and they
became symbols of the ambiguities of
and death. The poet Baldassare Pisani created
it
a similar effect,
life
when he
imagined a young boy looking in a mirror, there to be dramatically

confronted with a death's-head:
With dying
rays,
innocent
glass,
Hesperus presages your splendours,
Now that
a death's-head, with
Inveils tragedies,
In
more tender
of Caravaggio's
vein
is
the Tlight into
works, yet
it is
sophistication that, although the patron
connected with the
circle
earlier date,
it is
is
Egypt (Col. Plate 8),
work of such
unknown,
it
one
intellectual
must
surely be
of courtly collectors around Del Monte,
and may date from the mid- to
Monte
blazing gaze,
and shows forth horror. 48
The Rest on
first religious
its
late 1590s.
Although Mancini implies an
tempting to imagine that
it
was commissioned by Del
himself. It shares a lyrical, intensely erotic quality with The Ecstasy
of St Francis (Col. Plate 9),
which may,
too, have
been painted for Del
123
Caravaggio A Life
Monte. The story of
The Rest on
Gospel of St Matthew
for
Herod
flee into
is
and take the young child and
Egypt, and be thou there until
will seek the
young
took the young child and
his
told briefly in the
'The angel of the Lord appeareth
to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise,
mother, and
Egypt
the Flight into
(2: 1314):
child to destroy him.
mother by
night,
his
bring thee word;
When
he arose, he
and departed into Egypt.'
In the Middle Ages the story was enriched by a cluster of picturesque

anecdotes: a field of corn sprang
palm bowed down
to offer
them
up
to shelter the fugitives; a date
fruit; angels
accompanied them across
perilous rivers. Artists delighted in such charming incident, but in the
century
late sixteenth
Family
now
it
was rendered with more dignity.
The Holy
often walk before the humble donkey, and St Joseph became
and youthful.
increasingly heroic
picture depends
on
of the appeal of Caravaggio's
his return to a medieval humility, a humility deeply
reminiscent of north European
own Lombard
Much
and
art,
clearly
of such
roots, in the rustic poetry
Lotto and Savoldo.
The popular
conveying Caravaggio's
artists as
thirteenth-century Franciscan tract, the
of the Holy
Meditations on the Life of Christ, stressed the defencelessness
Family, alone in a strange land: It was also grievous that they
had to go
of which they knew nothing, by rugged roads which
to a distant country
were difficult for
Lorenzo
Our Lady on account of
her youth and for Joseph
because of his age, and also because of the sweet Infant, not yet two
months
old,
whom
they had to
carry.' 49
Federico Borromeo later wrote that
it
was sometimes acceptable to
keep the much-loved and comforting medieval traditions, such
which prescribed an aged Joseph, and Caravaggio's Joseph

slow, ponderous, tiredly
eye
is
rubbing his
so close to Joseph's face, seem
feet;
is
as that
an old man,
he and the donkey, whose huge
somehow
touchingly united in their
tender watchfulness for the Virgin, freeing her from the heavy burdens of
this world.
They crowd one
half of the painting with their block-like
forms, and the angel, like a genius
of the
loci,
lulling
them
violin, sharply divides the picture into
feet the earth
is
barren, dry, cracking,
stones and withered,
frail leaves, laid
other side the Virgin and Child,
124
to sleep with the music
two
halves.
and beneath Joseph's
At the
feet are
out with resonant precision.
warm and
angel's
sharp
On the
naturalistic, sleep, encircled
In the
by brambles, protected from
clanger, in a luxuriant twilight landscape,
where the blades of corn perhaps
movement from
the harsh
large
And
and stony path that leads through
of the everlasting
tears to the radiance
Christ.
life
Q,
letter
reads
this biblical
book, a
The
pulchra
text,
est et
of
quam
dialogue between the Bridegroom and the
lyrical
underlies the pictures
mood. In
ancient poem, perfumed and sultry, had
the Christian centuries this
become
virginal,
ardent words became the language of the soul. To the
of Christ and
Christ.
Church, and
his
Caravaggios angel
is
Mary was
lilies
most
its
the mutual love
herself the symbolic bride of
sweetly erotic, and the lush landscape
beyond the Virgin suggests the bucolic imagery of the

apples, grapes,
and
Roman Church the
Song of Songs represented
bride and bridegroom of the
its
motet by the
1519.
Quam
that insis-
words taken from the Song of Songs. The passionate eroticism
decorum,
Bride,
published in
first
way
in a
shows the cantus part of
which Caravaggio shows only the
of
promised by the birth of
oblong part book, thrust towards the spectator
tently claims his attention. It
this vale
Joseph holds up to the angel a
at the painting's very centre,
Flemish composer Noel Baulduin,
of
reflect the old legend. It suggests a
biblical text,
and green bed, while the Virgins unusual mass of
upon
red hair perhaps recalls that of the bride, whose 'head
thee
is
Carmel, and the hair of thine head like purple' (Song of Soloman,
Yet Baulduin's music
landscape
is
itself
is
sombre and Caravaggio s
touched by melancholy and transience.
music evoke the passing of time, time that leads to

also to his Resurrection.
symbols of
with
And woven
lyrical,
The
like
7:5).
autumnal
strains
of the
Christ's death, but
into the naturalistic landscape are
his passion, for the donkey's
back
is
marked by the
sign
of
the cross, the thorns evoke the crown of thorns, and the blades of corn
the Eucharist. Federico Borromeo, in Le
of the descriptions of nature
Piaceri,
in the Song of Songs,
those practising the contemplative
life,
was not suitable for everyone, and that
was to
exalt the beauties
and to recommend
it
to
although adding that the work

it
should be recommended with
caution.
Caravaggios picture has none of the Egyptian palms favoured by

Italian artists,
print by
but shows,
Abraham
as
northern
artists
did (there
is
a very similar
Bloemart), a real stretch of countryside, beside the
125
Caravaggio A Life
banks of the Tiber.
ble things
has something of Borromeo's feeling for the
It
of nature, for the
of our woods', lowly plants and
'trees
hum-
stones,
an oak tree bearing fungi. The sense of the simple beauties of nature and
music together praising

Monte's
God
is
perhaps Oratorian in
and Del
feeling,
of friends enjoyed the musical world of the Oratorians;
circle
the picture perhaps conveys the atmosphere of the pilgrimage to the
seven churches,
when
the beauties of nature were enriched by music and
sermons. Caravaggio built up this poetic vision from intense observation.
The
of paper,
solid
still life
a passage
is
of sack and
carafe, its
neck closed with a twist
of forceful realism; so too
are the angels wings,
which, rendered feather by feather, were probably painted from the wings
of
a pigeon.
part
book
The
to this ethereal visitor, the strings
of whose lovingly executed

around the
violin curl profusely, in a wonderfully naturalistic passage,
pegs.
We may
up the
angel needs a score to play, and Joseph holds
perhaps sense, in Josephs uncomfortable, awkward pose,
something of the tiredness of the studio model.

The Ecstasy of St Francis, 50 perhaps close in date, shares this sense
beauties of
passion, was one of the
Carlo Borromeo had
most popular Counter-Reformation
made
a pilgrimage to
where Francis, passionate in

Christ,
Mount La Verna
his desire to
had received the stigmata. In
how
An
'the
on
his breast (there are
early account, rich in echoes
and
in Tuscany,
periods artists showed

lies
on the ground,
hand draws
tenderly supported by an angel, in a state of ecstasy. His

attention to the stigmata
saints,
be mystically united with
earlier
St Francis kneeling, but in Caravaggio s painting he
hands).
of the
nature; St Francis, dedicated to poverty, devoted to Christ's
no wounds on
his
of the birth of Christ, records
whole mount of La Verna seemed to flame forth with dazzling
splendour, that shone and illumined

about, as were the sun shining
all
the mountains and valleys round
on the
earth.
Wherefore, when the
shepherds that were watching in that country saw the mountain aflame
and so much brightness round about, they were sore

Caravaggio's sky
but the light that
is
streaked with light, and
falls softly
afraid
fires flicker in
was
metaphor
126
5I
the distance,
across the foreground has a supernatural
radiance. Francis's was a passion undergone through love,

love
.'
for death.
The
and
ecstatic
mystic language of sixteenth-
century poets
wounds,
the
In
intensely erotic; Tasso,
is
'the sweet
and blends,
vision,
wounds of
as
a sonnet to St Francis's
in
of the stigmata
love', sings
as
though
in a
does Caravaggio, the light of the stars and flames
with the mystic light of God:
And
you
far-flung stars
With
Him who
the light of
and Maffeo Barberini,
later
stigmata: 'although they
seem
like
them
sprinkled
you
in
52
.
patronise Caravaggio, wrote of the
to
whence the heart breathes out
bright
see,
wounds, yet they
its
flames
.'
are not, but
At
53
openings
the Oratory Filippo
Neri read the poems of the thirteenth-century Franciscan Jacopone da
Todi (a copy of
the
cross
Crucifixion
as
is
name
his verses bearing Neri's
sweet
death,
where pain
survives),
who wrote of
changed to sweetness.
is
the joy of love:
Then
To
let
death come
the bride
In the bridegroom's embrace
Such
And
in
spoken
is
its
me
54
.
of Caravaggio, echo the rhythms of the
de Granada wrote:
right
the joy of love
through the devotional writing of the sixteenth century,
early pictures
that
is
own
'Now
in the
the soul understands
Song of Songs, and
fashion, saying,
"His
left
hand doth embrace me" (Cant.
with flagons, comfort
me
sings
hand
ii.6).
is
And
with apples; for
as in these
Song of Songs. Luis
the loving language
all
those sweet canticles
all
my
under
head, and His
in the verse before, "Stay

I
am
sick
of
love."
Now
does the soul, burning with this divine flame, long with earnest desire to
escape out of this prison; and while her departure
are her
food day and
convey
this thread
night.' 55 Caravaggio's is
of sixteenth-century
is
deferred, her tears
perhaps the
first
picture to
spirituality.
At the end of the decade Cardinal Del Monte had the good fortune
to acquire a garden villa
and
casino,
now
called the Villa Ludovisi, at the
Porta Pinciana, in a beautiful part of Rome, where he created a
127
distillery,
Caravaggio - A Life
juwkit
/!
Cajl&
G.
20.
B. Falda, Casino Ludovisi
(print)
21.
Opposite:
Caravaggio,
Jupiter,
Neptune and Pluto
(Rome, Casino Ludovisi)
and, in a small
room
next to
it,
which
strikingly recalls the Studiolo
of
Francesco de* Medici in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, had the ceiling
painted by Caravaggio (Plate
tal
21).
Here Caravaggio painted, around
a crys-
Neptune and
Pluto,
sphere representing the globe of the world, Jupiter,
personifying the elements of
air,
water and earth. Del
Monte had bought
the villa in 1596, but in the following year had been obliged, reluctantly,
to cede
it
However,
to the powerful papal

in 1599
lt
nephew Cardinal
was returned to him, and
that Caravaggio painted the ceiling.

ical
it
Pietro Aldobrandini.
was probably
Here Del Monte enjoyed
experiments, and entertained his guests with music.
from Emilio
de' Cavalieri describes
time
his
alchem-
letter
of 1602
one such impromptu concert
Cardinals Altieri, Paravicino and Acquaviva
128
at this
'in
most
beautiful weather'
In the
129
Caravaggio A Life
had
visited the Villa
of Del Monte. By chance the famous singer Vittoria
Archilei arrived there, sightseeing with her husband.
begged her to
sing,
and sent
for instruments,
and
'I
The
certainly have never
heard her in more beautiful voice ... so that Acquaviva has
shame have not wept
,?6
.
It is
Cardinals
said, I for
the power of music, and the intensity of
natural objects, that characterise Caravaggios paintings executed for the

circle
of Del Monte.
130
CHAPTER
The World of
SIX
Street
and Brothel
honour
'Set
And
in
one eye and death

look on both
will
Shakespeare,
C *W"
was
"W"e
JL
JL
i'
the other
indifferently.'
Julius Caesar
large young man, around twenty
five years,
or twenty-
with a thin black beard, black eyes with bushy
eyebrows, dressed in black, in a state of disarray, with
threadbare black hose, and a mass of black hair, long over his forehead.'
In these vivid words Luca, a barber, described Caravaggio, a stocky dark
Lombard, and
neighbourhood. This
a familiar figure in his
the
is
first
account of Caravaggio in Rome, part of Luca's evidence given to the

notary of the Tribunal of the Governor of
Rome on n
July 1597 for a
criminal case that was later dropped. Luca's apprentice, Pietropaolo, had
been assaulted in the
street,
and was
in prison for refusing to
name
was angling to find out who had returned to
assailant; the investigator
the barber a black cloth cloak found near the scene of the crime.
cloak, Pietropaolo
Luca added,
had told him, had been returned by
'he told
me
the
shop, and another time he
had suffered
in a fight
hold.' (Barbers
The
came to be
with a
don't
remember
commonly
treated for a
groom of
The
a painter, but,
it
his hair
wound
...
done
.
know
in
my
which he
the Giustiniani or Pinelli house-
served a dual role as surgeon.)
next witness, called later the same day, was Caravaggio's friend
the dealer Costantino Spata,
shop
name but
by sight because he once came to have
this painter
his
at sunset,
Caravaggio
who
who
described how, as he was closing his
two painters had passed 'one

is
the painter of Cardinal Del
house of that Cardinal, and the other
is
Michelangelo da
Monte, and
lives in
a painter called Prospero,
131
the
from
gg
don't
know
where, but he
lives there
Lif.
near Monsignor Barberini ... he
small with a straggly beard and about 25 or 28
had
eaten,
and
Tavern of the Wolf, so we

tinued Spata, he
had
said yes, but they
left
all
They asked me
is
if I
and wanted to go to the
not,
the two painters to go home,
running and screaming, because
On
three set off together
the distance and was passed by a fleeing
without
.'
After eating, con-
when he heard
man 1
don't
withdrew, and anyway
cries in
know who was

see very badly
'
my
glasses
the following day Prospero Orsi appeared before the court.
He
too described the cries coming from San Luigi and the running man: 1
could not see his

little
face,
nor his
clothes, he passed like a
on they found the black
further
cloak,
shadow
.'
.
which Caravaggio picked up
and delivered to Lucas shop, perhaps because he had recognised the

running
man
as the apprentice Pietropaolo.
Neither Costantino nor
Prospero was armed, 'but Michelangelo wore a sword

usually wears a sword, because he
Monte, and
cludes, 'he
he
is
have seen
him
is
in the service
day,
Michelangelo
of Cardinal Del
but does so no longer, except when
going out by night'. Caravaggio was never
The two
carry one often enough.' And, Prospero con-
used to carry one by
petered out.
painters
called,
and the
case
seem to have been merely bystanders, and
Caravaggio was perhaps protected from questioning by his role in the
household of Del Monte.
Within the palace and the
paradisaical gardens
of the Villa Medici,
Del Montes household enjoyed the most refined and

pleasures,
aristocratic
and Caravaggio's pictures of these years have an
quality, a sense
of the beauty of precious and
fragile objects.
the palace walls, in the streets, shops and taverns
exquisite
But beyond
the Tavern of the
Wolf, the Tavern of the Blackamoor, the Tavern of the Tower, close to
d'Arpino's studio, or the Tavern of the Turk, below theTrinita dei
and
in
the
many
brothels,
clustered
Monte
around the Mausoleum of
Augustus, incidents like the skirmish near San Luigi were
common.
wave of extraordinary brutality and violence, with constant brawling

with swords, daggers and stones, swept the
an overwhelmingly male
city,
streets
of Rome.
It
was
of celibate churchmen, diplomats and
ambassadors, each with a crowd of servants, retainers, and soldiers, quick
132
The World of Street and Brothel

on behalf of
to take arms
exploded in the
Mercenaries,
when many
1590s,
and
bravi
their patron. Violence
soldiers
soldiers
lost
from throughout
number of vagabonds who were moving
the vast
was endemic, and
occupation.
their
mingled with
Italy
into
it
Rome from
the
poverty-stricken campagna, together creating an atmosphere of extreme
public unrest and idleness.
Caravaggio was in the thick of this bellicose street
from tavern to tavern with

painters
band of 'mainly
and swordsmen, who had
out hope or
fear'.
This was
as their
motto
life.
He roamed
young
fellows,
'nee spe, nee tnetu
'with-
lusty
a celebrated Renaissance motto, associated
with Isabella d'Este, Philip
and
II
others,
and
moral equilibrium. For Caravaggio's friends
it
implied a search for
it
implied rather a bold
independence, for they were aggressive, quick to respond to
insult,
passionate in defence of their honour and reputation, and swift to draw

their swords, 'as a cat arches
The rowdy
architect
back'.
its
Onorio Longhi dominated
group.
this small
passionate ball-player and swordsman, Longhi had a fiery temperament;
he was immensely
always in and out of prison, constantly
litigious,
many
involved in duels and fights and in brawling in the

frequently being
summoned
peace. Caravaggio was particularly closely associated with

years
was
around 1600, but he may have met him

a
member of
distinguished
Rome, where he had been papal
Onorio and Decio (who
later
Sapienza, the University of

education.
As
their teachers
a family they
and
and Onorio,
and
Martmo
new and
well-travelled
difficult,
the ultra-conservative.
and
far
like
eldest sons,
had studied law
receiving a literary
were notoriously
Longhi
Longhi, had worked
and the two
a priest),
in the
who,
architects
and
at the
classical
contemptuous of
colleagues, often involved in disputes, their
strange mixture of the

rise,
Rome,
of
architect,
became
Longhi
in the early 1590s.
family
Caravaggio, came from Milan. His father,

in
brothels,
before the magistrates for breaches of the
works
They were on
more cultured than
the
his father,
also nurtured ambitions as a poet. By 1589 he had already published a
volume of occasional
verse,
uninspired and mediocre but none the
less
displaying a great deal of scholarly classical learning. Martino Longhi
had died
in 1591,
when Onorio was away
in Portugal;
he returned to take
i33
Caravaggio A Life
charge of his
long-running battle with his brothers'
affairs, starting a
guardian over his inheritance, and taking over
important architectural projects.

architect, creating 'the
.
richly detailed,
He
many of
had already begun
lovely
He
4
!
Crescenzi family, and in 1592 designed the
to practise as an
Duke of Altemps
gateway of the vineyard of the
and very
his fathers
became involved with the
tomb of Virgilio Crescenzi
San Gregorio. The family had acquired considerable
and
prestige,
in
in 1596
Onorio, then twenty-eight, lived with his mother, his two brothers,
Decio and Antonio, and two
own house
servants, in their
dei Santissimi Apostoli, where there was a colony
near the Piazza
of Lombards. Longhi
aspired to worldly elegance and to the display of an aristocratic taste.
Sporting a small blond beard, and dressed in rich black

carry his
own sword
do not carry arms of any
'I
nor by night, but the servant
who accompanies me
ment
and wealth.
that flattered his rank
Throughout the
for example, a
velvet,
he did not
sort, neither
carries
it'
5
:
by day
an arrange-
one noisy adventure followed another. In
1590s
young married woman, Leonora
who
Palelli,
1593,
lived near the
Piazza dei Santissimi Apostoli, denounced Decio and Onorio for making a disturbance in the streets, beneath her
lutes
and
famosi),
guitars abusive songs in the
and making such
a racket that
manner of famous
all
the neighbours
Rome, but
In 15968 Longhi was away from
windows
'singing with
insults'
(libelli
had come
in 1598 he returned,
out.
and
with his friends and their pages stormed round to the house of 'Maria
the innkeeper' to root out his brothers' guardian, yelling at him, 'You
cuckolded
thief, I
want you to die by these
Longhi and
hands.'
were, the guardian complained, 'armed with cudgels
door of the room wherein

Felice Sillana,
grievances:
and
yelling,
who
tart,
at
spoke he would beat
Such incidents were

Longhi's
widow,
her house, hammering at her door
open up, and having
wanting to kick down the door, and shouting

if I
house of Lorenzo Argentini, added her
Longhi had appeared

'Whore,
and had forced the
found myself'. The following year
lived in the
his troop
once then returned,
left
filthy
words.
my head with his sword

common in Clement's Rome,
behaviour startled his
.'
contemporaries.
He
said that
In
but even so
the
eighteenth
century Lione Pascoli wrote of him, 'He was eccentric by nature, and
134

his
head smoked,' adding that he had been
on
generous), and
expected.
his death
had not
who had many
Baglione,
(exceptionally
'generossimo
the great wealth that had been
left
reasons to detest Longhi, gave a
remarkably objective picture of him, suggesting a young
man who was
highly gifted and well educated, but difficult, vain, and jealous of his
competitors
a virtuoso,
and dedicated himself to the study of
from
profited
him, but
all
excesses
a university education,
and the labours of
this,
his father
and from
this
along with him, and he spoke
much
hated by the others
of Longhi's
architecture,
ill
robust he died at the age of 50
of
all
Orazio Gentileschi, too, so

character,
a fever, even
his mentors, so
though
his constitution
in virtu,
and tender
practical
concluded piously
all
Roman
agent of
his faults/
him
12
'Let us
Cosimo
nor deal with him/
Cherubino
II
many
His
target, wrote:
temperament, he would have advanced

like a beast
than a human.
own
He
opinions on
his satirical tongue. Baglione
hope that
God
in his
goodness will
of Tuscany, who warned the Grand Duke
in 1617, saying that
On
manners and way of
Indeed,
tormented
His perhaps biased view was confirmed by the
composition so that he
understanding
was a prickly
a painter,
for rank, holding stubbornly to his
pardon
friends;
his frequent feuding.
later a
and assaulting the world with
everything,
against
lyrical
but he conducted himself more
had no respect
was
whose reputation suffered from
more
was
.'"
.
tongue was feared, and Baglione,
'had he been of a
it
Baglione suggests that the
Onorio was not the only troublemaker among Caravaggio's
satirical
and
hastened his death, commenting: 'he was so
life
when he caught
disordered, that
became
were of some help to
the same he had always so strange a brain, that
difficult to get
that he was
had had
'he
life
he was 'deficient in draughtsmanship and

delight 'even people
failed to
top of that he
is
a person
of mediocre
of such strange
and such temper that one can neither get on
13
artists
seemed strange to those around them. Even
Alberti, an establishment painter
and admired family of
artists,
who
and member of an ancient
rose to the coveted rank of
cavaliere
under Clement VIII, was deeply eccentric. Rich and successful, with a
wife and children, he none the less
'fell
into a melancholic humour',
i35
Caravaggio A Life
wrote Baglione with deep disapproval, and spent his time constructing
'diverse catapults,
such
were used in olden times, before the introduc-
as
tion of artillery ... In this caprice he passed
all
many of
full
weapons that
these
house was
his
now with
experimented with one, and
his time,
and he had so
of them, and now he
another ...
It
was ridiculous that
he should try to work catapults in times when one uses big muskets
and formidable cannon.
He
wanted
all
his friends to have a try
and he
himself lost the time which he could have better employed towards
improving
himself.'
14
The
Pope's favourite, the elegant Giuseppe Cesari,
was reported by his neighbours for consorting with prostitutes/ and

5
Minniti, too, was involved in brawls.
Among
such eccentric and violent friends Caravaggio displayed his
swordsmanship, and his prowess

dressed
elegantly 'he wore
Like Onorio Longhi, he
at tennis.
only the finest materials and princely velvets;
but once he put on a suit of clothes he changed only when

into rags'.
artist,
16
Van Mander,
mentioned
his lack
constantly, so that after
months together with
it
had
in the earliest published description
of perseverance
'he
two weeks of work he
his rapier at his side
and
fallen
of the
does not study his art

will sally forth for
going from one tennis court to another, always ready to argue or

so that he
is
comment on
impossible to get along with'.

his quarrelsomeness.
from him, he seemed 'proud and

less nature,
and
his desire to
company of other men, who

At the
centre of this
life
To
17
fight,
All his early biographers
Baglione,
satirical';
two
his servant-boy after him,
who
suffered so
much
he noted his excessively fear-
look for a chance to break his neck, in the

'like
of
himself were also belligerent'.
street
and
18
brothel, their stories fatally
interwoven with those of Longhi and Caravaggio, were the young
swordsman Ranuccio Tomassoni and the

Fillide Melandroni.' 9
As the wars
there was peace between France
the campaigns
in Flanders
and
in eastern
and Spain,
in
or whore,
rising cortigiana,
Europe came to an end, and

soldiers flooded
back from
Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia, where
The
streets
were
crowded with aggressive young men armed for adventure and with
little
the
army had suffered badly from
to do, adding to the
mented some
Roman
Among them were members of the Tomassoni
years earlier.
136
disease as well as war.
idleness
on which Montaigne had com-

family,
who
boasted a long tradition of military service, and had
many honours
Ranuccios
long wars of religion. Lucantonio Tomassoni,
in the
father,
had taken part
sent at the massacre of the

his great uncle,
of the
Farnese
French wars, and had been prethe night of St Bartholomew;
Lodovico Tomassoni, had participated
illustrious
Alessandro,
The
family had for
many
in
an expedition
years been in the
Farnese household, and Lucantonio expressed
by embellishing
his loyalty
in the
Huguenots on
against the bandit Curbiello.

service
won
his sons
with names long favoured by the
Ottavio, Giovan Francesco (born in 1573 and god-
son of the Duke of Parma, Octavio Farnese), Mario, and, the youngest,
Ranuccio. In
1591
Captain Lucantonio Tomassoni became the castellan
of the Castel Sant' Angelo, but by 1592 he was dead. The patrimony was
not divided until 1600, and perhaps
of birth
unknown, came of
is
age.
this
20
was when Ranuccio, whose date
His two elder brothers had served
Alessandro in Flanders (where he had been lamed), and
in the wars,
Giovan Francesco
first in
Flanders and then, under the
command of
the
papal nephew Giovan Francesco Aldobrandini, in Hungary, where 'conducting himself not as a young man, but as a skilled Captain, he
great praise'.
21
Giovan Francesco was the dominant
the brothers, with the
company with other

Ignazio Giugoli,
sister
was
later to
most distinguished
soldiers,
who had
figure
military career.
won
amongst
They kept
and Giovan Francesco was friendly with
fought in the Hungarian wars and whose
marry Ranuccio. The Tomassoni were protected not
only by the Farnese, but by other noble families such as that of
Melchiorre Crescenzi (who was also a patron of Caravaggio), and
Ranuccio and Mario were for some time
in the service
of the papal
nephew, Cinzio Passeri Aldobrandini, the Cardinal of St George.
Over the next few
years the
Tomassoni names appear constantly
in the
criminal records, at the centre of brawls and riots, disputes over gaming,
bearing arms, fighting over
women. Against
pinned by such powerful patrons, the
The
as
sbirri,
who
cowardly
They made
their
sbirri,
urban thuggery, under-
or police, were powerless.
were universally despised and mocked by the
spies,
were organised
at
stations
Romans
throughout the
city.
nightly rounds to preserve the peace, bursting into inns
and
men
for
houses looking for the companions of bandits and arresting
37
Caravaggio A Life
gambling, or for carrying arms. In the margins of their depositions
is
sketched in an extraordinary array of arquebuses, short daggers and

other forbidden weapons, together with articles like compasses and dice.
But Caravaggio,
in the
household of Del Monte, and the Tomassoni,
who
supported by great nobles

police,
often barred their doors against the
encouraging private wars and vendettas, were to some degree
The Tomassoni
protected against them.
Lorenzo
San
narrow square, overlooked by the Early
a long
in Lucina,
lived in the Piazza di
Christian campanile of San Lorenzo; they played a prominent role in the

affairs
of the neighbourhood, where Giovan Francesco was

or chief lay
caporione,
the Piazza
lies
official.
In the centre of the
rione
Campo
of
many
opposite the Via Frattina, where
later to
be
Marzio,
artists lived,
and
only a step away from the Vicolo del Divino Amore, where Caravaggio
later
had
of the most densely
a house. In this small area, the heart
populated part of medieval and Renaissance Rome, the drama of the

next few years was to be played out.
Navona and
In 1598 Caravaggio was arrested, between the Piazza
Piazza
pair
I
am
Madama,
He
replied to questioning:
the painter of Cardinal Del
support for myself and
am
weapons without
for carrying
of compasses.
engaged
as
one of
my
Monte
servant,
now
22
all
because
time, place
have the Cardinals
in his house,
attended by a servant, had
He was
of licences were required to carry arms
sorts
and occupation. Permission
Caravaggio was doing the previous
year,
sword and a
where
was an arrogant response, and
It
the servants' hall and was rising in status.
the
wear a sword because
'I
and lodgings
his employees.'
suggests that Caravaggio,
licence
moved out of
certainly privileged, for

in the city, varying
sword
to wear a
was particularly
by
at night, as
restricted, since
brawls were far more likely to break out after dark.
Two
in
the
years later, in 1600,

life
of Onorio Longhi, when
that Longhi, accused

police.
By
together,
Ranuccio makes
this date
and
it is
of
a variety
Roman
name
shadowy entrance
recurs in testimony
of breaches of the peace, gave to the
Caravaggio and Longhi were certainly street-fighting

likely that
Caravaggio also
description of a July afternoon in 1600
of
his
a first
pastimes.
138
He
recalls that
is
knew Ranuccio.
Longhi's
a particularly vivid evocation
he had been
at a ball
game near

Santa Lucia della Tinta, where a duel had taken place.
wandered on to the Piazza Navona, where there was
Here he met
group of men who had been involved
He
had then
game of
football.
and
in the duel,
dispute erupted over the prowess of the competitors. The row flared into
violence,
when Longhi, Tor my honour and
my hand on my
sword, delivering
for
my
defence,
know not what blows
too thrust
.'
The men
were parted, but Longhi later learned that he had wounded his opponent
This
a little in the hand.
man was from Terni, and
henchman of Ranuccio,
may be
it
that he was
Longhi
for the interrogator then pressed
about his acquaintance with Ranuccio; Longhi, however, claimed that he
was Ranuccio s friend, emphasising that he had only recently dined with
him 'Ranuccio
with him, and
ship
my
is
friend,
and
it is
not many days ago that
dined
have not rowed with him, nor attacked him/ His friend-
with Ranuccio also emerges from the testimony of Lorenzo
Capellario, a hatmaker,
summoned by
who lodged
Felice Sillani,
in his
house, to support her grievances against Longhi. Longhi, protesting

unconvincingly,
to threaten
not
'it is
women,
my custom to knock on the
boldly insisted on interrogating the witness himself,
and displayed considerable forensic

Lorenzo's identification, asking
how
with Signor Ranuccio, and

.'
23
Above
skills.
all
he
he knew him, and how,
could have recognised him by his voice. To

nised you by your voice, because
Vicolo de' Pantani
doors of others nor
this
Lorenzo
attacked
at night,
replied,
'I
he
recog-
have heard you talking at the Pantheon
have seen you there at the ball game at the
Another document, from the Act Book of the
court of the Governor of
Rome,
further suggests that Longhi had
who
threatened Ranuccio.
The
by the church of San
Spirito,
pledged that Longhi would neither
assault,
nor cause others to
assault,
an extremely odd array of people,
among
them the tormented
Felice Sillani, Flavio Canonici
sculptor Hippolito Butio of Milan,
lived
of Scandriglia, and
Ranuccio Tomassoni of Terni. 24

Disputes over
Prostitutes
clerics,
from
women were
all
often at the root of these violent incidents.
over Italy flocked to serve this city of celibates, of
diplomats, pilgrims and businessmen.
kind of ghetto, a quarter called Ortaccio (the

near the
Mausoleum of Augustus by
They were confined

evil
to a
garden, or anti-Eden),
the Tiber.
i39
Here they often
Caravaggio A Life
occupied entire
of
streets,
and Gregory Martin
vividly suggests the squalor
of Rome: 'Their- dwellings
their quarter
pent up into one place of the
are together as
it
were
corners and bylanes and small
citie in
outhouses, for this very purpose, that the place should be notoriously
They had
15
infamous
something of
lost
Renaissance, but nevertheless Montaigne
He
beauty.
described the
Roman
their elevated status since the
commented on
their apparent
passion for going from street to
street,
without having any place in mind, mainly to see the courtesans, 'who
show themselves
that
wondered
how
how much more
at
were
really
at their Venetian blinds
have often marvelled
All the
men
with such treacherous artfulness
they tantalise our eyes as they do ...
beautiful they appeared to be than they
most famous courtesans of
the
Melandroni,
who came from
modest Sienese
to
Rome
first
By
girls,
both
in their early teens,
is
and who gave her

or six scudi.
meal
had walked back
had won
a protector
of Cardinal Benedetto Giustiniani, and
friend of Ranuccio Tomassoni, with
five
Here she
Silvio.
near the walls of San Silvestro. 27 Fillides
in Ulisse Masetti, in the service
which cost him
8 January 1581,
and taken to prison for being
1597 Fillides career was launched; she
'carnal knowledge'
but rose to enjoy
and Anna Bianchini had come to prepare
ill,
and the two
Fillide
when, with Anna Bianchini, also to
1594,
streets after dark,
mother had been
together.
in April
was
years
family,
26
Melandroni, and on his death she moved
a prostitute, she was arrested
out in the
for her,
these
with her mother, Cinzia, and her brother,
mentioned
become
de'
as they pass.'
who was born on
considerable wealth and status. Fillide,
was the daughter of Enea
and making
are there taking off their hats
deep bows, and receiving an ogling glance or two
Among
28
whom
a
'a
she had, in her
own
words,
flame-coloured taffeta dress'
Ulisse Masetti, in evidence given to the
courts in 1601, claimed that their sexual relationship had been over for
two
years,
but that four months
Ranuccio Tomassoni.
Ranuccio's
name
earlier
he had dined with her and with
29
often appears in the
and perhaps, well connected
as
lives
of the
he was, and moving
Roman
easily
courtesans,
amongst the
noble families of Rome, he offered some kind of protection against the

forces
of law and order. Certainly he enraged the notary of the Corte
140

Savelli,
Gaspare Albertini, by taking the part of two courtesans,
Prudenzia and Caterina Zacchia,
the leg.
He
marvelled that Ranuccio,
'a
viciously attacked the notary
man of your own
common
be on speaking terms with a
who
who had
throwing bricks from their window, and wounding him on
in the street,
should
station,
whore, this well-fucked cozener
has so viciously attacked me', a remark to which Ranuccio respond-
ed with a well-worn
list
of
syphilitic insults,
of the governor,
witness, Pietro, the process server
confusion of such night-time scuffles.
thrown only half
a brick,
about boils and
and that the
He
vividly
sores.
evoked the
said that the whores
moon had
shone, and
saw an arm, but
belonged, and Gaspare said to
me
know
don't
"Be
my
had
been shining (impor-
and the
tant for the law, as he, a policeman, knew): 'There was light
moon
30
to which of the
two
it
witness'" (this call to witness
was standard form).
But only three weeks

attacked.
Fillide
later
Prudenzia Zacchia was herself ferociously
caught up with her in Ranuccio's house near the
Pantheon, waving a knife at her, pummelling her with her
own
her hair. Back in the peace of her
fists,
pulling
house, which lay behind the
Convertite (a house for reformed whores), 'with no hint of suspicion'
Prudenzia had been the victim of
second sudden onslaught.
Fillide
and her friend Prudenzia Brunori had burst through the door, roughly
pushing aside Prudenzia's mother; Fillide had gone for her face with a
knife,
and
on the
All this
all
three
wrist, and,
had struggled
touched by the point of the
the ritual assaults
scar (sfregio)
violently, leaving
was standard
Prudenzia wounded
knife, near her
on the door, the attempt

street-battle behaviour,
mouth.
to leave a facial
a very
common
occurrence.
The
description of the attack at Ranuccio's house was embellished by
Antonio Mattei, who had been present, and who described how
'Ranuccio was in bed with a woman, Prudenzia Zacchia, while
standing there close to the
soon
as she
fire,
and there came a woman,
saw Prudenzia with Ranuccio, she had
strumpet, here you
are!'
and, seizing a knife
from the
Fillide
yelled,
table,
was
.'
As
Ah, whore,
had attacked
her viciously. Later another witness heard Fillide shouting at Prudenzia,
who was
standing in the doorway of her house, nursing her
141
wounded
Caravaggio A Life
hand 'You scum, you strumpet,
wanted to get you
wounded you
Don't worry,
in the kisser.
Til
in the hand, but I
be back/
Clearly Ranuccio s favours, whether sexual or administrative, aroused

violent passions,
and
with the Tomassoni family
Fillide s connections
were to remain strong. Meanwhile her career flourished. She amassed

considerable wealth, living from 1603 in the prestigious via Paolina, in the
parish of Santa Maria del Popolo, a district for which she
had to buy
a certificate
would have
of exemption. She now lived with her aunt,
Petra,
and her brother, Silvio. In 1598 a Florentine noble, Giulio Strozzi, arrived
in
Rome. He became
passionately
ration, so intense that
become
The
a courtesan
he wished to marry
Fillide,
and
his
admi-
her, suggests that she
had
of the highest rank.
unruly behaviour of these painters and swordsmen, the sense of
and
a constant concern with rank
and
slight
enamoured of
insult, are reflections
and the
status,
of a
ritualised responses to
rigidly stratified society.
Their
world was governed by a complex culture of honour, an inspiration and
of courtly
ideal that succeeded the Renaissance ideal
love,
and which
shaped the behaviour of very many Romans. Honour was the badge
of the
displayed through power, wealth, knowledge, and arms;
elite,
crystallised a
mans
value
and
status in the eyes
of the world.
swordsmanship was central to the culture of honour, and
Rome
centre of a flourishing school of famous swordsmen, where the

light
As
weapon worn by
Castiglione
a courtier
had
1 judge
written,
ought to be in
feates
And many
times
it
that he hath at that instant by his side../
hedged about with complex

rapid,
by
more
dreamed of
ing a Knight of Christ, or
and
in the last
a vast spate
of
increasingly popular.
There happen oftentimes
him
31
in stead to use the
meant that the man-to-man
rituals,
weapon
Duelling had been outlawed
now became more
a vehicle for the aggressive individual.
social status,
was the
rapier, a
and another, whereupon ensueth a
shall stand
the Council of Trent, but this
Skill at
the principal and true profession of
of arms
variances between one gentleman
combat.
becoming
the courtier, was
it
Many
once
informal and
artists,
rising to glittering social ranks,
the ultimate accolade
fight,
at
obsessed
of becom-
Knight of Malta,
two decades of the century, such dreams were fed by

treatises
142
and handbooks on the subject of knighthood

and on the
de cavalieri
but
life
.
con
its idyllic
of the gentleman. In
la descrittione dell'isole di
in
Cavaliere,
//
Domenico Mora,
colonel
offend
is
it
recommended
Mora
are claiming
superiority.'
The most
To
writing of
true
the feeling that in injuring others
Cavaliere Compito
the reason of
is
mark
as a
it
(A
by
a dialogue
is
Knight's Duties),
Tommaso
dedicated to
d'Arpino, which sings the praise of swordsmen and
the cruel blows needed to confer
all
Attack him with your dagger, and plunge

.
him your
thrust at
vein of his hot red blood

straw.' 33
is
of these handbooks
II
describes with gory relish
borne breast
mark of
the
young and the wealthy; they look upon
violent
the Cavaliere
a bravo
is
32
d'Alessandri, entitled
upon
that the knight should
had claimed,
an exceptional superiority to them. This
the insolence of the
of
was republished,
dellTlba
echoes Aristotle's sentiment, 'The source of the
pleasure found in an insolent action
we
et
written in 1589 by the Bolognese
fearlessly, for this, as Aristotle
distinction.
Malta
tone contrasts sharply with the more brutal treatises of the
For example,
1590s.
Francesco Sansovino's Origine
1583
make him
knife,
and colour
fall
it
it
honour
into that
ill-
in the biggest
to the earth like a sack
of
d'Alessandri the duel (though he dared not use the word,

il
D) had been introduced
to punish vice,
and to maintain and
conserve honour. In the weighty technical literature, different grades of

insults
through
analysed, as are
ferent parts
rituals
of
Such
fierce looks,
methods of
words, words plus blows
retraction
and
of the body, and on property,
are
minutely
arbitration; assaults
all
on
dif-
formed part of elaborate
affront.
rituals,
so deeply at odds with the Christian ethic of humility,
underlay the constant

role in the culture
Roman
jockeying for position.
Women,
too,
had
of honour. The austere Popes of the mid-century had
waged war on the
prostitutes, but
none the
less
their
numbers had
depressed Clement on his accession. Cardinal Rusticucci gloomily
mated that
there were 13,000 prostitutes in the
city,
esti-
and there probably
were eighteen prostitutes for every 1000 women, including the old and
babies.
They were hemmed
from going out
at night,
in
by penalties and prohibitions, forbidden
and from riding
in carriages,
and
their constant
brawling with the police added to the urban warfare. In the most
143
Caravaggio A Life
dangerous parts of Rome, on guard
at their
abuse at the passers-by in the busy
streets.
attacked
men whose
by raucous young
thwarted, and attacks
on doors and
own name,
its
deturpatio. H
their houses were
had been
designs
were so
verses,
and
fire,
common
or with
that the
and bourgeois women
Aristocratic
were kept apart and led circumscribed
while the whores, enjoying
lives,
were pugnacious and vituperative, and fought rowdy
their freedom,
male audacity. In
battles with
Often
sexual
shutters, with stones
excrement and scurrilous lampoons and

crime had
windows, whores hurled
to equality with
men. As
this sphere
of
alone could they aspire
life
Paduan courtesan declared
Pona's La Lucerna, 'Freedom
is
the
in Francesco
most precious gem
courtesan
possesses and contains within itself everything she desires. Given this
privilege, even
infamy seems honourable to
to the tyranny
of husband or parents, she can
her. Since she
Many
penalties
not subject
deliver herself to her lovers
without fear of being killed for questions of honour. In

free to express natural appetites
is
and feminine
this
way she
were meted out to whores and their customers,
preachers railed against them, and Gregory Martin describes
how Vise
matrons of Rome' strove to convert them, matching themselves with

notorious sinful
is
lasciviousness.' 35
wemen of
the
citie,
such as sometime
'the
Mary Magdalene
was, and so by their wordes and behaviour and promises and liberality
towards them, they win them to honest
life
.'
36
Far stronger measures
were taken against homosexuals, however, and the penalty for sodomy
was death. Sodomy, the sport of Renaissance

with
it
real danger,
in the reigns
and
From
and there were many condemnations of
of Sixtus
ecclesiastic,
aristocrats,
and Clement VIII.
Many
now
carried
this practice
offenders, both lay
were hanged or burned throughout Clements reign. 37
his small
group of friends
painters, soldiers
and whores
Caravaggio drew the models for his early pictures, and in a sense these
paintings are aesthetic transformations of an intensely private world. For
example, a young man, with a plump, round face, elegant, richly dressed,
and ageing
works.
He
studies
again
slightly as the years pass, appears in several

is
the lute player in The Musicians, a
of two models juxtaposed on

apparently aged about twenty
144
of these
work pieced together from
a spaceless surface.
early
in the
He
appears
second version of The

Gypsy Fortune
He
Teller.
is
idealised in the Uffizi Bacchus,
posed, leaning on the table, and a

in the
little
older
for this
one of Caravaggios
It
was perhaps Minniti
group o works. Until around
closest friends,
jauntily
in The Calling of St Matthew
church of San Luigi dei Francesi, in Rome.
who modelled
and
1600, he
remained
and he may have executed some of
the copies which were spreading Caravaggios fame; in particular, the Boy
Peeling Fruit
and The
Cardsharps were very
much copied
nineteenth-century edition of Susinnos

appears an engraving of the artist (Plate
and showing
portrait by Caravaggio,
full face, close in
11),
of Mario Minniti there

perhaps
made from
young Cupid
Ecstasy
of
Francis.
a lost
a dark, curly-haired youth, with a
type to the youth in Caravaggios pictures. 38
for the
St
life
In a
at this time.
The model
in The Musicians also reappears, as the angel in the
Throughout
these
works the
light
the
catches
blades of swords and daggers. In the second version of The Gypsy Fortune
Teller
Minnitis fashionably gloved hand
rests
on an elaborate
hilt;
before St Catherine (Plate 24), tinged with red, there glints what was
probably Caravaggios
own
duelling rapier, long and deadly. In later
works the swords became simpler
in form, the brutal,
heavy swords of
executioners.
Fillide, too,
acted as a model, and Caravaggio painted her portrait
(Plate 22) for her lover Giulio Strozzi
Vincenzo Giustiniani,
san called
Fillide'.
in
whose
The
collection
it
owned by
picture was later
was described
(Vincenzo also owned another
'portrait
as a 'courte-
of
famous
courtesan (untraced) by Caravaggio, and the artists works in his collection are distinguished by their courtly and highly sophisticated sensuality.
Strozzi lent the portrait to Fillide,
who
provided in her will that
it
should be returned to him. 39 The portrait showed her richly dressed, with
elegant simplicity, her
brown
clustered pearl earrings.

literary
overtones,
curls piled high, her full face set off
She had
a distinctive, classy
name, with strong
which distinguishes her from the very many
Maddalenas, Domenicas, Angelicas and Prudenzias of the
Although she participated violently

culture,
by
in
street
fights,
streets.
she had
some
and she may have reminded her contemporaries of the golden
days of the Renaissance,

witty, elegant,
and
when
the great 'honest courtesans'
living grandly in
sumptuous palaces
145
cultivated,
in the
most
Caravaggio A Life
of
patrician areas
Rome - had
been one of the
city's
splendours.
The
beauty of her portrait was celebrated by poets in terms which suggest

nostalgia for those golden days,
anonymous
poet, perhaps
when Raphael had painted
Marzio
Milesi, playing
Imperia.
An
on Caravaggio s name
(Michelangelo), wrote:
Only an Angel could portray you, the
lovely Phyllis,
Creating your lovely face, because you are an angel
from
Paradise,
thereby setting up a most unlikely apotheosis for both painter and

sitter.
40
In her portrait Fillide remains insistently
of Titian's Floras.
ly flesh
earrings, her
It is
real,
with none of the love-
the richness of her clothes, her clustered
embroidered bodice shot through with gold thread, her
massed
curls, that create the
luxury,
and owned many splendid dresses and jewels dresses of
and green
taffeta,
Spanish-style
glamour of the courtesan. She delighted
amber-coloured
gloves, sleeves
gowns of peacock-blue
in
scarlet
of embroidered
silk,
a skirt decorated with
taffeta,
thread-of-gold embroidery, a pair of enamelled earrings decorated with
two
large
and one smaller
pearl, a coral bracelet
on. Fillide was also the
model
sensual, heavy beauty,
who may
mounted
perhaps be identified with Geronima
'
the
into religious subjects, Caravaggio
formation of a personal world became subtler. His

(Col. Plate 7), so close to the
mood and warm
genre and musical pictures, was painted for an
presumably in the
into
Egypt
saints, a
and perhaps for the
Magdalene.
As he moved from genre
circle
of Del Monte;
it
Mary Magdalene became
the
heroine whose role in the Gospels
Virgin. The Golden Legend
tells
trans-
Mary Magdalene
naturalism of his early
unknown
patron, but one
era passionately
Flight
concerned
most popular of the female
is
second only to that of the
us that she anoints Christ's feet in the house
of Simon the Pharisee; shunning the
146
lyrical
has always been with the
and shows the same model. In an
with salvation,
and so
Another woman, of a more
for St Catherine.
Giustiniani, 4 modelled for the Judith and Holofernes

Conversion of
in gold,
activity
of her industrious
sister,
22.
Caravaggio,
Portrait of Fillide
(destroyed; formerly Berlin, Kaiser-Friednch
Museum)
Martha, she chooses instead contemplation, the 'one thing needful'.

Christ's
Christ
dead body
is first
pleasures
tended by
her,
and
it is
to her that the resurrected
revealed. Rich, beautiful, sensual, she
of the
sure keeps
is
flesh (for, as The Golden Legend
company with
had delighted
in the
comments, 'sensuous plea-
great wealth') 42 but she heroically renounced
the vanities of this world to lead a solitary
and
spiritual
H7
life.
In
some
Caravaggio A Life
accounts she
and she became the patron

to suffering
saint
of sinners and penitents, a consolation
women.
Monte s
In Cardinal Del
Magdalene
(now
collection there
rich
is
hung
copy of Titians Mary
in the Palazzo Pitti in Florence), then the
rendering of this theme. Titians

saint
suddenly converted to Christianity,
a beautiful prostitute,
is
an overtly voluptuous image.
is
three-quarter-length, nude,
erotic red-gold hair, are
startlingly close to the spectator; she stands in a
more
Magdalene decked
in the rich
both nudity and those images of the
and worldly finery of the courtesan. In
complies with the
rendering Caravaggio
Magdalene wears the elaborate
dress
lie
her cheek. She
is
of
Her pose
is
and weighed down by
choly, dejection, a figure helpless

vanities
for
his
decency. His
beside her, and her red hair
tied back, only hinting at voluptuousness.
brooding upon the
demand
of the contemporary courtesan, but
she has cast off her rich jewels, which
this world, her
is
one of melanguilt
and
hands empty, and a
grief,
tear
on
almost without attributes; what seems to be a small
of wine stands beside

a
austere 1590s,
theorists railed against images that could be seen as
lascivious or worldly; they disliked
gown,
brought
dark grotto, penitent,
her tear-filled eyes turned heavenward. But by the
flask
The
and her breasts and arms, revealed by
and dazzling waves of wonderfully
churchmen and
most famous
her, while in the pattern
of her damasked
hidden symbol, appears the shape of the usual alabaster vase of
ointment. 43
The image
so naturalistic, and the symbolism so understated, that
is
Bellori believed the picture to have
and then given the

conception
in
is
chair with her
small ointment
Magdalene
hands
.'
.
painted a
in her lap.
jewels,
jar,
44
But
genre painting,
girl
He
drying her
to improve
upon
hair, seated
on
the
a little
portrayed her in a room, adding a
and gems on the
this
its
'when he came upon someone
town who pleased him he made no attempt
He
as a
of Mary Magdalene. His description of
title
fascinating; he writes
creations of nature.
the
been conceived
floor,
pretending that she
is
account perhaps belies the picture s extra-
ordinary originality. Indeed, Caravaggio does not show the lovely and
archetypal penitent in the desert, familiar
from so many images; he
shows an individual and melancholy young
girl in a
48
room,
at the very

moment when
He
she sees that the pleasures of this world are a temptation.
puts the religious scene back into a real context, into the context of
the everyday, renewing
its
suggested that the model

friend in her early
but
may be
it
It
may be
Roman
and
right,
years.
identified with
The
meaning.
Anna
It
has been
Bianchini, Fillide's
evidence for this
not watertight,
is
extremely likely that the model was from
it is
may be
that Caravaggio truly
saw
girl,
who had
a girl drying her hair,
him
the image; but the image reminded
such a
its
circle as Fillide. 45
same
the
immediacy, re-creating
and liked
Magdalene was once
that the
delighted in the world, and he thought back to
the beginning of the story, painting her realisation of guilt with
new
tenderness and poignancy. This ability to rethink religious imagery and
endow
to
teristic
the intensely real with profound resonance remained charac-
of Caravaggios
The
religious art.
may
also be indebted to the
as a
model
painting s sense of immediacy
contemporary conception of the Magdalene
for penitent prostitutes; Fillide herself
the Magdalene.
owned
a painting
of
46
In 1541 the celebrated preacher Cornelio Musso, in the church of San
Lorenzo
Damaso, had
in
railed against prostitutes, urging
penitence of the Magdalene,
'My
upon them
the
dear ladies, courtesans, if there are
any of you here, do not wait until you are getting old, when your lust
satiated,
am
when your
lovers turn their backs
right now, as I
speaking, you should decide to go to the Convertite and spend your
whole
life
vertites,
in that holy prison to
or converted
do penance
harlots
made good
for your sins'. 47
women, Gregory Martin
they are converted from their naughty
'if
on you: now,
is
wemen
Christian
life,
tells
and of
teares
of true repentance
The Golden Legend describes
were sheltered
at the
and by penance to wash
much
is
forgeven
how Mary
'is
con-
us 'so called bycause
common
they choose with Marie Magdalene the best part, to
feete in quiet contemplation,
The
them
whoores and
Casa
sit at
his feete
.'
Pia,
and
Christes
with their
48
called enlightener, because in
contemplation she drew draughts of light so deep that in turn she
poured out
light in
abundance: in contemplation she received the light
with which she afterwards enlightened others. As she chose the best part
of heavenly
glory, she
is
called illuminated, because she
149
now
is
enlight-
Caravaggio A Life
ened by the light of perfect knowledge
by the
light
of glory
of the room
etrates the darkness

is
symbolic, as
tor,
in her
mind and
Perhaps the shaft of
in
will
be illumined
light,
which pen-
which Caravaggio's Magdalene
sits,
to be in other paintings, of spiritual enlightenment.
it is
Her name, Mary,
in her body.' 49
interpreted as amarum mare (bitter sea), or illumina-
is
and Caravaggio unites the
another work, the Conversion of
ideas
the
of penitence and illumination. In
Magdalene (Plate 19), Caravaggio
shows
the ray of light entering the sinner, as she casts off worldly vanities.
The
woman patron, Olimpia Aldobrandini,

of Rome converting the Roman whores.
picture was perhaps painted for a
and suggests the Vise matrons'
Many
noble
Roman women
active charity
Christian
The
but
gathered around Filippo Neri, engaging in
and conversion, and modelling themselves on those
women who had
been inspired by St Jerome.
Bacchus (Col. Plate 10)
it is
is
about transformation,
also a painting
one of a very different kind, for here Caravaggio
forming power of
art.
mass of abundant black

elegant Venetian glass
early
The
god, reclining on a
curls wonderfully
exalts the trans-
Roman
crowned with
of wine to the spectator. In
triclinium, his
vines, offers
an
classical literature
Bacchus, the god of vegetation and the creator of the vine, presided over
feasts;
he was also the god of poetic inspiration, through whose
gifts
man might reach union with the divine and penetrate the mysteries of
nature. In Roman literature he tends to be jollier, less awesome than the
Greek Dionysus, offering peace, happiness, and freedom from
Horace had
care.
As
written:
Give the sacred vine preference, Varus, when you plant
your
trees
For the god has cursed abstainers
nothing
m their life
goes right;
He
alone provides the means to put man-eating cares
to right
5I
.
Bacchus was also the autumnal god, associated with abundance, with the
lovely richness
creativity
and
of the
fertility
artist.
150
of nature, and hence with the freedom and
The Bacchus myth was
deeply ambiguous; his

human and
birth was both
was both savage and
divine; he
civilising,
noble and corrupt, and Caravaggios strange figure, so oddly dressed

up, so fleshy,
and yet
ness of line, and the abstract patterning
ambiguity. His sexual ambiguity

oriental features suggest the
intensely aware
by the unusual taut-
exotically beautiful, idealised
is
of the drapery, conveys
rooted in
myth of
this
classical texts, while his
We
his Eastern upbringing.
remain
of the studio, of the brawny model (perhaps Minniti,
considerably idealised), his hands red, his fingernails dirty, toying with
his velvety black
bow, and
yet, as
we
look, he
god amongst
sense the presence of the divine, of the
of
this sense
sudden revelation that
ceremonies, and Caravaggio
may
cated to Bacchus, over which

in
artists
Bacchus. 52
his
becomes Bacchus, and we
artists
was perhaps
us. It
sought in their Bacchic
have remembered the Academy, dedi-
Lomazzo
presided in Milan. Northern
Rome were later to band together in a boisterous cult of

And Caravaggio, as if to stress the nature of the illusion, of
astounding sensory realism, and the marvellous power of naturalistic
painting so brilliantly displayed in the
still life,
included, as
many north-
ern artists had done, a hidden self-portrait, reflected in the carafe,
bubbles moving on the surface as though
The
Bacchus perhaps
it
had been
just set
crowns the youthful paintings of the
At
the models, like Caravaggio himself, begin to age.

lightly disguised paintings
of
this
down.
1590s, before
period these
his friends suggest the delicate transience
of youth and beauty, and the snares
(especially
of love) that threaten
innocence. His works suggest invitations to love, or warn against

perils.
is
The
its
53
its
beauty of a voluptuous youth, caught in a fleeting moment,
shimmering
set against frail roses, a reflection
Another curly-haired boy,
a rose
behind
his ear, his
in the glass carafe.
bared shoulder thrust
provocatively forward, reacts with extreme and exaggerated horror at

the bite of a lizard concealed
The
rose will fade,
of the
senses.
among
and pain and death
The
rose, so often
the fruits and flowers before him.

lie
concealed
used by
among
the pleasures
lyric poets, is a
symbol of
the courtly world o{ the late sixteenth century, a flower luxuriant
splendid, yet quick to perish,
Bacchus himself
elegiac odes
is
its
and
highly wrought beauty soon passing.
touched with melancholy,
of Tibullus and Propertius.
He
as in the increasingly
offers the riches
isi
of autumn,
Caravaggio A Life
of
cultivation,
life,
of wine, but the
leaves are already curling,
so voluptuous, so opulent,
to winter,
and the
Autumn
already blemished-
is
desire to drink with Bacchus veils a fear
of death, conveying
and the
a passionate desire to seize the day.
still
yields
of ageing and
This group of
pictures transforms Caravaggios world, creating a lyrical, courtly ideal
of the beauty of young men and women, but one given tension by the
more
subtly underlying sense of a
violent reality.
red-haired Magdalene, the sensual Catherine

as the
young boys; and these boys suggest
sensuous and
soft, that is courtly
a lyrical ideal
and
is
the
play as dominant a role
of male beauty,
but not necessarily homoerotic.
luxuriant beauty, languid and adolescent, that

lyrics,
Young women
It is a
evoked by contemporary
the beauty of Narcissus, or of Hyacinth, their throats like ivory,
their lips ruby-red;
it
culminates in Marino's description of Adone,
the hero of his epic of love:
But
who could draw
the two lucent and serene stars of
one and the other brow?
Who
the lovely ruby of his sweet
lips, rich
and
full in
glowing treasure?
Or what
whiteness of ivory or of
lily
can compare with
the throat,
Which
raises
and upholds
a heaven
of marvels gathered
in that face? 54
Caravaggio was
at the centre
whores, playing tennis and
of
a coterie
fighting with
of swordsmen, painters and
Longhi and the Tomassoni,
using the famous courtesan Fillide as a model, and perhaps exchanging

studio props with Gentileschi. But he remained an oddly isolated figure.
He
was aggressive and insecure, and intensely jealous of
Sandrart's story of
a Knight
how
of Malta,
his
honour.
Caravaggio came to cherish the dream of being
albeit inaccurate in detail,
may
well be true in
essence. 'Soon afterwards/ wrote Sandrart,
...
it
happened that Giuseppe d'Arpino, riding
court on horseback, met Michelangelo da
152
to

who
Caravaggio,
time to
fight.
him and
said,
'This
the
is
our quarrel, since we are both armed,'
settle
him
and told
accosted
to get off his horse
and prepare to
Giuseppe, however, answered that as a papal
knight he could not deign to fight with one
who
was not of that rank. This courtly answer wounded

Caravaggio more deeply than a sword thrust might
have,
and
so upset and
it
maddened him
that he
immediately (because he had no intention of

delaying) sold
and
set
his possessions to Jews for cash
all
out for Malta to have the Grand Master
make him
a knight
and
cavaliere.
55
Caravaggio was never without protectors, but he lacked close
ties.
Mancini
had
arrived
was received by the Cardinal,
of
his brother
was not
his brother.'
sight
who
The poor
Battista Caravaggio
know him and
priest
made
There
a tender reply, but
are difficulties
seems to have lived
that
probably true;
it is
,'
56
and
it
and the story
the
that he
was forced
this story
certainly
from
and was probably

took place on
is
his
told so vividly
suggests Caravaggios isolation, and
So odd, perhaps,
'settled
well,
At
Mancini
'Thus one cannot deny that Caravaggio was a very odd
Mario Minniti, himself

ities,
1600. Perhaps this interview
Mancini knew Caravaggio
pithily concludes:
person
May
with
Rome,
1599 wnere ne studied moral theology with the Jesuits,
ordained there on 27
arrival.
priest,
sent for Michelangelo, who,
declared that he did not
to leave without even a goodbye.
Giovan
Caravaggios brother, a
tells a chilling little story.
m Rome to see Caravaggio, having heard of his growing fame. He
violent,
some of
that
became
down and took
escapades of his friend distasteful
tired
a wife,
.
his friends deserted him.
of Caravaggios eccentric-
because he found the stormy
57
i53
CHAPTER SEVEN
Conversion
and Martyrdom:
the Jubilee of 1600
the later
IN
of Church and Pope were concen-
1590s the energies
with increasing confidence and passion, on the preparations
trated,
of the Jubilee Year of
for the celebrations
Holy Year, was proclaimed
1600.
The Anno
every twenty-five years, and in these years the
penitential pilgrim could receive exceptional indulgence for
and thus gain a place
in heaven;
he could be cleansed from
baptised anew, and the Jubilee of 1600 was a

in their
acts
with
hundreds to the Eternal
City.
The
David,
and the
filled
Peter,
to the
Holy
heretics are inspired to convert, the faith
of the
Roman
in any other, 'pilgrims
and the authority of the Apostolic Seat grows to

enemies are reconciled
An
shone
of the psalmist
city
Rome
of
are inspired to repent
.'
church burgeons,
saints are
filled,
the
honoured,
early years
letters constantly suggest
anguished fears for the Holy Church, menaced by

France, the discords in Poland, the terrors in
of the
Clement s
Greatest amongst his concerns was the apostasy of
now saw
of
'the devastation
Germany, the
threats
of the
Turks, and the disunity amongst the Catholic princes of Europe
excommunicated
Clement VIII; Del Monte s
by Sixtus V,
a marvellous extent
atmosphere of unrelieved gloom had marked the
reign of
Rome
almsgiving multiplied, hospitals
churches restored and adorned more than usual
and sinners
though
the hearts of the devout. In this year, wrote Ottavio Panciroli,
come
more than
his sins,
Protestants abhorred external
of the Magdalene, of
tears
all
sin, as
the faithful to flock
call to
of penitence, believing penitence to be inward; but

tears,
Santo, or
Henry
IV,
z
.
who,
the advantages of returning to the
Church. Spain vigorously opposed him, but a long period of delicate

negotiation led to Clement's accepting the King, once 'the prince of
154
all
Conversion and Martvrdo
Antonio Tempesta,
23.
Scene of
Martyrdom
(print)
heretics,
and anti-Pope', back into the Church. Cardinal Baronio, now

3
Clement VIlTs confessor, argued that

all
preached the
King',
folly
was the Pope s duty to absolve
of sending an army against
a bet
August Navarre
win
a 'warlike
who had
always
and victorious
was laying a bet on his absolution with Cardinal Paravicino
1 have made
all
it
penitent heretics, and by February of 1595 Del Monte,
of 100 scudi with Cardinal Paravacino that for
will
be reconciled: and
I certainly believe
that
shall
The ceremony of
absolution took place on 17 September
1595;
St
Peters Square, the courtyards, and staircases of the Vatican were crowd-
ed with onlookers. In the atrium of the great
basilica,
before the
enthroned Pope, Henrys representatives abjured the heresies of Calvin,
and received absolution. There was general
rejoicing, but, as
Del Monte
wryly remarked, 'The people s rejoicing was great, and the children deaf-
ened the
ill
but they could not speak well of France, without speaking
air,
of Spain
6
.
There followed,
in
1598,
the
second great
political
*55
triumph of
Caravaggio A Life
Clement's reign, the acquisition of Ferrara for the Papal States, without
recourse to arms. For this Clement orchestrated a spectacular triumphal
entry to Ferrara, a celebration which displayed the renewed power and
authority of the papacy, and created a symbolic end to the wars of
reli-
and to the Franco-Spanish war. The papal court, preceded by the
gion,
Holy Sacrament, progressed through many

cities,
where the Pope was acclaimed
world.
The
painters. In his entourage
many
priests, musicians, architects
was Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, with
painter Cesari d'Arpino. Del
Monte,
too,
was amongst the
by the Pope, and wrote to Ferdinando
'His Holiness
fifteen
having brought peace to the
as
journey took eight months, and with Clement there travelled
twenty-seven cardinals, and very
invited
lavishly decorated Italian
let
men and
me know
that
de'
Medici
could take with
me
first
and
his
to be
in January 1598:
an entourage of
twelve horses, and he bore the expenses for
me
.'
His
painter,
Caravaggio, clearly did not accompany him, as during Del
Monte s
absence he was arrested for carrying arms in the Piazza Navona.
Many of
among them
the prelates took the opportunity to visit Venice,
Aldobrandini, Del Monte, Benedetto Giustiniani and Baronio, and they
were to bring back to
Rome
renewed passion for Venetian
who was
possible that the Venetian painter Carlo Saraceni,
supporter of Caravaggio, came to
Clement constantly exhorted

the
say
Anno Santo ('He

many
has urged
Rome
us',
wrote Del
of Rome,
and
become
of Del Monte.
his cardinals to set a
things piously, and with respect'
restore the ruined churches
in the train
to
art. It is
good example
Monte
in
May
1599, 'to
also encouraged
to re-create the beauty
for
them
of a
to
city
which had triumphed over paganism and which had now once more
gloriously defeated the forces of darkness; Baronio
'What
they
what
are the heretics
who
I
daily
come
would do
if I
had
earlier exclaimed,
to say about the dilapidation of these churches,
to the city and slander us
had the
power.'
all
over?
You know,
Lord,
There was particular emphasis on
the Early Christian churches, - mosaics were restored, and the little
squares before them embellished for they symbolised the origins of the
Roman
Church, suggesting an unbroken tradition and the simple and
pure faith which the
new
orders sought to re-create. Scholars and
Christian archaeologists explored the legends that clustered around the
156
Conversion and Martyrdom

lives
of the
early saints,
and new
were published, eliminating
critical editions
of the
lives
of the
saints
that was apocryphal. Particularly popular
all
were the early Virgin martyrs: St Cecilia, St Pudenziana, St Lucia, St

Felicita,
frailty
whose very names were so
confronting the power of the
and despised by
ridiculed
In 1578
all
Catacomb of
the
many
Roman
Empire, but
who
marvelled at the dramatic discovery of the
which seemd so vivid and timely
Priscilla,
of the
now
were
sceptical northerners.
Rome had
stories
of innocence and
poetic, so evocative
vast
number of
proof of
Early Christian martyrs whose
blood had sanctified Rome. Only a few months
after its discovery a
contemporary wrote:
The
its
place
religion
and
sanctity, as to excite
who go
tears, in all
spot.
so venerable by reason of
is
there
antiquity,
its
emotion, even to
and contemplate
it
on the
There men can picture to themselves the
persecutions, the sufferings and the piety of the

saintly
members of
and
the primitive church,
it is
obviously a further confirmation of our Catholic

religion.
One
can see with ones
own
eyes how, in
the days of the pagan idolaters, those holy and
pious friends of
Our
when they were
Lord,
forbidden public assemblies, painted and
worshipped
their sacred images in these caves
and
subterranean places, those images which blinded

Christians today seek, with sacrilegious zeal, to
remove from
their churches.
10
In one of the most impressive Early Christian churches in

circular
San Stefano Rotondo, the
Jesuits
Rome,
had commissioned
scenes of martyrdom, showing the early history of the Church.

are truly horrific works, crude,
trated textbook
of
atrocities,
and
oddly passionless,
of precise
details.
They
thirty
They
illus-
complete with captions, inspired by a
desire to instruct, to assert the objective truth

a use
and seem an
the
of many
grisly legends
invited reverence for the past,
157
by
and inspired
Caravaggio A Life
emulation in the future; they seemed to link the present with a heroic
past. In the
dark atmosphere of the 1590s such torture cycles spread
through the churches of Rome. Cardinal Baronio commissioned a
series
of crude and coarsely didactic frescoes for the small and neglected
church of Santi Nereo ed Achilleo, on the Via Appia near the Baths of
which he was drawn because here
Caracalla, an Early Christian church to

'St
Gregory addressed a homily to the people, and
our forebears had erected the
On
[here] in ancient times
formerly called fasciolae'.
titulus,
11
the walls of Santa Susanna Cardinal Rusticucci commissioned
colossal scenes
of martyrdom (rendered
in 15968) which, set against
magnificent backdrops of classical architecture, suggested the might of

that ancient world which
bowed before
Christianity. Festive, dazzling,
they are painted on feigned tapestries evoking the richness of the Jubilee
decorations.
Clement himself commissioned
team of
painters,
headed
by Cesari d'Arpino, to decorate the transept of St John Lateran, a

church venerated for
association with the early days of Christianity,
its
with frescoes whose themes celebrated the glorious omnipotence of the

papacy, and whose Raphaelesque style itself suggested continuity and
tradition.
A penitential ardour,
a longing to be called to Christ,
imitation of Christ to win salvation, filled Catholic
was the supreme act of the

missionaries
in
the
Imitatio Christi,
New
and through the
Rome. Martyrdom
and news of the deeds of Jesuit
World, and the East (many
Jesuits
and
Franciscans were famously crucified at Nagasaki), and the immensely

successful letters of St Francis Xavier
and inspired emulation.
when
Christians
It
from
seemed that the
had been united by
India, excited admiration,

early days
a willingness to die for their faith,
had been gloriously reborn. Missionary
activities
were aimed
but equally passionate was the desire to convert the
more
spiritual life in the
saints, St Ignatius, St
Baronio had
felt a
meditative texts
hope of
salvation.
The
self,
at others;
to turn to a
great sixteenth-century
Theresa, had themselves experienced conversion.
personal
call to
God,
promoted conversion
as
had the
early Apostles,
as a call to the
involved prayer and active charity, and was

contemplatives, but for ordinary Catholics.
158
of the Church,
12
now
devout
a goal
life,
and
which
not only for
Such ardour was nourished

and stimulated by painting. Cardinal Gabriele
Discorso intorno
to
move was
viewer
is
pleasures.
immagini sacre
alle
far greater
wrote that paintings power
profane (1582),
than that of
How much
martyrdom of
more compelling
a saint, the zeal
of
and through
literature,
it is,
wrote Paleotti, to
devotion, and moves us viscerally, and he
or marble.'
who
see
the
All this increases
does not recognise this
is
14
Yet despite Clement's sense that his reign had inaugurated a
of
the
a tortured Virgin, the Crucified Christ,
before our very eyes, rendered with lifelike colours
made of wood,
it
and contempt for worldly
led to penitence, suffering, charity,

13
Paleotti, in his influential
piety, despite the rhetoric
new
age
of the second triumph of the Church, the
city
remained deeply troubled and harshly
fear,
only just below the surface, of the devilish machinations of English
and German
heretics. In the stillness
with a constant
repressive,
of San Stefano Rotondo, Sixtus
had wept over the sufferings of the Early Christian martyrs; but
prisons of
Rome men and women
on the rack and the

Tor
di
Nona and
veglia,
the
Tor
in the
were submitted to identical tortures,
and throughout Rome,

Savella, in the
Popolo, the Campidoglio, the
Campo
Piazza
de' Fiori,
in the prisons
Salviati, the
of the
Piazza del
more and more
victims
were hanged, strangled, quartered, beheaded, mutilated, and burned,

their
numbers increasing
as the Jubilee
executions, demonstrations
approached. 15
of the awful power of the
didly orchestrated so that executioner and victim were

a terrible
drama
that enthralled the public.
The
Many of
these
state,
were splen-
bound
together in
lay brothers
of the
Archconfraternity of St John the Beheaded, dressed and masked in linen,
with black cassocks and hoods, comforted the victim, and held before
his eyes small panels (tavolette)
showing scenes of
saintly torture
and
martyrdom, encouraging him to repent and to endure, and through

conversion to transform his death into a kind of martyrdom. In the
chapel of their oratory a dramatic altarpiece, Giorgio Vasari's Beheading of
St John the Baptist,
drew the
eye,
and may well have been remembered by
Caravaggio, in his later years in Malta.
At the end of the century the Roman atmosphere,
already tense, a
hectic mixture
of triumph and apocalyptic
fear,
of rejoicing and peni-
tential fervour,
was heightened by a bloody
trial
that enflamed passions
159
Caravaggio A Life
and
in
whose drama nature herself seemed to take
part. In 1598 the
long criminal saga of the ill-famed Cenci family, which was to end in
scenes of extreme cruelty, was slowly unfolding.
tyrannical Francesco Cenci,
On
who had imprisoned
his
11
September, the
second wife and
daughter, Lucrezia and Beatrice, in the fortress of Petrella Salto, in the
brigand-infested mountains of the Cicolano, was murdered by Beatrice,
with the help of her brother Giacomo, and Olimpio Calvetti, the chatelain
of
Petrella.
Cenci on
The
family then
interrogation of the notary

foul
moved
to
Rome, where,
November, Beatrice apparently responded
at the
Palazzo
satisfactorily to the
Mariano Pasqualoni (who was
later to fall
of Caravaggio).
The Pope was
closely involved in this drama, but as he returned
Ferrara to enjoy a magnificent procession through the streets of

its
from
Rome,
houses hung with rugs, tapestries and paintings to welcome him, his
attention was diverted

al disaster
that has ever threatened
skies were grey
night,
from the Cenci by the most overwhelming natur-
Rome.
the day of his return the
and the weather threatened. Torrents of
and on the following day the Tiber
paid, but
On
swelled.
At
rain
fell
first little
in the
heed was
by Christmas Eve widespread flooding was causing chaos. The
devastation was so great, and the
wind and
was numbed with fear and
appallingly silent.
fell
rain so relentless, that the city
As the danger grew,
church bells rang, and there was wailing and lamentation. Finally, only
moments
Aldobrandini had crossed
after Pietro
over,
a great
wave
destroyed the Ponte di Santa Maria, which ever since has been called the
Ponte Rotto, or Broken Bridge.

Christmas was shrouded in gloom, with neither masses nor vespers
sung
in the churches;
but on the following day, St Stephens day, the
waters began to recede, and the long process of cleaning the
with timbers, fallen beams, and buttresses, began. Against

tic
background the Cenci tragedy resumed
1599
Giacomo,
Beatrice
and Olimpio were
months were tortured and
tried.
its
his
from the prisons of the
apocalyp-
In January
in the next
(the
Pope
hands on Cenci wealth), and the
agent of the Medici Grand Duke, Francesco Maria
160
and
Sympathy was with the Cenci
was suspected of wanting to get
liberated
this
momentum.
arrested,
city, littered
Vialardi, himself
Inquisition, described the affair to

Ferdinando always with compassion for the courage and beauty of
Beatrice.
The
trial
dragged on, and Prospero Farinacci, Beatrice's lawyer,
claimed that her fathers
ambassadors, and the
remained
inflexible,
many
Roman
cruelties included sexual abuse.
Nobles,
people prayed for mercy but the Pope
and the sentence of death was pronounced on
10
September, and carried out on n September 1599.
The
execution was a horrendous spectacle; soldiers and the execu-
tioner, the Brothers
of Mercy and the Brothers of St John the
Baptist,
with other companies and confraternities, accompanied the condemned,

along
di
many of
the longest
and most beautiful
streets
of Rome, the
via
Monserrato, the via dei Banchi and via di San Celso, to the Piazza di
Ponte Sant'Angelo. Here
crowd of spectators waited
a vast
from the heat)
tering sun (several were to die
Lomazzo
tells
in the swel-
to witness their deaths.
us that Leonardo advised the painter to 'see the reactions
of those condemned to death when they
are led to their execution, in
order to study those archings of the eyebrows and those movements of

the eyes'.
16
Surely Caravaggio, remembering this advice, was there, per-
haps with Orazio Gentileschi, and his young daughter, Artemesia.
Annibale Carracci's painful drawing of
a hanging,
with the victim awk-
wardly propped up on the ladder, and the comforter holding up a small

image, suggests that artists followed his advice.
The
sacristan,
Luigi
Vendenghini, wrote to his mother: 'This morning a terrible spectacle.
They
publicly beheaded a
mother and
a daughter
of singular beauty,
while a son had his flesh torn from his living body for murdering his
father,
on the
brother.'
17
scaffold,
and watched the deaths of
The newspaper
described
23rd hour to the public view, that

torches
how
is,
the Cenci,
Beatrice,
and admiration
young and
lovely,
for
who
his
the ladies each
sister
and
left until
the
mother,
were
'the corpses
round about, and Giacomo hanging
Unusually, however, the crowd was

all
A younger son was
with the help of the said mother and daughter.
present
on
a bier
with
lit
in quarters'.
moved
to pity.
There was pity
for
Giacomo's dignity and courage, but
displayed great dignity as she walked
through the crowd, touched the heart. Paolucci write to the Cardinal
d'Este,
'The death of a young
and of most beautiful
life,
girl,
has
who was of
moved
all
very beautiful presence
Rome
to compassion',
161
and
Caravaggio A Life
Grand Duke Ferdinand,
Vialardi, reporting to
most
suffering,
martyrs.
and
at
Her
severed head was crowned with flowers as
when her
body
yielded
had
up
also
body of
the
way
in the year, in a
Roman
bier,
of San
ran to weep
and to put lighted candles around
until midnight,
little later
virgin
on the
lay
it
in the centre
how 'All the populace
Pietro in Montorio, Vialardi described
down
bier was laid
'in
sanctity through
and her story began to merge with those of the Roman
her funeral,
over the
had died
said that she
seemed to have attained
saintly fashion. Beatrice
it.'
seemed miraculous, the earth
that
virgin martyr, that
of St
Cecilia,
who
touched the heart of the executioners. She was discovered, on
20 October 1599, under the main
altar
of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, by
Cardinal Sfondrato. Here, in a cypress coffin, he had found her body

'entire
and uncorrupt
seven years after her death
were
still veils
more than one thousand

.'
l8
Baronio
imbued with blood
hundred and
three
later described
how
'At
her feet
the very chaste virgin was lying
on
her side, as on a bed, the knees tucked in with modesty ... no one dared
lift
flocked to Trastevere, especially the most noble
dense were the crowds,
filling
Pope sent the Swiss Guards

of the
to control them. Stefano
show her body
saint, believed to
moving
twist
elegance and
to
It
soul,
seemed
of the head to
frailty,
remember
though
as it
on Clements
16
Maderno s
statue
and
wound, St
its
naturalism,
Cecilia's
blend of
he painted a Sicilian Virgin Martyr.
Rome was revealing its most secret early Christian
its
origins.
reign, the
on the night of
had been discovered, was
it still is),
reveal the
and that the present was blessed by
ing to the purity of
19
inspired intense pity. Later, in Sicily, Caravaggio was
this statue as
as
body
the bridges and narrow streets, that the
placed under the high altar in 1600 (where

the
All Rome
Roman women, and so
the vestments in order to discover the virginal
a heroic past,
and was return-
But darkness followed. In the worst stain
impenitent heretic Giordano Bruno was taken,
February 1600, from the prison of the Tor di
and burned, naked, and
in darkness, in the
Campo
de' Fiori.
Nona
His death
was the shameful and muffled end of a long process begun in
and he died cursing

were a constant
thirteen people
fear,
his
and
persecutors.
in 1595
had abjured
162
The
machinations of heretics
Del Monte told the Grand Duke
their errors at the
1593,
that
Minerva amongst them

a
German
converted to Christianity
necromancers, one a hermit
The Cenci
who was
an impenitent Lutheran,
priest,
trial,
who had
returned to Judaism, and other
who had consorted with
the devil.
The Hospice of
none the
less the
added
Popes anxious
care
the Trinita de' Pellegrini, founded by
Filippo Neri, alone sheltered ^00,000 people, and very

Protestants, Jews
20
the burning of Bruno, the terrors of the flood,
a sinister quality to the Jubilee, but
was well rewarded.
burned, a Jew
many
infidels
and Turks, and amongst them Stephen Calvin, related
to the arch-heretic
the opening of the
converted. Clement wept during the ceremony of
Holy Door
at St Peters,
on
31
December, when,
accompanied by three penitents, he struck three times on the Holy Door

with a
silver
hammer, symbolising the
gence. Confraternities
from outside
start
of
a year
Rome made
of plenary indul-
spectacular entrances.
Everyone ran to see those from Foligno, who, on 9 May, entered

ness with 300 flaming torches, with floats
in dark-
on which they showed boys
dressed as angels with the instruments of the Passion, followed by floats
on which they performed tableaux

Passion of Christ.
Those from Aquila
the silver busts of six saints.
of the mysteries of the
vivants
carried a splendid standard
Through
and barbarous cruelty of Senecan tragedy dominated the
and the plays of the most celebrated

Crispus,
performed
in 1597,
and
of horror
1600
Flavia, in
as the
Roman
Jesuit dramatist, Stefano
showing the conflict between good and

creating a crescendo
and
the 1590s the brooding darkness
evil,
theatre,
Tuccio
are spectacular works,
martyr and oppressor,
Holy Year drew
close.
On Tuccios
relic,
and many
for the Jubilee was
Costanza
death in 1597 the Pope had torn his clothes to acquire a
were converted after seeing his dramas.
Among
those
who came
to
Rome
Colonna, and her son, Muzio Sforza,

to the frescoes that Baronio
Achilleo.
Peretti
Muzio
addressed a laudatory
in Santi
poem
Nereo ed
had, in 1597, married the Pnncipessa Colonna, Orsina
Damasceni, and was engaged
The Marchesa Costanza came

to
who
had commissioned
to
in disputes
Rome
in the
with Cardinal Farnese.
autumn, pausing
at
Genoa
meet her brother, Cardinal Ascanio Colonna, who was leaving
for Spain.
He left her in control of his
from 1600 to
affairs,
1605, the Marchesa was in
and for the next few
Rome, where she
163
Italy
years,
lived at the
c aravaggio
24.
Caravaggio, St Catherine of Alexandria

(Madrid,
Palazzo Colonna
A Lifi
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza)
at Santi Apostoli,
and doubtless renewed her contact
with Caravaggio. Later he was to use the connections of her powerful

family with Genoa.
21
164

work the themes of martyrdom and
In Caravaggio's
and
appeared,
savage
mood
began to alternate with the
Giorgionesque charm of his early works.

15989, Del Monte,
He
painted, probably around
move towards
less Italians
as
many
torture
on
life,
more Roman
figure
most popular of the

so richly embroidered
were an easy target for Protestant scorn.
None
the
remained devoted to the story of her immense erudition and
wisdom, of her inspired defence of her

of
St Catherine of Alexandria was one of the
female saints, but the colourful legends of her

in The Golden Legend,
lyrical,
a full-length St Catherine of Alexandria (Plate 24),
which marks the beginning of

style.
violent death
as fifty
faith against the wily
arguments
philosophers sent by the Emperor Maxentius, of her
studded with iron
a wheel,
spikes,
which was dramatically
destroyed by a thunderbolt, and her eventual beheading. So persistent, so
was
loved,
this story that
it
survived despite
all
the passionate historical
research of the 1590s.
Caravaggio's St Catherine was one of Del Monte's prized possessions,
and he owned four other images of the
saint,
by distinguished
perhaps attracted by a saint whose beauty was
made
artists,
respectable by
her status as patron of learning. In his will he expressed his devotion

to the saint, praying for her intercession.
and Caravaggio conveys
birth,
the draperies, of purple-blacks

silvers,
He
this
22
St Catherine was of royal
through the richness and beauty of
and blues shot through with golds and
of the boldly patterned red damask cushion on which she
kneels.
created the glow and texture of the fabric by using the butt end of
the brush, allowing a red pigment beneath to shine through the purples
and
blues.
This suggestion of courtly wealth
is
brutally juxtaposed with
wooden
wheel, rendered not as a symbol, but full-size, with
concrete
reality, its
primitive structure and rough textures meticulously
detailed,
and with the sword, so deadly and so
reflected
from the cushion,
the coarse
Within
this
yet evocative
dazzling array of objects a young
rendered with intense naturalism, looks

watchful gaze.
artist
elegant, tipped with red
of blood.
We
at the spectator
Roman woman,
with a direct yet
remain strongly aware of the studio, in which the
has carefully arranged the heavy drapery over the spike of the
wheel, perhaps adding with a final flourish the martyrs
165
palm spread out
Caravaggio - A Life
over the silk cushion. But the setting remains abstract, and in this space,
beam of
dark and shadowy, and pierced by a

ly,
from the
light
which
falls,
unusual-
an almost hallucinatory quality, as
right, the objects attain
though summoned up by intense meditation, while the sword, caressed

by the
who
saint,
points at the stained tip with a gesture that
sensual, seems to hover before her.
She
is
far
removed from the very many
contemporary renderings of the Virgin martyr, which tend to
and show Catherine, gently
sweet virginity,
almost
is
stress a
jewelled
beautiful,
and
crowned, her eyes turned heavenwards in supplication. Caravaggio has

tried to imagine her in his
rapier,
and the model
Catherine
is
is
own
violent times; the sword
is
his duelling
the courtesan Fillide Melandroni. His St
a disturbingly
modern and
real
woman, surrounded by
darkness; she suggests that sense of despair and melancholy that
beneath the surface of so
There followed, maybe

(Col. Plate
much
lies
late sixteenth-century splendour.
late in 1599, the
painting of Judith and Holofernes
which became one of the most treasured possessions of
13),
Ottavio Costa, who, in his will of
1632,
was to specify that
his heirs
should not, under any circumstances, part with 'any of the paintings of
Caravaggio, and particularly not the Judith'. 23 Judith s story
book
in the Apocrypha, a
book
rejected
told in her
by the Protestants, but included
the Sixto-Clementine Bible of 1592. This

Judith, a rich
is
tells
how
in
the Jewish heroine
and beautiful widow, heroically saved her people from
destruction at the hands of Holofernes, the Assyrian general. She

dressed in her richest clothes, 'so as to catch the eye of any
might
see her' (10:
5),
man who
and with her maid, Abra, entered the enemy camp.
Holofernes was beguiled into excessive indulgence, and while he
lies in a
and took hold of the
drunken stupor, she 'approached to
his bed,
of
O lord God of Israel, this day. And
his head,
and
she smote twice
head from him'

bundled
their
said,
upon
(13:
Strengthen me,
his
neck with
all
hair
her might, and she took away his
78). Abra, keeping watch outside the tent, quickly
gory trophy into a sack.
Judith was immensely popular throughout the sixteenth century; she
came
to be seen as prefiguring the Virgin Mary,
and
as
symbolising
the Church. In these hectic years, aflame with missionary zeal,
churches of
Rome
when
the
displayed the tortures meted out to early martyrs, she
166

on
heretics
Sacra Rappresentazione (a very
popular
suggests the response of a militant Church, wreaking terror
and
sinners. In the theatre
of the
La Rappresentazione
play, entitled
Hebrea of
di Judith
1518,
was reprinted many
times through the century, and again in the Jubilee Year) her story was
presented on stage, with gory violence. In

Tuccio, Judith
is
a type
of Mary, whose cold
drama by
a Latin
Judith,
killing
of Holofernes
The
on
execution,
stage,
is
like a rite.
'Do you wish to
comments
see',
is
from God.
the fulfilment of a sacred duty, and she prays for strength
the
chorus, 'with what force, with what protection, [Mary] conquers the
enemy? This
will Judith teach
you
.'
24
In his interpretation Caravaggio, for the
problems of dramatic
Holofernes
his
head
jets
shown,
is
at the
from the
narrative, created
as
Medusa had
first
an image of horrifying violence.
The
space
the colour of blood. There
is
is
moment of
been, at the very
meeting point of strong diagonals.
gash.
time confronting the
enclosed,
He
death,
and blood
shrieks,
and the dark red of the tent
no space between the half-length
figures,
brought close to the picture plane, so that the viewer, thrust up against
the actors,
becomes intensely involved
Although
in the
drama.
widow, Judith, partly in white, has an
icy,
virginal quality,
her polished face a cold and formal beauty (the model was not Fillide,
though she has

Giustiniani).
a similar style
Her
expression
has a ritual quality. She
is
of beauty; she may have been Geronima
is
very
appalled yet intent, and her heavy gesture
much
a Judith
of the
1590s, close to that
of Tuccio, the chaste and strong instrument of God, her implacable mission to destroy the devil, as Mary, in a later painting,
serpent. (Judiths chastity
and
it
animal-like,
many
is
And
to tread
had been celebrated by the Church
had been emphasised by St Jerome, who added
the Latin Vulgate
is
chastity
was joined to her
an incarnation of
evil,
The
own
virtue'.)
suggesting the
renderings of the Last Judgement.
his
25
on the
Fathers,
phrase to
Holofernes,
damned
souls in
ritual quality, the frozen
expressions and gestures, are also the product of Caravaggio's
method of
painting from posed models. Incised lines are visible in the picture s surface
around
elderly
maid,
Judiths
left
arm and
shoulder, around the neck of the
and around Holofernes' head
and
it
seems that
Caravaggio, working from models, used them, here and elsewhere, to
167
fix
Caravaggio A Life
the crucial elements of his composition. But he could not cut off his
models head, and X-rays have
model
must have asked the
revealed that he
to take a different pose as he developed the composition.
working method,
after nature, gave his picture the
His
immediacy of a
tableau vivant, perhaps like those that were performed for the Jubilee. 26
new and
Caravaggio nevertheless gave to these symbolic figures a
bloody
reality,
and shows Holofernes awake, aware
death rather than,

is
had done,
as earlier artists
extremely likely that the Cenci execution, which enthralled
deep impact upon his imagination
had
that
of the young Artemisia Gentileschi), and
the picture s immediacy.

ty,
moment of
at the
comatose slumber. 27
in a
28
(as
This immediacy
it
may
it is
all
also have
this that
It
Rome,
done on
accounts for
creates a disturbing ambigui-
transforming the scene into a sado-erotic drama, suggesting a Senecan
fascination with horror, blood
and
sex,
personified by Abra,
who
recalls
the procuress in other, less virtuous scenes. It was a fascination shared by

writers
and poets, and Federico
at the turn of the century,
is
della Valle,
whose
tragedy, Judith, written
dark and enclosed places of
set in the
prison or encampment, returned to the image as though to an appalling
and compulsive obsession. In The Queen
the decapitation of the Catholic martyr
body seems
still
he lingers erotically on
of Scotland
Mary Queen of
Scots,
to tremble after her death:
the blade, death-dealing,
Which,
as
it
struck, sank
deep
Into the snowy flesh, into that lovely neck,
And
thus, her limbs stretched to
Her head
one
side,
to the other, she remained
trembling corpse, whence blood gushed forth
From
Her
her soft throat:
so sweet mouth,
Drawing
its final
breath,
Was
seen to open one
And
then to close for ever,
more
time,
Graceful, even in the pangs
Of
her horrendous death
168
29
.
whose
Conversion and Martyrdo
25.
Caravaggio, David and Goliath

(Madrid, Prado)
Caravaggio s David and

contrasting in
Goliath (Plate 25),
tated
is
head,
is
sharply
mood, and David seems touched with compassion
Goliath. Beneath the head of Goliath,

spectator,
from the same time,
a first,
much more
for
whose gaze seems to appeal to the
horribly realistic rendering of a decapi-
which again suggests that Caravaggio perhaps heeded
169
Caravaggio A Life
Leonardo's instructions. The head
Delia Porta's comedy La Turca
recalls a
(1606.),
fearsomely satirical passage in
where the hangman attempts to
wheedle money from his victim, with the promise that If

remain with your eyes open, twisted and squinting,
out and one eye looks
at the earth
and the other
your eyes and rearrange your mouth ...
hanged
man
common,
sights were
own
ever
.'
These were the
I will
of
terrors
came
and, as Caravaggio
if
after death
your tongue hangs
at the sky, I shall close
make you
the loveliest
a society to
which such
in later years to fear his
execution, his portrayal of the relationship between victim
persecutor would
TH
E Judith
become
and the
but
collectors,
Caravaggio to a wider
and
more complex.
ever
St Catherine
were
suddenly,
in
Roman
you
stage.
works, for private
relatively small
1599,
1
San Luigi dei Francesi, which belonged to the
fervour
brought
a chapel in the
church of
Jubilee
On May
heirs
of
French Cardinal,
Matthieu Cointrel (or Matteo Contarelli), opened for the celebration of

Mass, a dramatic
across the road
moment
in
its
troubled history. San Luigi, which
from the Palazzo
Madama and
is
the Palazzo Giustiniani,
was the national church of the French, and important to Rome's

French population.
It
was run by a council of leading
citizens,
planned
its
frescoes,
amongst them the
clear ideas
saint's calling
shown
Matthew, and
And
should show his
in the tax collector's office, busily counting
in the action
skill.'
come
of St Matthew,
killed while celebrating

falling
170
money,
him
as in the rest,
to
the
the painter
31
a temple, with an altar raised
of
for the
to Christ, as
For The Marytrdom, he envisaged a grandiose architectural
... in the act
life
The Calling he wished
passing in the street with his disciples, called
Apostolate.
bought
and martyrdom. Contarelli had
'what would be better, rising in the desire to
Christ,
saint,
Matthews
on how the scenes should be shown. In
the saint to be
or,
name
decoration, suggesting subjects from
large
and had
a secular clergy. Contarelli, twenty years before his death in 1585,
the chapel, which was to be dedicated to his
just
up above
Mass, and
'it
steps. St
would be more
setting, like
Matthew should be
artistic to
show him
but not yet dead' and surrounded by a crowd of

men and women,
youths, the aged, of
displaying their grief and disgust.
The
church had naturally been
at the
of the ceremonies for the conversion of the French king, Henry
centre
IV
kinds and ranks, praying, and
all
(a descendant
of San
Luigi),
and the papal Bull of Absolution had
opened with these dramatic words:
When We
consider the superabundance of the
divine grace
ponder
in
shown
your conversion, and carefully
in
Our mind how you
into the light
have been brought
of Catholic truth from the deepest
obscurity of error and heresy, as though from an

abyss of
Lord,
evil,
We
by a mighty act of the hand of the
feel ourselves
constrained in
Our wonder
and admiration to exclaim with the Apostle;
the
depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the
How
knowledge of God!
judgements, and
The church of San
how
incomprehensible are his
unsearchable his ways! 32
Luigi was actively involved in conversion, and
Clement himself remained passionately committed
to the reconversion
of France. After the conclusion of peace between France and Spain

1598,
he addressed a pastoral
August
on 20
the French episcopate
letter to
1599, shortly after Caravaggio began
work on the
in
chapel. In this
he encouraged his bishops to 'labour unweariedly in expectation of the

eternal
crown which
is
awaiting
them
France ...
is
not yet sufficiently
cleansed from the thorns and cockle of heresy and corruption
your country, drive away heresy, preach and convert those

astray
help
have gone
,JJ
.
The
subjects
become
of the
frescoes, conversion
increasingly topical,
and martyrdom, had thus
and the coming of the Jubilee encouraged
the church authorities to bring to an

its
who
end
a disastrous series
of delays
in
decoration. Several artists had been involved: Girolamo Muziano,
contracted by the Cardinal himself to paint the chapel, but
who
achieved
nothing; the Flemish sculptor Jacques Cobaert, tormented for very

years
by
his
commission, granted
in 1587,
and renewed
'71
many
in 1596, for a
Caravaggio A Life
marble altarpiece, and Cesari d'Arpino, who, commissioned to decorate
the chapel in
part of his contract, completing the
1591, fulfilled at least
when Caravaggio was
vault frescoes in 1593, perhaps
in his studio.
The
congregation became increasingly querulous, and in 1594 they com-
Clement VIII about the malpractice of Abate
plained bitterly to
Giacomo
Crescenzi,
of Contarellis
the
work on
interest
priests
will,
who had
succeeded his
and who, they
on the money which Contarelli had

complained, had blamed
first
cheated of the masses which are
endowment
cheated out of the
Their complaints grew
Pope removed the

it
They
its
left for
The
it.
Crescenzi, the
one thing, and then another,
due, and the church of San Luigi
and
in the succeeding years,
finally, in 1597,
body of the Works of St Peters (Fabbrica
Rome. But
San
di
Giuseppe Cesari, the most
Cesari was
now overwhelmed
major commissions from the Pope himself, and
it
was
this,
with
along with
Del Monte s association with the Works, which opened the way
Caravaggio. Del
Monte
will in 1592. Baglione,
resenting the luck of the inexperienced Caravaggio,
won
envy, that
it
was
'
On
priests,
with a touch
35
that he
23 July 1599 Caravaggio's
for the first time in the proceedings,
head
rectors, or
tells us,
with the support of his Cardinal'
the contract for the Contarelli chapel.
name appeared
for
was, moreover, a friend of the Crescenzi family,
and had been the executor of Virgilio Crescenzi's
of sharp
the
from the Crescenzi family and assigned
again, in 1597, tried to attract
sought-after painter in
first
way the soul of the deceased
assigned to that chapel'. 34
responsibility
to the governing
Pietro).
deliberately prolonged
the chapel, so that his family might continue to enjoy the
the sculptor, then the painter, 'and in this

is
father, Virgilio, as executor
had
believed,
signed a contract with
him
when
for the
the two
two
side
and to follow the
paintings, to be
completed by the end of the
programme
laid
down by Virgilio
contract of
1591.
Contarellis instructions were attached to this contract,
year,
Crescenzi for Cesari d'Arpino in his
and Caravaggio would certainly have known them. 36
On
January 1600,
Cobaert received 120 scudi for the statue of St Matthew on which he

was working.
To
of
Caravaggio, hitherto largely a painter of elegant and lyrical scenes,
fragile
and
delicate objects
172
and
figures
which captured the courtly

ambience of a small
ing.
of patrons, the task was immensely challeng-
circle
demanded many,
In these large works, which
figures,
he had to pit his
skills
against the Renaissance tradition
anatomy
after
them the
long study of the
having mastered
human
skill
in
complex poses, and
in a
of expression, gesture and motions. They show the
rhetorical language
of mans
artist,
model and of antique sculpture and
live
Renaissance painting, displayed his
nobility
of
showed noble scenes from the Bible
history painting. History paintings
or classical literature, and in
possibly life-sized,
actions,
and
create a sense
grandeur of setting and the universality of the

the scene depicted, drawing out
its
of moral worth by the

figures,
who
meditate on
and mediating
eternal significance,
between painting and viewer. Such works were the supreme achievement
for the painter,
and
tions
Such expectations must have weighed heavily upon
suggest.
Caravaggio, a
whose
ly
was
Lombard
early style
from
it
kind of painting that Contarellis instruc-
painter of half-length Giorgionesque figures,
had depended on
and creating
life,
this
a Renaissance tradition,
his novel
method of working
a startling naturalistic intensity.
which demanded that the
artist
direct-
The
weight of
build
up com-
plex compositions through a series of quick sketches, of studies of

individual figures, of details of gestures and drapery, followed by
highly finished compositional drawings,
more
must have seemed intimidating,
and he must too have been aware of the grandiose
of contempo-
scale
rary fresco cycles, such as those by Giuseppe Cesari in the transept of St
John Lateran, pageant scenes which revived the

Raphael.
An
artist
was judged by his powers of
classical
naturalism of
invenzione, invention,
of
mastering difficult and complex poses, and by the sophistication of his

treatment of space
tended to
aware of
and
set his figures
Caravaggio,
who
painted from the model, and
within a simple foreground plane, was well
this.
With such
inhibitions, with Contarellis instructions,
and the weight
of tradition and expectation, Caravaggio began The Martyrdom

Matthew (Col. Plate
difficulties.
19), a
composition which was to cause him immense
Matthew, who preached
Christianity a
young
King of Ethiopia.
On
of St
in Ethiopia, there converted to
virgin, Iphigenia, the
hearing that she had
betrothed of Hirtacus, the
become
the bride of Christ,
173
Caravaggio A Life
the King was
Mass, he
consumed with
rage,
and The
Golden Legend tells us, after
swordsman, who found Matthew standing before the
'sent a
He stabbed the
with his hands raised to Heaven in prayer.
altar
him and making him
the back, killing

revealed
that
apostle in
a martyr.' v X-ray photographs have
began with a composition in which the
Caravaggio
figures are comparatively small,
occupying the foreground plane in the
lower part of the canvas, and in which the action takes place in a
grandiose setting of elaborate Renaissance architecture. At
first
the exe-
cutioner stood in the centre, sword raised, before an upright St Matthew;
nude recording
to the right stood a
angel,
holding the Gospel, and point-
ing to heaven; in the foreground a soldier, seen
composition in two with the sharpness of a
had
a static, hieratic quality,
of the forces of good and

cation of these
from the back, divided the
pilaster.
The whole must have
and represented the symbolic confrontation
evil.
In a second composition, or in a modifi-
he drew closer to a traditional iconography,
first ideas,
basing his composition on Raphael, and adding a crowd of onlookers

displaying fear and pity, amongst
and drawing
remained
them
woman who may
close to Contarellis description
dissatisfied.
troubled him, and
The composition and

seems
it
of
the
likely that at this
setting
be Iphigenia,
and crowd. But he
movements of the
moment he
figures
turned to the
painting for the left-hand wall, The Calling of St Matthew (Col. Plate
18),
with the aim of finding a radical solution for the problem of painting
from
life
and complex multi-figured composition.
a large
and we may sense
Here,
Caravaggio, so
ill
at ease
his
and
relief,
his
renewed
certainty,
with the traditions of contemporary idealising
history painting, turned back to the subjects of his youth, with which
he had
won
captivate a
such success and with which he must have hoped again to
Roman
audience/ With a boldness that cut through
convention, he transformed his popular and novel early works,

Cardsharps
and The Gypsy
religious painting. In
inspiration
from
contemporary
reality.
to the evocation
Roman
palace,
his
of
Fortune
Teller,
into the material for
The
a large
The Calling of St Matthew Caravaggio again
drew
own
world, daringly setting the biblical scene in
The
splendid architecture of The Martyrdom yielded
a dark
Roman
street,
or perhaps the courtyard of a
where the round-faced boy
174
all
in feathered hat, leaning so

nonchalantly against the
Fortune
saint, is again the
duped youth from
The Gypsy
probably modelled on Minniti, while Malvasia identified
Teller,
the youth with his back to us as Lionello Spada. Although this
The
persuaded his friends to model for him.

office,
is
an immediacy that suggests that Caravaggio
unlikely, the figures have
setting
is
Matthew's tax
but the scene conjures up the shady atmosphere of long evenings
spent gambling or looking, armed, for adventure, in the streets and
of Rome. Indeed so concentrated and intent
taverns
that Sandrart thought that
room, where Matthew

cards
is
and throwing dice and
The
subject
(9: 9): 'Jesus
showed
man
the atmosphere
gambling scene
dark
set in a
bunch of rogues playing
'seated with a
drinking'. 59
taken from a short passage
is
saw
it
shown
is
called
Matthew
the gospel of
at his seat in the
Matthew
custom house,
and said to him, "Follow me," and Matthew rose and followed
him.' In
Caravaggio's painting Matthew, rich and fashionably dressed, as befitted

his status as toll-gatherer
hat, sits at his
work
astonishment
at the
and publican,
tucked in the brim of his
companions.
at his call.
of bold contrasts of
textures
of
40
velvets, rakish feathers,
of Christ and
and the hand of Christ
is
Caravaggio
greens,
reds,
and
Peter,
contrasts lightness of gesture
and
friars,
sets a
his creation
of a taut rectangle of
up around
a careful balance
soft fur, against the timeless
clarity
creates intense drama.
of dark wall over
ritual solemnity,
Roman
Adam on
streets,
where
of Caravaggio's contrasts of shapes and forms,

figures, parallel to the plane,
of horizontals and
The
figures are
light
which
falls
and brightens the
The
wrapped
verticals,
and
built
seems to
play of light and shade

in
shadow, and the large
seems to weigh upon them, prison-like,
their heads
suggesting man's brief stay in this
Christ's hand,
and
roughly toga-clad and barefoot.
and expression with
the simplicity of Christ's words.
by the shaft of
brilliant
seeking Christ in the poor, preached penitence and
The
area
world of
modelled on Michelangelo's hand of
conversion.
embody
looks up in
and golds, of the varied
the Sistine ceiling. These are the contrasts of the

priests
He
appearance of Christ, and points to himself in
colour,
austere simplicity
com
table with his louche
wonder and humility
He
gloomy world. The darkness
is
pierced
diagonally across the wall, following
face
of St Matthew, who turns towards
175
Caravaggio A Life
It is a
it.
moving symbol of divine illumination; Matthew was widely
thought of
sin.
as a sinner,
whose
redeemed him from the dark abyss of
call
As St John Chrysostom wrote, 'Matthew

But he ...
in continual rapine.
chief,
and quenched
light falls
was a publican,
living
once stripped himself of the mis-
and followed
his thirst,
on Matthew
Their expressions
all at
after spiritual gain
4I
.
The
alone, while the other figures remain nonchalant.
are fleeting, conveying a psychological unease
and
inward complexity that seems strikingly modern,' and very different from
both the rhetoric of the Renaissance, and from the caricatured
treat-
ments of similar themes, with the ludicrously bespectacled, morally

blind usurers and misers, that were popular in northern Europe.
The youth
lingering
at the
on the
end of the
table, his
suggests
coins,
head
in shadow, his fingers
unredeemed humanity, dwelling
in
darkness, and perhaps carries overtones of the story of the rich young
man who
could not forsake
all
and follow
Christ. In the Oratorian
church of the Chiesa Nuova, on 6 January 1600, Emilio de' Cavalieris

Rappresentazione di
Anima
di
Corpo was performed, with young
men
symbolising Pleasure, the World, the Body, and the Soul, and in which
the
Body stripped
feathered hat
of worldly
itself
Caravaggio s
finery,
such
as a
figures, clad in the finery
gold chain and
of pages, seem also
to be participants in a moral drama. In an era passionately concerned
with personal salvation, and with the individuals

ture,
so rooted in contemporary
reality,
call to
God, the
had immense power.
It
pic-
addressed
the needs and interests of a national Church, whose King had been
responsible for
many
Catholic deaths, and yet
symbolises the end of Caravaggios
of gaudy
lyrical
figures,
whose colours
boys of his early works,
sience of love
pleasure,
and beauty.
own
When
youth, and the
little
cluster
with melancholy the tran-
they warn against the snares of worldly
and provoke meditation on salvation and redemption. After
these paintings they appear only rarely,

peasants,
intensely personal. It
glitter so vainly in the darkness, are the
who conveyed
Now
it is
and by
a cast
their place
of humble and proletarian
Caravaggio completed
Martyrdom, he
and
this
of
this
176
work
taken by heavy
characters.
work, and turned back to The
would have immediately appreciated
his first version
is
that the figures in
were, in comparison, disproportionately

and he began an
small,
figures
It
entirely
now emerge from
seems to
new composition. He
rejected the idea
of
foreground plane, against an architectural background. His
figures in a
and the composition
blackness,
radiate, like the
centrifugal.
is
spokes of a wheel, from the central figure of
the executioner, and an irrational play of light and shade picks out
mood.
points of emphasis and creates a threatening
some
aspects of Contarellis original instructions.
He
has returned to
The martyrdom now
takes place before a free-standing altar, with steps leading
up
which Matthew has been celebrating Mass. The cross on the
altar frontal
is
just visible
curls
two
to
it,
at
behind the angels cloud, and above the executioners dark
altar candles flicker in the darkness.
In the corners of the
canvas he has added three large male figures, naked apart from loincloths,
who
are probably intended to be neophytes, awaiting
lustral pool.
42
These
figures concentrate the composition,
the basis of a triangle
whose apex
with such powerful drama

all,
is
its earlier
and form
the head of the executioner, set
formal centre. But, above
at the pictures
Caravaggio has turned back to his
triumphantly done in The

position of
baptism beside a
own
Calling of St Matthew;
world, as he had just so
he has stripped his com-
and
idealising, celebratory note,
tried to imagine
such a martyrdom in the here-and-now, and to create a vivid sense of

reality. It
becomes the murder of
contemporary
black, short-sleeved chasuble,
who
Roman
sense, in the gesture
church, and
we may
priest, dressed in a
has just been taking
of
Mass
his
in a
dark
arms on the
ground, the gesture of the priest elevating the host.
The
chilling horror
of such
Romans. Protestants scoffed

Catholic
faith,
murder fascinated and appalled the
at the Eucharist, the very centre
and an attack on
it
aroused deep, obsessive
heightened emotional fervour of these years sinister
on Roman
attacks
of northern
In
for example, the Venetian
1581,
in St Peters,
host,
his
heretics
it,
fears; in the
tales
of the devilish
priests circulated
around Rome.
ambassador reported that 'on Sunday,
an English heretic, just as the
was about to elevate
of the
attacked
priest,
him
having consecrated the
in order to
knock
it
from
hands ... he was kicked and beaten by the people, and taken to the
prisons of the Inquisition and later executed. 43 Caravaggios painting
conveys this sense of immanent terror, but he
also, in
177
small details, such
Caravaggio A Life
as
Matthew's bare
evokes a distant and heroic past. Past and present
feet,
blend, too, in the language of gesture and expression, for underlying the
immediacy and
of the
reality
figures
an older, traditional language,
is
with a powerful symbolic resonance. Caravaggio incorporates figures
from the most celebrated paintings of the

central group,
most famous Renaissance rendering of
gins in the
Death of St Peter Martyr (since destroyed).
boy seems
face, a real
boy
it
Transfiguration. It is
himself
a
is
handsome Roman youth,
picture.
His nudity
him
links
an extraordi-
it
has the
The
executioner
curls
bound with
despair.
to the foreground figures awaiting baptism,
and the suggestion that he has

instrument of
which
Titian's
caught and held with
mass of dark
his
ori-
but his pagan nudity, and Leonardesque savagery, dominate the
fillet;
The
Roman mask of
his
its
suggests that
such intensity and pared-down geometric economy that
symbolic power of an ancient
and
the fleeing choir-
and
moment of terror, and yet
in a
martyrdom,
The scream of
to reverberate through the picture,
Caravaggio had also studied Raphael's
nary
Italian Renaissance,
of executioner, Matthew and the fleeing boy, has
risen
from amongst them, thus
his salvation, intensifies the terror
killing the
of the scene. 44
Contarelli chapel celebrates conversion and martyrdom, through
man
wins eternal
rises
from the dark abyss of

But the painting
life.
humiliated and alone.
The crowd of
sin,
and through which he
not triumphal, and Matthew
is
who
figures,
m Contarelli's
is
original
instructions were conceived as acting as a chorus, bringing out the scene's

universal significance,
him
in terror.
There
and creating from

are
it
no women, but
a sublime drama, flee
crowd of
mainly young men, the light glinting on their modish
men from Matthew's

fight,
ly dressed,
his
hose
with a
tight,
little
become
fate.
plex expression of
when viewed
who
The young
the onlookers at a street
And among
them, smart-
he
flees
with the crowd,
is
looks backward over his shoulder, with a com-
shame and
at
dress.
goatee beard, his dark cloak pulled around him,
his shoe slipping off as
Caravaggio himself,
for,
toll-house have
ready to abandon the victim to his
from
raffishly dressed,
pride.
He
an angle from the
draws the eye of the spectator,
aisle, his
portrait stops the long
diagonal that runs upward from the foreground nudes at the bottom
right along the
arm of
178
the executioner.
The
inclusion of a participant

was an established tradition
self-portrait within a large public painting
(Michelangelo, in The Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican, had

given his
own
Caravaggios
features to the flayed skin
such work,
first
it
of St Bartholomew) and
in this,
acted as a signature, and conveyed his
sense of achievement. It also heightens the viewers sense of emotional
involvement, for he seems, like Caravaggio himself, to be part of the
crowd, looking at the murder from the side facing the artist himself
The
clergy
of San Luigi dei Francesi had wanted Caravaggios pictures
and
to be ready for the Jubilee,
his contract
should be finished by the end of 1599.

the celebration of
Mass
in
May
1599.
demanded
The
that the paintings
chapel had been opened for
But Caravaggio had had consider-
able difficulties with this commission; he
had had to paint the Martyrdom
On 4 July
scene twice, and the pictures were not ready until the summer.
1600 he received 50 scudi of the
money
still
owing to him, and
that by this date the pictures were already in place.
the pictures at this
moment
The
it
seems
installation
of
was, however, perhaps only temporary, for
the carpenter, Gregorio Cervini da Pietra Santa, was not paid until
December
The
1600,
pictures
Madama, and
when
the pictures
may have been
first
must have been
finally in their place.
exhibited to the public in the Palazzo
they brought Caravaggio immense attention. His fame had
begun to spread before
their installation,
and
in April
he had signed a
contract with a Sienese patron, Fabio de' Sartis, for a painting whose
large size (it
was to be almost three metres high) suggests that
The
altarpiece.
was an
it
guarantor of the delivery of the picture was Onorio
Longhi. Caravaggio had submitted a sketch to win this contract, and he
was paid for the painting on 20 November,
where he
known
its
still lived,
in
but
its
size
Madama,
Palazzo
payment witnessed by Vittorio Travagni,
Florentine painter.
subject,
Then,
the
at the
The
and
painting
is lost,
and there
is
a little-
no record of
value suggests an important commission.
September, only two months after the installation of the
Contarelli pictures, Caravaggio was awarded another, yet
more
glittering
commission, this time for two lateral pictures in a chapel in Santa Maria
del Popolo,
from
a distinguished
and eminent patron, Tiberio
Cerasi, the
Treasurer-General under Pope Clement VIII. In the contract for this

painting he
is
flatteringly described as 'egregius in
Urbe
179
pictor'. 45
Caravaggio A Life
Tiberio Cerasi,
was immensely wealthy;
lived in the Hone Parione,
had been an eminent physician
father
his
who
Ospedale della
the
at
Consolazione, and Tiberio retained close links with the charitable

activities
of
this institution. Cerasi
had had an academic and
legal career,
but in 1596 became Treasurer-General under Clement VIII, a job which
brought him into contact with the
Roman
in the transept immediately to the left
del Popolo,
The narrow
art world.
of the high
had been acquired from the Augustinian
friars
Congregation of Lombardy, and Cerasi had been given a

encouraged to decorate
it
how and when he
wished.
He
chapel,
Santa Maria
altar in
of the
free hand,
was anxious to
proceed, and, with great boldness, chose the two most advanced artists
in
Rome, Annibale Carracci and
young Caravaggio,
the
chapel, creating the stage for a contest between
between Annibales
art,
aggressive naturalism
amazed the Roman
revival
to decorate his
two opposing views of
of High Renaissance grandeur, and the
of Caravaggio, whose Contarelli paintings had so
art world. Annibale, the celebrated fresco artist,
commissioned to paint the high

to design the frescoes
of the
altar,
vault,
with an Assumption
of
the Virgin,
showing further scenes from the
of Saints Peter and Paul; Annibale had probably completed

mission by
May
1601,
when Tiberio
of payment with Annibale
two
for
lateral paintings
survives,
Cerasi died.
No
his
was
and
lives
com-
contract or record
but Caravaggio signed his contract
on 24 September
1600.
This
specifies that
he
should paint scenes of the Martyrdom of St Peter and the Conversion
of St Paul. They were to be painted on two cypress panels, measuring

10 8 palmi (over
two metres
high),
and within eight months.
He would
be paid 400 scudi, of which 50 scudi would be advanced. Cerasi

also
demanded
that Caravaggio should first
(sketches) and drawings for the work, showing
show
how
his
patron
'ex sui
bozzetti
inventione et
ingenio' he intended to present these subjects. Caravaggio received the 50
scudi in the presence of witnesses, in the
form of an order drawn on
Vincenzo Giustiniani who acted
This
professional
relationship
as banker.
is
the
between Vincenzo
first
mention of
Giustiniani
and
Caravaggio.
The
Jubilee year
was
now drawing
Cerasi chose remained redolent of
180
to
its close,
its spirit.
but the subjects that
Saints Peter
and
Paul, linked

by a centuries-old tradition, were above
Rome,
the two great Apostles of
all
whom Romans felt a special devotion. They had,
to
been martyred on the same day, and together
Roman
Church, sealing
rebirth as
Atop
revered.
it
Holy Rome,
the
laid the
the
who
city's
Rome
was believed,
foundation of the
with their blood. In these years of the
city's
the Princes of the Apostles were passionately
most splendid of pagan monuments, the towering
columns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius, triumphant

Paul,
it
statues
of Peter and
together had routed the pagan cults of antiquity, dominated
new
splendour. Sixtus
might see
'the
V had set
them
there so that he
and
all
most holy testimonies of our redemption and the
images of the founders of the Apostolic See' and prayed that they might
bring to
life 'the
sacred images that he carried within his heart'. 46
St Peter was revered as the founder of the Church, and the
first
Bishop
whom Jesus had said: 'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock
my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
of Rome, to
I will
build
(Matthew
and
all
it'
16: 18),
and from him was derived the authority of the Pope
became
complementary
true Christianity. St Paul was a
learning and erudition provided a

a powerful exemplar
weapon
Rome. In such terms had they
in
been contrasted for many centuries, and throughout
the
martyrdom seemed
Mamertine
prison,
vividly present.
from which
attempt to
Peter's
addressed the famous words Domine Quo
Vadis7
and humble church of Santa
Rome
They were
was halted by a vision of Christ carrying the
in the small
and he
of conversion, whose evangelical mission
had ended with glorious martyrdom
residence and
figure; his rich
against Protestantism,
flee
cross,
Whither
to
the saints'
recalled
by
martyrdom
whom
goest thou?
Prisca, built over the
he
house of
Aquila and Prisca, where Peter had stayed, and which was restored for
the Jubilee by Cardinal Benedetto Giustiniani,
a special veneration for St Peter,
built over the
and
in the
who
church of Santa Pudenziana,
house of the senator Pudens and
and Pudenziana, both
virgin
martyrs,
shared with Baronio
his daughters, Praxedis
and restored by Cardinal
Alessandro de Medici. Filippo Neri had often prayed through the night
in the
catacombs where their bodies had been discovered. Relics of their
heads were encased in the high
altar
of St John Lateran, and
bodies entombed before the high altar of St
Peter's.
181
their
A Lif<
gg
The
church of Santa Maria del Popolo stands
at the
edge of the
Piazza del Popolo, which welcomed the pilgrim journeying from the
north to
Rome and formed
a prelude to these pilgrim sites
Rome. Caravaggios
paintings
reawakening to a new
life,
were
intended to
suggest
the
city's
to the rebirth of a Christianity rooted in the
blood of Peter and Paul, an invocation of that Apostolic age

the
of Holy
in
which
humble had brought low the proud. Tiberio Cerasi nourished
a deep
devotion to the Princes of the Apostles, and his will opens with an
invocation to their name, with those of
God and
the Virgin Mary.
Caravaggio probably began to work on the paintings shortly after he

signed the contract in September 1600, and
made
it is
not clear whether he
the drawings and sketches which this demanded. However, his ful-
filment of this
Baglione,
who was
Caravaggios
Giacomo
commission was to cause considerable
first
close to Caravaggio in this period, tells us that
paintings were rejected, and were acquired by Cardinal
Sannesio. 47
executed in
'a
He
states,
very precisely, that the pictures were
48
and did not please the patron. But
different style',
Mancini's account does not
with
tally
this.
He
says that the pictures
which Sannesio owned were retouched copies. The

Crucifixion of St Peter has
been
lost,
but Caravaggio s
Paul (Plate 26) has been identified as a painting
collection in
difficulties.
Rome, which
is
version of The
first
first Conversion of St
now
in the Odescalchi
painted on cypress panel.
Caravaggios most puzzling works, whose attribution
It is
is
one of
now almost
universally accepted.
The
story of Sauls conversion
is
told three times in the
Book of
the
Acts of the Apostles; Saul, a feared and terrible persecutor of the

Christians, was travelling to
Damascus with
the chief priests
to pass, that, as I
made my
from
Jerusalem, when, he wrote,
...
it
came
journey,
and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon,

suddenly there shone from heaven a great light
round about me. And
I fell
unto the ground, and
heard a voice saying, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me?
182
And
answered,
who
art
thou Lord?
And
Conversion and Martyrdo
26.
Caravaggio, The Conversion of St Paul
(Rome, Odescalchi
collection)
thou persecutest.
am
And
indeed the
and were
he said unto me,
light,
the voice of
him
Jesus
of Nazareth,
they that were with

afraid;
whom
me saw
but they heard not
that spake to me.
183
And
I said,
What
Caravaggio A Life
shall I
do Lord? And the Lord
said unto me, Arise,
and go into Damascus; and there

thee of
to do.
all
could not see for the glory of
that light, being led by the
The
came
into
hand of them
Damascus (Acts
author of Acts refers here only to a bright
thy
and
Son
me' (Gal.
Am I
our Lord?'
Cor.
9: 1).
God
who had
me by
'called
am
not
free?
have
Thus Paul himself
urrection appearance, which bestowed

first apostles,
but a
later
stand
his grace,
To
reveal his
Elsewhere he claimed to have seen the Risen
1516).
1:
not an apostle?
(I
light,
6 11).
I have appeared unto thee for this purpose* (Acts 26: 16)
Paul himself said that
in
Lord,
feet: for
22:
that were
'But rise, and
account in Acts perhaps suggests a vision of Christ
upon
be told
the things which are appointed for thee
And when
with me,
shall
it
themselves
not seen Jesus Christ
believed that this was a res-
upon him
known
Christ,
the authority of the
and
his
words were so
interpreted by the Church.
In the most celebrated precursors of Caravaggio s rendering
by Raphael for a tapestry
(f.
1514 17),
now
a design
in the Vatican Pinacoteca,
Michelangelo's great fresco in the Pauline chapel in the Vatican
ringed by angels, appears in the sky. In Raphaels cartoon Christ

cled
by
light; in
Michelangelo's fresco the light
is
and
Christ,
is
encir-
directed by Christ's
hand. Caravaggio, uneasy with multi-figured compositions, turned back,

as
he had done in The Martyrdom
Renaissance
artists,
above
all
to Raphael, the
main
outlines
composition he adapted. But where Raphael creates a

ness at the centre, with the emphasis
Caravaggio's composition
is
most celebrated
of St Matthew, to the
on
turbulent. It
moment of
Saul's recognition
is
built
of whose
still-
of Christ,
up around the
clash
two great diagonals, and Christ seems to erupt from the heavens,
of
over-
poweringly physical, and brought startlingly close to the reeling Paul,
who
shields his eyes as the light blinds him.
Where
in
Raphael and
Michelangelo Christ speaks from the distant empyrean, here heaven and
earth are brought close. The space
is
shallow,
against the frontal plane, creating a dense
and
figures
and forms press
and jagged surface pattern of
thrusting shapes, with the strong lines of spears and swords playing
184

against the sharp angles
of limbs and bodies.
plumed helmet,
out details
moon, dark
a spear head, a
leaves against a
irrational light picks
with pagan crescent
a shield
sky presented
and to
to jostle together,
with an extraor-
hands both condemn and

soldier sees the light,
darkened by divine
(Acts 26:
13). It is
hands prevent
and
light,
invite
is
Paul to
of
create a sense
and dislocation. Christ disrupts the mundane world;
crisis
The
glimmering
They seem
dinary intensity.
An
his eloquent
the old and bewhiskered
arise;
afraid; the brilliant
midday sun has been
which shone 'above the brightness of the sun
in darkness that the mystic
his seeing Christ,
and
becomes one with God;
his conversion
is
his
within his soul.
landscape has the fresh beauty of Savoldo, or maybe Caravaggio
remembered Titian's
Resurrection that
he had seen in Brescia and,
had done, used the glimmering rays of light in the sky
as Titian
as a poetic
promise of rebirth.
Caravaggio s deadline for these paintings was the end of
May 1601.
But
before this date two things had happened. First, Annibale Carracci had
almost certainly completed the chapels altarpiece, The Assumption of

Virgin.
sent,
the
Well aware of the challenge that the young Caravaggio would pre-
Annibale created a dramatic work.
The
holy figures, massive, and
physically powerful, are brought close to the spectator.
The
surface
is
patterned with a virtuoso display of gesture and expression, of sharply
and eloquent hands,
turned heads
of which convey wonder.
all
them
Annibale's figures are idealised, and carry with

revered tradition. It
clear colours,
is
one of
his
most
classical
the solemnity of a
works, and the cool and
hard outlines and boldly simplified forms
murky darkness and dependence on
the
all reject
the
model which Caravaggio
live
favoured.
The second
May,
significant event
On 5 May a newspaper reported this,
at Frascati.
chapel
was the death of Tiberio Cerasi on
and described the
m Santa Maria del Popolo, where he was to be buried, as 'his most
beautiful
chapel,
Consolazione,
Caravaggio'.
which
he
had
made
in
the
Madonna
della
by the most celebrated painter, Michelangelo da
The
of the Madonna
report goes on to say that Cerasi had

della
Consolazione his
heirs,
and
made
left to
of completing the decoration.
185
the fathers
them the
task
Caravaggio A Life
This
is
a puzzling account, for Caravaggio s deadline
was not until the
end of May. The writer got the name of the church wrong, and perhaps
he mistook the name of the
whose
Carracci,
artist too,
and
Or possibly
was finished.
altarpiece
actually referred to Annibale
pleted his paintings, and temporarily exhibited
Caravaggio had com-
them
in the church, in
place of the sketches which the contract had demanded, and they were
byTiberio Cerasi.
rejected
It
is,
however, more likely that Cerasi never saw the pictures at
that they were completed after his death,
the
new
patron, the Fathers of the
The
earth.
Madonna
explanation
may be
style,
on canvas would
better suit the lighting
in the chapel. (Baglione s phrase, 'in a different style*

refer to a different technique or
the Conversion
rustic realism,
and then disappointed
Whatever the
text
un
in
altra
maniera
rather than style.) For
and perhaps disappointed
a patron
appreciated the contemporary immediacy and psychological
depth of the Contarelli pictures.

sketch,
medium
an old-fashioned, Brescian work, an odd blend of
is
Raphael and clumsy
who had
or the
Cerasi,
them, and asked for pictures in another
like
or decided that paintings
may
beyond
is
vulgarly close to
for perhaps
simple,
who
della Consolazione,
body of Christ may have seemed
Ospedale, simply did not
and
and rejected not by him, but by
took over the commission. Doctrinally the surviving work

reproach, though the
all,
more
Or
his
perhaps Caravaggio had submitted a
patron with a very different product.
reason, in his second versions Caravaggio
deeply,
and abandoned
pondered the
a traditional iconography, setting the
sacred events boldly in the everyday world, and yet creating a profound
poetry from the symbolic treatment of light and dark. His figures
for the first time, aggressively plebeian, the dirty feet
tioners jabbed towards the spectator,
rump towards
the Assumption of
and St
the Virgin,
are,
of St Peters execu-
Paul's horse turning
as if in protest at
its
large
Annibale s
idealising art.
The most
and
stillness.
stripped
striking quality
of these second paintings
Caravaggio has pared his stories
them
down
is
their starkness
to their essence, and
of any context. Powerful, sculptural figures, naturalistic
and yet simplified,
are arranged along
of St Paul (Col. Plate 21)
186
bold diagonals. In The Conversion
he rejected the confused panic of his
earlier

treatment.
delicate ray
now
strikes Paul,
who
has been flung violently
from his horse towards the spectator, his arms flung wide in welcome,
as
drawing the viewer into the mystery.
if
still,
and what we witness
is
a mystic
conversion. Paul, eyes closed,
is
yet the painting
is
communion with God, an inward
no longer old and bearded,
young and common
story demanded, a
And
soldier, in antique
but, as the
armour.
The
horse has become a heavy carthorse, unsaddled, raising a hoof to avoid
trampling Paul, and the old man, no longer a soldier or
become
groom. Horse and groom, who
darkness, belong to a different reality.
the dusty streets of contemporary
within the old
exists
mans
They seem
Rome, and
has
priest,
uncomprehending,
wait,
it
in
group observed
almost
is
in
Paul
as if
imagination. Pauls conversion was the classic
exemplar of sudden and total transformation, and most

scene of sound and fury; Caravaggio's
artists
painted a
new emphasis on an inward
process evokes the heightened emphasis
on the conversion of
self
through meditation on the mysteries of Christ.
The young
Paul seems touchingly vulnerable, his body open, unpro-
on the bare
tected
one with the
'Unto me, who

I
earth. It stresses his humility,
spirit
and
in this
of Pauls writings. In Ephesians
am less
than the least of
3:
all saints, is this
8,
is
deeply at
Paul wrote,
grace given, that
should preach among the gentiles the unsearchable riches of
and, although he
had seen the Risen
Christ,'
Christ, he also wrote, throughout
the letters, of conversion as an inward revelation of the spirit of Christ.
Thus
in 2 Corinthians 4: 6,
light to shine out
he declared: 'For God,
of darkness, hath shined
of the knowledge of the glory of
God
in
who commanded
the
our hearts, to give the light
in the face
of Jesus
Christ.'
The
supernatural light suggests a Nativity painting, and Paul, through God's

grace,
is
born
again;
crucified upside
which he too
most
is
much
wall opposite, St Peter (Col. Plate 20),
down, out of humility, descends to the
shall
earth,
from
be born again. St Peter, weak and impetuous, was the
attractive, the
very
on the
most
intensely
the simple fisherman
human, of the Apostles, and here he

from Bethsaida,
stoically suffering
an
unheroic and brutal end in unrelieved darkness. Caravaggio again draws
on the
great prototype in Michelangelo's fresco in the Pauline chapel,
although his executioners become contemporary
187
Roman workmen,
Caravaggio A Life
frozen against a dark background, their faces hidden, and their muscles
straining, their veins swelling, as they toil to
complete a job of work. The
diagonal line of figures draws the viewer into the composition, and the
powerful forms, so harshly modelled, seem to move into his space,

asserting their physical presence, inviting involvement in the religious
drama.
man,
The
spectator remains aware of the elements of reality
a spade, the great spike
of the
nail, a
an old
wood out of which
plank of
Caravaggio has built up his painting, and yet
somehow
the simplicity of
these elements, and their compelling material presence, conveys the
Caravaggio received his
final
for his deadline because he
perhaps
On
grandeur of the early Church.
primitive
illness
payment of
for in
had
1601
second pair of paintings; or
October Onorio Longhi, involved
in a street fight, told the magistrate that Caravaggio
a servant
November,
He may have been late
50 scudi.
had had to do
had delayed him,
10
had been so
frail
that
carried his sword.
In the Contarelli and the Cerasi chapels Caravaggio composed like a

stage designer, arranging his figures in carefully directed light. Bellori
tells
us that he set
them
in 'the darkness
high so that the light would
of a closed room, placing
straight
fall
down,
lamp
revealing the principal
part of the body, and leaving the rest in shadow so as to produce a
powerful contrast of light and dark'. 49 Caravaggio s dramatic chiaroscuro

enhances the
figures' sculptural force
the scenes of calling and
of the chapel before
us.
and powerful
martyrdom seem
To
Bellori Caravaggios
method was
of
Mancini too commented on
shortcomings:
reality,
'it is
one room a multitude of people acting out the

in
from
But neither
a single
window
men comment on
light
Old Testament,
impossible to put in
story,
with that light
,5
...
the poetic power of Caravaggio s light
and dark, whose charged symbolism belongs to

tion. In the
a long Christian tradi-
the birth of the Messiah
is
symbolised by
'The people that walked in darkness have seen a great
they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death,

light shined' (Isaiah, 9: 2).
188
At
and
meditated on past and future;
rather than stressing an instant
coming
limited,
of traditional history painting, which,
his paintings lacked the action
its
illusionism, so that
to take place in the real space
the
moment of
light;
upon them hath
Christ's death, a
the
mantle of

darkness enfolded the earth
And
the sun was darkened, and the veil of
the temple was rent in the midst' (Luke,
gospel
is
world which
man
inhabits
brought about by
evil
Christ brought light:

shall
Above
23: 45).
all
St John's
pervaded by the great conflict between light and dark, and the
and
'I
sin;
am
realm of spiritual darkness and death,
is
but
it is
world loved by
not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of
This theology of
light,
God
to which
me
the light of the world; he that followeth

(John,
life'
I:
812).
elaborated by the Fathers of the Church,
is
deeply part of sixteenth-century spirituality; Baronio opened the Annates
with a passionate statement that the Catholic Church must be reunited

with
its
ty will
ancient prototype, and that the splendour of this pristine beau-
throw apart the shadows and dispel the gloom. Trent had renewed
a sacramental confidence in the Catholic Church, but
the voices of
still
Luther and Calvin, the fear of darkness, Hell and damnation, were powerful in the Catholic world.
The
of separation from God, and the

gone
spiritual conversion
his sinful past,
exercitant
had renounced
of Loyola's
Jesuit saint Ignatius
when he was
as
the anguish
Loyola had undermeditating on
thirty, and, after
his life as courtier
developed meditative techniques
knew
great Catholic saints
and
soldier.
He
had
instruments of conversion, and the
Spiritual Exercises closes
the door and
windows
to
exclude the light, and, in darkness, practises penance, concentrating on
such topics as death and judgement. In the
first
week, Loyola recom-
mends, the exercitant should 'Suppose yourself in the presence of God,

as a culprit guilty
of grievous crimes, who presents himself to the judge
loaded from head
to foot with the heaviest chains', for the Christian
remains guilty; he 'does not cease with fresh blows to renew His passion
and death, and scourge

shows himself complicit
Him
again by his dishonesty
in the
.'
.
5I
murder of St Matthew, and
Caravaggio
this autobi-
ographical suggestion, this personal sense of a universal darkness and

guilt, recurs
his religious
works and
gives
them
their extraordinary
power and tension. The apocalyptic darkness that shrouds St Matthew,

the blackness into which St Peter stares, are so dark, St Peter so isolated,
so stripped of comfort, that they convey an undercurrent of tormented
questioning of grace and salvation, a deep fear that the sun

rise again, that
may not
suggest an anguished fear of death and personal need
Caravaggio A Life
of grace. At the end of Webster's play The Duchess
of Malfi, the
dying
murderer Bosola broods on darkness;
Oh
this
gloomy world,
In what a shadow or deep pit of darkness
Doth, womanish, and
and
to
century
is
there
no
is
blood/
Tommaso Campanella
dark,
it
fearful,
mankind
cannot see the sky; the
190
52
the times we're out of joint: 'The

stars are
cloaked by clouds,
glow, the sun has disappeared in darkness,
53
live?
and the
moon
is
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ut Pictura Poesis
The end of
(I
the poet
to arouse
is
wonder
speak of the excellent, not the foolish);
Let
him who cannot
arouse wonder go
work
in the stables!
Marino, 'Murtoleide'
the churches of
Rome
'
exemplars of martyrdom and con-
In
version encouraged the faithful, and stern measures were taken

against anything indecent or lascivious. In the palaces
of great
princes and cardinals another ethos reigned, and there was a sharp
distinction between the public world
private.
Here
in
courtiers took pleasure in light-hearted intellectual pur-
and
suits, in aesthetic debate,
popular long
and what could be enjoyed
galleries that
in literary conversazione. In the increasingly
began to enrich many
and
dilettante displayed his wealth
amongst works of
art
taste,
Roman palazzi the
noble
walking with his courtiers
which provoked pleasurable discussion, and
The lively and charming

on hunting and etiquette, music,
and games express curiosity and interest in all
inspired dazzling displays of wit and fancy.

essays
of Vincenzo Giustiniani
sculpture, architecture
gentlemanly pursuits. His essay on architecture, for example,
own
to 'any gentleman or other person who, for his
might embark on some building

in the
is
addressed
gain or delight,
enterprise*. Giustiniani enjoyed hunting,
company of Cardinal Montalto and
Ciriaco Mattei (another
patron of Caravaggio), delighted in recounting the exploits of the great
Roman
nobles and of
tireless traveller
and
Grand Duke Ferdinando
sightseer. In
one essay he expresses
croquet over the more violent tennis
he writes,
'for
it
requires but
de' Medici,
'it is
moderate
more
exercise
and was a
his preference for
fitting to
gentlemen/
and does not oblige
the player always to remain in one place, but affords great freedom,
not only for discussion and negotiation, but also for
191
jest
.':
a sentence
Caravaggio A Life
that vividly conveys a gentlemanly ideal
tion.
of ease and
spirited conversa-
Giustiniani
cising the
had an unrivalled breadth of knowledge, and enjoyed
newly fashionable
was interested
how
in
visited artists in their
them Caravaggio s
skills
and
tastes
paintings were made, and in the tools of
workshops. His many portraits
portrait
exer-
of the connoisseur; he
art,
and
of artists among
of Sigismondo Laer, and portraits of Orazio
Borgianni, Gerrit van Honthorst, Jacques Stella, Andrea Schiavone, and
Federico Zuccaro
He
suggest a curiosity about the artistic personality.
discussed painting with Caravaggio, whose views he introduced into his

'Letter
on
Painting' with a reverential flourish,
and perhaps they paused
together in his gallery before the dark paintings of Luca Cambiaso and
the Bassani.
In the seclusion of galleries and private chambers
works could be displayed. Giulio Mancini,
on displaying
pictures
their collections,
recommended
paintings,
in his advice to connoisseurs
wrote piously that
on public show. In the house of
more voluptuous
it
was wise to control
a private gentleman, however, he
that landscapes should be put
on
general view, while erotic
and paintings of Venus, Mars, and nude women, should be
dis-
played in garden rooms and in the most secluded rooms of the ground
floor.
The most
lascivious should be
hidden away and covered, and
visit-
ed only by the head of the family, with his wife, or with a trustworthy and
unshockable friend. In
this way,
he added, such pictures encourage the
procreation of beautiful children. For Caravaggio s pictures, which were

3
so dark, Mancini advised
gilt
frames. In a similar vein the poet
Marino
wrote to Ludovico Carracci on behalf of a Genoese collector asking him

to paint an ancient myth, 'perhaps that of Salmacis
showing them nude and

not,
in each others
Marino reassured him, nurse
arms
and Hermaphrodite,
in the fountain. 4
and
will
be
to intimates; moreover Federico Barocci and Jacopo Palma,
extremely pious
In the
need
scruples about painting obscene and
lascivious fantasies, for the picture will be kept in the study,
shown only
He
many
artists,
had not refused
literary
lively interest in the visual arts
there was a remarkable flurry
192
a similar request
academies of Rome, too, there flourished a
and
in aesthetic debate,
and
of poems about paintings. In
in the 1590s
1593
Cesare
U
Ripa had dedicated
Del Monte
to
Po
r a
e s
of emblems
his Iconologia, a collection
which, immensely popular with both painters and poets, encouraged

sophisticated conceits and displays of learning. In the same years the
epigrams on statues and paintings in the Greek
Palatine Anthology, redis-
covered in the early sixteenth century, and long imitated, became newly
popular. Such an epigram as this
into the marble both pity
the empire of his

the miraculous
imitations,
and
on Medea 'The inspired hand infused
fury,
remember
art,
power of
all
and made the stone Medea, under

her griefs'
art to bring
with
dead stone to
and poets took intense pleasure
in
its
life,
works of
emphasis on
inspired
many
art as starting
points for the display of ingenious wit. To the theme of art s rivalry with
they added the rivalry of painting with sculpture,
nature
Renaissance debate (the
paragone), to
tired
which the painters and sculptors of
the turn of the century, passionately interested in illusionism, brought

fresh
The
life.
Renaissance
artist
had challenged nature
(vinta sard natura)
with a world more perfect and more exquisite than that of
on wonder, on the
the emphasis was
truly marvellous
reality;
power of
now
art to
deceive the senses.
The most
who came
Marino,
the
after
and celebrated poet of
brilliant
to
Rome
his age
was Giambattista
in 1600, where, in the years
immediately
of the Contarelli chapel, he was painted by
unveiling
Caravaggio (Plate 27), and became a friend of the painter. At this
moment
Rome.
It
the astonishing naturalism of Caravaggios art was the talk of
seemed magical, and
Scanelli later wrote '[he painted] narra-
with such truth, vigour and relief that quite often nature,
tives
actually equalled
if
not
and conquered, would nevertheless bring confusion to
the viewer through his astonishing deceptions, which attracted and rav-
ished
human
sight'.
Caravaggio fascinated Marino,
who
addressed a
sonnet to his portrait, praising Caravaggios god-like power to bestow

immortality on his friend.
Roman
trait
The two men
of Cavalier Marino, with the reward of praise from
names of both painter and poet were sung

of
were together feted by the
literary world; Bellori tells us that 'Caravaggio
his kindness
and
in the
literary
Academies
his delight in Caravaggios style,
the artist into the house of
painted the por-
men; the
.
Because
Marino introduced
Monsignor Melchiorre Crescenzi,
*93
clerk
of
Caravaggio A Life
the papal chamber
prelate/
Michele painted the portrait of
papal chamberlain and himself a poet, Mechiorre Crescenzi
was a member of a cadet branch of the old and
who had been
family
illustrious Crescenzi
involved with the Contarelli chapel.
He
was the
whose brother Crescenzio Crescenzi,
centre of a brilliant literary circle,
whom
most learned
this
Caravaggio also painted (untraced), was renowned for wit and
learning,
and
portrait
and that of Marino to
a gifted singer: in his will Crescenzio left
Tomassoni was
Around
who
fell
vate
and
some time
for
Marino
under Caravaggios powerful

retiring
Marzio
his
own
nephew, Francesco. Ranuccio
in their service.
the Crescenzi and around
there clustered other poets,
The
spell.
Milesi, scholar
remarkably pedestrian),
(albeit
his
both
circle
and man of
who was drawn
included the pri-
and poet
letters
to Caravaggio as to his
opposite, claiming his friendship and seeking to bask in his reflected

glory. Milesi
was a Lombard, and his grandfather had been a patron of
Polidoro da Caravaggio. Marzio passed his youth in the Casa Milesi in
Rome,
its
facade splendidly decorated by Polidoros elegant grisaille
frieze, a re-creation
of the
style
of an ancient
Roman
relief. It
was a
cel-
ebrated work, a tribute to the refined culture of the Milesi, and the
house became a meeting place for
from Lombardy.
ly
It
was perhaps
drew him to Caravaggio,
one of
his verses
is
intellectuals
this
whom
and
artists,
above
all
Lombard connection which
he
may
addressed to Caravaggio
those
initial-
have met well before 1600

'still
young'. Marzio, the heir
to this refined humanist culture, was concerned to spread the
fame of
the Casa Milesi through engravings by Caravaggios friend Cherubino

Alberti.
Both devout and
scholarly,
an enthusiastic student of
classical
antiquity and Christian archaeology, he was a collector of inscriptions,
tombs, busts and medals, and had a small
reliefs,
library.
tion of
He
was
Ripas
rich
later to contribute a sonnet, 'La Pittura', to the 1613 edi-
Iconologia.
Another member of the
the Genoese Gaspare Murtola,

to Caravaggio,
museum and
whom
who
circle
addressed several elegant madrigals
he must certainly have known, and
enjoyed the patronage of the Crescenzi. Also in the

friend Francesco Gualdo,
who
also
had
a small
natural curiosities, gems, cameos, coins,
194
was Milesi s friend
and
who
circle
like
him
was Milesis
museum, of antiques and
inscriptions.
Po
u ra
c t
e s
among
In addition to these circles several of Caravaggios contacts
them Giuseppe
Cesari,
Gaspare Murtola, Aurelio Orsi, the brother of
Prospero, and Maffeo Barberini
academy, the Accademia
were members of a Perugian literary
degli Insensati (or
Non-Sensual Academy), and
the director of the Academy, Cesare Crispolti,
owner of Caravaggios Boy
Peeling a Fruit
have been the
first
(Plate 10). Crispolti wrote that
wished with that name to show to the world that they were non-
'they
sensual, that
is
that they did not apply themselves to sensual things, but,
fleeing those, they were intent only

tial
may
and
divine'.
Within
this
on the contemplation of the
celes-
group Aurelio Orsi was celebrated for the
purity and elegance of his Latin epigrams, a genre in which he was
and he enlivened banquets and
unrivalled,
visations;
of
his
Maffeo
own
an
Barberini,
Barberini, the future
gifts as a poet,
elegant
feasts
Pope Urban VIII,
would have no other
Florentine
with his brilliant impro-
prelate
teacher.
intensely vain
At the same time
few years
older
than
Caravaggio, was laying the foundations of his brilliant career and the
fortunes of his family at the papal Curia, writing elegant verse in both
Italian
and Latin; he
strove to retain a classical simplicity, rejecting the
contemporary and modish delight

in the
Casa Grande
in the via dei
a rich art collection; he
And what
was most noteworthy',
refined literary
men who
finally his courtiers
wrote his
became
like
literary
men.
Andrea
biographer,
an Academy of the most
then shone in Rome. There gathered learned
men, and there flourished the
and
Giubonnari, where he was building up
was also a patron of scholars and
Nicoletto, 'was that his palace
tiful
in elaborate conceits. Barberini lived
arts
of refined and noble conversation, and
were the most successful, not only in the most beau-
cultivated literary arts, but in every learned discipline
and
branch of knowledge,' With his courtier scholars, versed in Latin and
Greek
letters,
Barberini enjoyed the pleasures of conversazione,
gardens of the Belvedere at the Vatican, or in the
on the Pincian
hill,
villa
'in
the
of the Borghese
or in other places far from disturbance
.'
IO
In 1603 an academy more glittering than the Insensati, the Accademia

degli Umoristi,
centre
was founded,
at the
Palazzo Mancini in the Corso, at the
of fashionable Rome, where the aristocracy enjoyed
passeggiata.
Many
contacts of Caravaggio were members,
i95
their evening
among them
Caravaggio A Life
small group of friends which included Giovanni Milesi and Giovanni
Zaratini Castellini, scholar and archaeologist Andrea Ruffetti, a jurist
who
later offered
help to Caravaggio in a
Gualdo, and Giovanni Vittorio Rossi,
was
later to
become famous
papal Rome, and for his

collection
alias
as a collector
moment of
need, Francesco
Giano Nicio
Eritreo. Eritreo
of anecdotes and gossip about
Pinacotheca imaginum illustrium, a
sharp and ironic
Roman
of elegantly written Latin biographies of famous

But
personalities.
at this point, after a
youth indulging in elegant and
worldly pastimes, frequenting the courtesans, he was in extreme financial

need, and just beginning his literary career.
Also among the Accademias members were Onorio and Decio

Longhi, Caravaggio s biographer Giulio Mancini, and Fillide s
to
Rome from
Siena in 1592.
as well as a writer
the Palazzo
on
art,
He
was a doctor, collector and
and he got to know Caravaggio
Madama, looking
after
him when he was
to be paid in kind for his medical services,
darted his eyes around the room, and if they

fell
passionately in love with
and put
his
mind
get paintings
He
as dearly as possible.'
libertins
in
Rome, and he
at this
In
the
on
lit
first
place he
a fine painting,
was
it
difficult for
their safety
and
life
him
to
to him.
sell
In later years Eritreo mixed with the French
also gives a very lively description

affair
of Mancini s
with a married woman.
point both were circumspect, and the emphasis at the
Accademia was on the

fancy. It
11
Mancini liked
cheaply as possible so that he could
and scandalous
self-confessed atheism
But
Nor
from those who had entrusted

as
in his years in
he was very learned in such things,
to getting the picture.
bought these pictures
them
it;
ill.
art dealer,
and Eritreo gave an amusing
description of him, as he visited his patients.
he
lover, the
who had come
poet Giulio Strozzi. Mancini was an eccentric character,
opened with
spiritosa,
on
light
a discourse
on the beard by
followed a deluge of epigrams and

plays of vast erudition
on modest
and exuberant displays of wit and
cicalata
talk
Castellini,
of
and there
ostentatious dis-
subjects that delight in paradox
and
in unexpected and far-flung comparisons. In an age of religious passion
and
gravity,
when
the pagan gods were outlawed, such wit and ingenuity
offered delight and diversion. Painters and poets were close; Giuseppe
Cesari and Longhi were highly cultivated artists with literary ambitions;
196
Po
u ra
e s
Antiveduto Grammatica delighted in poetry; Baglione was a
and Antonio Tempesta, wrote Baglione, was
'a
virtuoso in
music, and sounds, and at languages he had no

ing and full of wise sayings.'
12
Mancini adds
rival;
litterateur;
many
kinds of
he was witty, pleas-
a vivid sketch
of Tempesta
where he went, not out of greed but to save trouble, and
in the tavern
where he gathered around him
charm and wit of
group of admirers, attracted by the

According to Malvasia, Caravaggio
his conversation.
took to the Bolognese painter Spada, saying that he had found
own
after his
Spada was
heart, because
writing playful and satirical poetry.
knew Spada, but

enjoying the
a lively character,
It is in fact
and
litterateur,
have
who had
Rome
from Caravaggio. But
picture
and
a celebrated private
come from another branch of
Gualdo), had been in
in
1603,
enjoyed
had
a reputation for
poets. 15
His fame spread beyond Rome; Paolo Gualdo,
may
man
unlikely that Caravaggio
the story does suggest that he
company of
who
the
in 16023, an<^
it
scientist,
museum
in
antiquarian
Vicenza (who
same family
as
Francesco
na d bought an expensive
remained important to tread cautiously,
Cardinal Paravicino,
closely
Gualdo
Baronio, wrote a veiled letter to
associated
in Vicenza,
with Cardinal
warning him of
Caravaggio s liking for pictures that were between the sacred and profane, 'tra
At
l
il
devoto
the
il
centre
profano'.
of
'
this
Giambattista Marino,
Naples, to seek his fortune in
Rome
colourful; the son of a lawyer, he
fathers footsteps;
world,
who had
fled
true
its
impresario,
imprisonment
in 1600.
His
early life
had been
had struggled to avoid following
and from 1596 he had been
was
in his native
in the service
in his
of the
wealthy Matteo di Capua, Prince of Conca, and later Grand Admiral
of the Neapolitan realm, who
in 1592
had been host to Tasso. The
prince lived in fabled splendour, and here

ly
Marino
first
enjoyed a court-
atmosphere of refined pleasures and wealth; here he developed a love
of painting, and appreciated the

owner. His
tige
own
ambition, to
and wealth, took
root.
lustre that art
rise to
But
could bestow upon
its
the highest summits of both pres-
his ascent
was to prove perilous, and
197
in
Caravaggio A L
Caravaggio?
27.
(attrib. to) Portrait of Govern Battista
Mari
(Private collection)
May
1598 he was suddenly imprisoned.
sources said that
The
cause
is
not
Marino; others claimed that he had seduced a young

Testa,
who had been made
whose
father
Marino
ried with
on
his
it
Antonella
against him. It seems likely that
did not believe the cause to be too serious (sodomy car-
a possible death penalty), for he addressed a burlesque
poem
imprisonment to the Prince of Conca. The prince intervened, and
Marino, enjoying
his freedom,
went to
VIII, and wrote a famous sonnet
on the index
Yet
fear
girl,
pregnant by him, miscarried and died, and
had brought charges
at least
clear; hostile
was for sodomy, a charge often brought against
it
of
for
life.
He
his pleas
off;
of Clement
on the flooding of the Tiber
he was again imprisoned, and
(later
put
all
was discovered, the friend was executed, and
his
save a
in prison, feared the
from prison to the Prince of Conca
198
time in real
his
Marino, again
suggest real terror:
this
young friend of
had forged documents to
from execution, but
hand lopped
for the Jubilee
over-voluptuous wit).
its
later in that year
his
Rome
are
same
fate.
no longer
This time
facetious, but
U
This Stygian
Shrouded
in
hell,
sunk
gloom, horror and in

in its
Rome. Here he soon found

a
room
a protector in
in the Palazzo Crescenzi.
tears,
bowels
.' 5
.
Marino was allowed
In the end, with the aid of powerful friends,
was given
e s
in oblivion deep,
Harbours distressed Marino
to
Po
r a
Melchiorre Crescenzi, and
He
undertook the duties of
the court poet, addressing two pious canzoni to Crescenzis
and producing very many

tocratic
his
Rome.
lyrics celebrating the
Marino decided
In 1601
poems; he lingered for some time
sister, a
nun,
worldly pleasures of
aris-
to journey to Venice to publish
in Florence,
where he may have seen
Caravaggios Medusa, arriving in Venice early in 1602.
Marino s
Rime, published in that year,
is
to flee
The
first
volume of
whom
dedicated to Melchiorre,
he honours for having comforted him in distress Tor bringing to
life
flowers of his hopes, which then were deadened and languishing'.'
Rime brought fame to Marino, hailed

the Crescenzi
So
on
his return to
the
The
and feted by
as the heir to Tasso,
Rome.
great was his fame that he attracted the attention of Pietro
Aldobrandini, the most powerful

to enter the yet
more
Marino enjoyed the
glittering
life
man
in
Rome, and
left
the Crescenzi
household of the Aldobrandini. Here
of the courtier-poet, flourishing
in
an atmos-
phere of hedonistic splendour, enjoying adulation, skilled in polemic,
and cunning
in
his
self-advancement.
From
pen there flowed
his
epithalamia, sonnets, and madrigals, evoking the sensuous, aristocratic
Rome and
pleasures of
Frascati; his poetry
with
its
novelty,
is
richly ornamental, seeking to surprise
and creating paradoxical or extravagant
appeared to him
like meraviglia,
ments of the courtesan

around the
the beauties of the Cardinals great villa at
and
ball
and the ingenuity of

the courtiers
life.
Around
the costly adorn-
her fans, beauty spots, mirrors, earrings
trifling passatempi
cards, tennis
or wonders.
and delight
illusions that
of the courtier
and
music, games of dice and
gamer Marino spun a dazzling web of metaphor,

his
word play seems
Caravaggios Cardsharps
novel motif to Marino, and
it
was with
itself to
may
evoke the
artifice
of
well have suggested this
this painting
Caravaggio had himself gained entree to the court.'
199
of
2.
trick that
In his search for
Caravaggio A Life
and new forms, Marino was aware not only of the
novelty,
of music, whose emotional power he praises
many poems
in
He
planned
a collection
addressed
new imagery of
to singers, but also of the possibilities offered by the

painting.
sister art
of poems addressed to paintings and
painters, later published as La Galeria, a concept self-consciously
on
elled
gallery in
showy
Naples (perhaps imaginary), using the pictures
ingenuity,
and attempting, through
rich
free, as
a picture
as stimuli for
and ornamental descrip-
convey their visual and emotional power. In the
tion, to
was
had described
Philostratus' Imagines; Philostratus
mod-
Galeria
Marino
great princes were free, to indulge his taste for the luxurious
and the marvellous. His imaginary
gallery
of history paintings evokes a
thrill in
blood and horror; around the spectator he conjures up
a glittering array
of the most celebrated sado-erotic paintings of severed
Senecan
heads,
among them
Cristofano Allori's darkly sensual Judith with
of Holofernes, the Cavaliere d' Arpino's Jael and Sisera
of Samson and Delilah, and
pictures
Annibale Carracci and

Medusa,
its
Herodias with
Head
Head
killing Goliath,
of John
the
Baptist
by
Lavinia Fontana, and, at their centre, Caravaggio's
shocking power the epitome of a
Throughout, Marino
conquer Nature
the
and David
the
herself,
meraviglia.
exalts the stupefying
power of
he writes of images so
art to rival or
alive that reality pales
before them; of gestures and actions so powerfully presented that

wait to hear their sounds; (and
it
was perhaps the
effect
we
of sound that
Caravaggio strove for in the Judith and Holofernes and in the shrieking
acolyte in the Martyrdom of St Matthew), of a painted figure so lifelike that
it
enchants the spectator, and reality and illusion seem to change place.
He
caught in verse,
moment
at
which
life
See
as
perhaps Caravaggio did in paint, that precise
hardens into
how
art,
he hardens
writing of a sculpture of Niobe,
now
her stiffened limbs:
Motionless and bloodless:

Body, and sepulchre,
and
in a series
of poems on
at
how
one
fell
she
now becomes
touch
l8
.
marble Cupid asleep in a fountain, he
played on the ambiguities of different kinds of illusion, of sleep and

death, dreams
and
desire,
cold heart and cold marble. These are both
c t
u ra
Po
e s
ancient and contemporary themes, but Marino's virtuosity

leled.
In the poetry of his
rival,
Gaspare Murtola, there
is
unparal-
is
a pallid echo
of Marino's ingenuity; Murtola describes the rich and precious beauty
of curious and
works of
intricate
gloves, a bee enclosed in
reflected in rock crystal
of snaky
art,
earrings, gold-bordered
amber. Through images caught in
(and
at the
bottom of
Murtola shockingly glimpses the head of Medusa) or

cave mirrors, he evokes the strange
He
wrote many poems on the
Villa Medici, but
an
1603
He moved
in convex
of the Niobe (then
which Barberini
Murtola had written
in the
same
circle,
six
dedicating a
in the
madrigals
poem of
sensuality, 'La Bella Bocca', to Crescenzio Crescenzi,
to 'Sig.
Muzio
to
per-
and others
and to Onorio Longhi, poet and
mathematician. Caravaggio's early works, The Lute

a Lizard, the Medusa, so exquisite, so rich in
made
life.
also addressed
fumed
Sforza, Poeta Eccellente'
or
and con-
and dreamlike beauty of courtly
classical sculpture
in the Uffizi), to
and by
epigram,
Caravaggio.
now
tears,
his lady's glass goblet
Player, The
Boy
Bitten hy
coloured reflection, seem
for this poetic ambience, stimulating poets to weave conceits
around them.
It is
unlikely that Caravaggio himself intended precise
emblematic readings, but he knew that

this way: The
Boy
Bitten by a Lizard
his paintings
(whose modern
would be read
title
sounds so
in
like a
sixteenth-century madrigal) looks like a painting conceived as a study of

expression, around which the artist then set a fashionable froth
sories
which indulged
member of
contemporary delight
in
the Insensati, Giovanni Battista Lauri, wrote a
similar theme,
of acces-
symbol and emblem.
poem of
very
'Of the Boy and the Scorpion':
While
the child was playing by the
damp
reefs,
Disturbing the cold stones with his childish hand,
tenacious and ferocious scorpion gripped his fingers,
Slowly drawing up foul poison from the depths of
its
breast.
In pain the child lifted his hand to his mouth, and with
it
the wild beast
That despatched miserable ruin
to the
heart.
201
bottom of
his
Caravaggio A Life
Alas, wretched boy; while
your
From
About
you hope for comfort from
warm mouth,
you drink
that very place
in certain death.' 9
when Caravaggio was most
this time,
closely in contact with
Marino, in the years around the Contarelli chapel, he painted one of his
most haunting works, the
how
describes
of
mythological sub-
Narcissus (Col. Plate 17), a
almost alone in Caravaggio s oeuvre. In Ovid's Metamorphoses the poet
ject
his
companions, was condemned to
and
tion,
handsome boy Narcissus, who had spurned
the
from
to perish
fall in
love with his
the love
own
reflec-
unrequited love. Weary from the hunt,
this
Narcissus stooped to drink at a
'clear pool,
with shining silvery waters,
where shepherds had never made their way; no goats that pasture on the
mountains, no
cattle
had
come
ever
bird or beast or falling branches
from the
fierce sun,
and made
it
there. Its peace
encircling
was undisturbed by
woods
always cool'.
sheltered the spot
Here Narcissus,
drank, 'was enchanted by the beautiful reflection that he saw.
mere shadow for
love with an insubstantial hope, mistaking a
Spellbound by
his
own
self,
there
is
pared
down
tion
based on a
is
marble.'
20
damask doublet, looking
Ovid's narrative, rendering

circle,
fell in
a real body.
In Caravaggio's painting
no reference to the ancient world; Narcissus
boy, in a sleeveless
he
he remained there motionless, with fixed
from Parian
gaze, like a statue carved
He
as
and within
knee, startlingly foreshortened.
21
of the back unnaturally long,
it,
its
stark essence.
circle
young Roman
into a pool; Caravaggio has
within a
The drawing
as
is
is
The composi-
circle, is
Narcissus'
distorted, with the curve
though the whole
figure has
been
pulled out sideways, and thus locked into the demands of this circular
composition.
meaning
Yet
it
It creates a
sense of intense concentration, and the picture's
lies in this circle
may
ing, to the
of
self-love.
also be read as a tribute to the illusionistic
power of the
reflection have almost equal weight,
and
reality
by touches of white water. The play on

prominence
of
power of paint-
artist to create a duplicate world.
in Philostratus' Imagines,
and
reality
illusion are divided
and
which contains
Figure and
illusion
is
given
a long description
painting of Narcissus. 'The pool', writes Philostratus, 'paints
202
c t
Po
u ra
e s
Narcissus, and the painting represents both the pool and the whole story
of Narcissus.
A youth just returned
from the hunt stands over the pool,
drawing from within himself a kind of yearning, and
own beauty
his
The
with
falling in love
painting has such regard for realism that
it
even
shows drops of dew dripping from the flowers ... As for you, however,
Narcissus,
in a thing
represents
it is
no painting
of pigments or wax; but you do not
you
four
you
exactly as
painting by Caravaggio
common
that has deceived you, nor are
are
you engrossed
realise that the
water
No
other
when you gaze upon
it
.'
22
inspired by the Metamorphoses, but he was a
is
source for Marino, and in the Galeria he devoted a sequence of
poems
of Narcissus. Marino's poems play on the
to paintings
relationship of art to nature,
and of
reality to illusion.
He
Narcissus' face, wondering whether canvas or water bestows a

reality;
he writes,
as Philostratus
had
writes
more
of
vivid
of layered deceptions, of
written,
Narcissus deceived by the fountain, and the spectator by paint and

canvas;
of an image so
ror image, pauses in

Narcissus
Marino
real that nature herself, a tiger
wonderment. In
a sonnet to
glimpsing
its
mir-
Bernardo Castello s
praises the artist's illusionism:
No
for
imitation fountain this:
what
living
seen in
is
the wave
is
and then elaborates the theme
it is
real
and
living;
23
.
in Philostratus,
of Narcissus' rapt
silence
before his reflection:
The boy
keeps
silent, utterly
absorbed
In fixed contemplation of that face that so delighted
him
The
24
.
virtuoso power of the artist
is
a constant
theme
in
Marino, and
perhaps both he and Caravaggio knew the puzzling reference in the

treatise
the
On
Painting,
by the Renaissance theorist Leon Battista Alberti, to
myth of Narcissus
as
symbolising the origins of painting
inventor of painting, according to the poets, was Narcissus
203
'the
What
is
Caravaggio A Life
painting but the act of embracing, by means of
pool?' 25
And
sense that
hand
art,
the surface of the
is
heightened by the
in Caravaggios picture the illusion
it is
caught and held only for an instant, and that
disturbs the surface of the pool,
Narcissus' fate was tragic,
Marino
it
as Narcissus'
will vanish.
of the lethal
writes
fountain',
26
and
Caravaggio conveys a dark melancholy. Narcissus' eyes are deeply shad-
owed, his
water.
voluptuous, and his yearning gaze
full lips
is
on black
fixed
This water was frequently associated by ancient writers with the
waters of the Styx, and the narcissus into which the boy was transformed
was associated with death, with Demeter and Persephone, with dank
pools and funereal flowers. Here no flowering narcissus blooms by the
nymph
pool, nor does the
accompany the
Echo,
lovely youth; his story
redemption or metamorphosis. In
Caravaggio
who
whose
of poems to
fated sensuality. In a series
unrelieved by the promise of
is
of love with death
this association
again close to Marino,
is
languished with love for him,
lyric verse
young
evokes a dark and
boy, Ligurino,
Marino
warns of the passing of youth and beauty:
Yet time,
Ligurino, will at last
Shrivel the Graces' garden,
One
Of
Caravaggios
all
angelic beauty to the dust
Narcissus, like his
also a vanitas, a
There
is
no contemporary
do not know
it
bloom
Boy
Bitten
and
his Lute Player,
is
perhaps
warning against the darkness and horror that follow the
and vain pleasures of
beauties
making
horrid desert: and will cast the
for
whom
connected to these
it
love
and youth.
reference to Caravaggio
was painted, but
Roman
it
literary circles, so
seems
Narcissus
likely that
it
and we
may be
dominated by Marino, and
was perhaps painted under the encouragement of Marino and the highly refined
Vincenzo Giustiniani. They interested other
artists in
such
themes: Castello, to whose Narcissus Marino paid poetic tribute, was a

learned
artist,
who
illustrated Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata.
Genoa, and was portrait painter to the Giustiniani

in
Rome
in the 1590s,
204
and moved
in the
same
He came from
family,
circles as
27
but he was
Caravaggio. In
Po
r a
e s
their country
Bassano da Sutri with the story of Cupid and Psyche, again a
favourite
sure
c t
commissioned him to fresco
1605 the Giustiniani brothers

villa at
theme with Marino, and providing
which could be enjoyed
residence.
Marino may,
for, in a letter
of
a sensuous
and
erotic plea-
and privacy of
in the seclusion
country
too, have interested Caravaggio in erotic themes,
1620, addressed to Paolino Berti, he referred to a paint-
ing of Susanna by Caravaggio which he owned.
The
picture
is lost,
but
presumably did show, unusually in Caravaggio s work, a female nude. The

poet asked Berti to send him a version of the darkly sensual
Holofernes
by Cristofano
accompany Caravaggios
Allori,
which he described
in
La
Judith and
to
Galeria,
Susanna?*
In the succeeding years Caravaggio was to be overwhelmed with com-
missions for important and lucrative altarpieces, but at this moment, at

the beginning of his success, he was
and
for
Of
portraits.
much
in
demand
for gallery pictures,
the fifteen works ultimately in the Palazzo
among them
Giustiniani six were portraits,
portraits
of the celebrated
advocate Prospero Farinacci (lawyer for Beatrice Cenci), of Cardinal
Benedetto Giustiniani, of the
woman, Marsilia
Sicca.
Sigismondo Laer, and an unknown
artist
His portrait of
Maffeo Barberini in a vivid
pose, gesturing towards the spectator,
Marino has
recently, perhaps,
production has been
On
2 June 1601 a
been
and
survives,
his
baroque
portrait of
but most of his portrait
identified;
lost.
Roman newspaper
announced:
In the past days there has been unveiled the beautiful gallery
of Cardinal Farnese, painted by the
Bolognese Carracci family.
Its success
has been so
great that Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini has asked
the painter for a Domine Quo

a
Vadisl
and has given him
golden chain worth 200 scudi with a large medal-
lion of
Our Lord
flourishes in
past.
Now
Rome, no
less
The completion of
one finds that painting

than
it
has done in times
the Cavaliere d'Arpinos
decorations in the Palazzo del Campidoglio

expected, and the
is
two paintings which Caravaggio
205
is
Caravaggio A
28.
Giovanni Volpato, The

(print)
206
Lif<
Farnese Gallery,
Rome
Po
u ra
e s
doing for the chapel which belonged to the
Monsignor
treasurer,
Cerasi, the
that chapel by the already

all
main
altarpiece in
mentioned Carracci, and
these three paintings of the greatest excellence
and beauty
29
.
no longer languishing, seemed gloriously reborn, and Annibale
Painting,
and the Cavaliere d'Arpino together hailed
Carracci, Caravaggio
three greatest exponents. Annibale
Cerasi chapel in the
autumn of
and Caravaggio competed
as its
in the
where Caravaggio's proletarian
1601,
figures were a provocative response to Annibale's idealising style.
But the
of the Farnese Gallery, a lovely and overwhelmingly sensuous
frescoes
same time
tribute to physical beauty,
and
of the power of
were a yet greater challenge to Caravaggios
art itself,
at the
a magnificent display
naturalism.
Their
creator,
Annibale Carracci, had
left
Bologna with
his brother
Agostino in 1594, when he had been invited by the young Cardinal
Odoardo Farnese
celebrated
to decorate the Palazzo Farnese. This was the
and grandest of
all
the
Roman
palaces,
most
completed by
Michelangelo, and a property envied and perhaps coveted by the lowlier
Aldobrandini. Annibale was
his mid-thirties, eleven years older than
the twenty-three-year-old Caravaggio, and though his works were
known
in
who had
Rome, he was
famous
painter, at the height
of
little
his powers,
already decorated Bolognese palaces and created a series of
impressive altarpieces for Bolognese churches and for other centres in
Emilia Romagna. His
him
this
and
his first
art, like
Caravaggios,
meant constantly underpinning
is
rooted
nature, but to
work by drawing from
his
life,
works had had an almost aggressive rough naturalism. But
increasingly he turned to
more
idealising traditions, uniting a passionate
study of nature with an interest in both ancient art and in the

Renaissance, and combining a naturalistic play of light and shade, and
figures
whose
flesh
idealising beauty
rooms
art,
in the
of
seems
warm and
alive,
a classical tradition.
with the formal power and
He
and
his brother
were given
top floor of the Farnese palace, and the grandeur of
and the splendour of ancient and Renaissance
207
Rome
its
around
aravaggio A Lift
29.
Annibale Carracci,
Self Portrait
(Parma, Galleria Nazionale)
him, encouraged Annibale to create a more
classical
and monumental
style.
The
frescoes in the Farnese Gallery were the
decoration since Raphael, but the creator of
most sumptuous palace
all this
courtly splendour
was a strangely uncourtly, solitary character, dirty and unkempt, and

uncomfortable in the world of power and wealth. Annibales father was
a tailor,
the
and Annibale remained
company of craftsmen
he appears in a small
faithful to his lowly origins, preferring
and
to courtiers,
Self Portrait
of
it is
1593
as a
modest
artisan that
(Plate 29). Malvasia, his
Bolognese biographer, describes his disdain for splendour and luxury,

saying that Annibale cared
little
dressed, 'with his hat thrust
for himself, he was not very clean, badly
on anyhow,
his coat badly arranged, his
beard disordered ... he was always abstracted, always alone, so that he
seemed
a philosopher
from antiquity
and for
not always esteemed as he should have been
.' ?
this reason
he was
Malvasia draws a
touching picture of Annibales attempts to avoid his patrons, blushing
208
c t
Po
u ra
e s
with confusion when he ran into Cardinal Farnese
Rome, and
in
At the same time Annibale resented the miserly way
Cardinal treated him.
penurious
avoid-
from Cardinal Borghese by slipping out through the back
ing a visit
door.
life:
A letter sent from Rome
in
which the
August 1599 evokes
his
'M. Annibale Carracci receives from his [patron] no more
than ten scudi per month, and portions for himself and a servant, and a
little
room under
whole day
like a horse,
altarpieces,
And
the roof.
and does
and works that
with hard work and has
for this he toils
little taste
Agostino, Annibale's brother,
rooms and
loggias,
worth
are
and
salons, pictures
fell
and
clean, enjoyed cultivating the
He
thousand scudi.
is
and
worn out
for such servitude/ 31
who worked with him
two
pulls a cart the
in
Rome until the
out, nursed quite different social pretensions, and, richly dressed
company of men of
letters;
he was
loving in conversation, learned and erudite in planning, shrewd and

watchful in negotiating'. 32 Agostino's pretensions irritated his brother,
who was
inclined
somewhat
and on one occasion,

courtiers
on the
tired
on the antique
walls
remind him of
savagely to
his lowly birth,
of Agostino's erudite discourse to
sculpture, the
group of
Laokoon, he drew the sculpture
of the Palazzo Farnese, stunning
his audience,
and remark-
ing tartly to Agostino: 'Poets paint with words; painters speak with
works.' 33 Annibale was loved
violently jealous
of other
by
his pupils,
artists,
but he had a sharp tongue, was
and developed
pungent and epigram-
matic manner of speech; unlike Caravaggio, he revealed his contempt for
Giuseppe Cesari and
his
followers openly, turning
from d'Arpino's
Triumph of Constantine in St John Lateran to remark to his pupils:
would have
ever believed that a clumsy
triumph?' and, asked

replied: 'Raphael.'
On
who was
'Who
and wretched fellow could
the greatest poet, Ariosto or Tasso, he
one occasion d'Arpino responded to
his criticism
with a challenge to a duel, and, Annibale, laughing, 'seized his brush and
said
"I
challenge you.'" 34 His sayings
Caravaggio:
Asked
replied:
don't
"I
to give his opinion
know how
to
include only one remark on
on
a Judith
say otherwise,
it
of Caravaggio, he
is
too natural.'" 35
Caravaggio, so different in his violence and aggression, none the less
shared with
him
a taste for
emphasising the craft of painting, and punc-
turing intellectual pretension.
209
Caravaggio A Life
Annibale's reputation had surely preceded
it
seems
Roman
painting for a
colour and
light,
there,
in 1594,
and
but
his first
installed in 1599. This painting has the bright
warm and
the
Rome
to
church, Santa Caterina dei Funari, was an altar-
which was
piece, St Margaret,
him
few of his works were known
likely that
tender humanity, of Venetian
art, lack-
ing entirely the cloying eroticism or iconic purity and simplicity of

paintings of saints by contemporary
a comparatively
still
welcomed
during
unknown Lombard
this picture
my
time
with the good
Roman
painter of genre and
with an unusual enthusiasm, 1
see a real painter/
realistic
painters. Caravaggio, then
as 1658
that
meaning, Bellori explains, a painter
manner which
completely missing. 36 As late
still life,
am happy
in
Rome and
other parts was
still
Annibale s pupil, Francesco Albani,
was to remember Caravaggios admiration, writing to a friend that

Caravaggio had 'died on beholding this work'. 37 Perhaps Caravaggio saw
Annibale
as a
worthy competitor, and he was
later to
speak of him
as a
friend.
Annibale s most intense
during these years, was concentrated
activity,
on the decoration of the Farnese palace
(Plate 28). In the Gallery
Annibale created a radiant, sensual decoration, with scenes from

cal
mythology showing the power of
love.
They
are witty
and
and show the most splendid of the ancient gods humbled by
classi-
playful,
love.
The
scenes are presented as simulated easel paintings, that seem to hang

against an illusionistic architectural
architecture
framework which continues the
of the room, and the room
intensely imagined
itself
seems to open into an
and radiant world of the gods,
ally beautiful figures, lit
by bright
daylight.
The
real
a celebration
gallery
of
ide-
was intended to
display marble classical sculptures, and over these Annibale created an
imaginary gallery of pictures, each in an ornate frame, as though in a

princely gallery. His figures are deeply indebted to classical sculpture,
and
to
it
seems
warm
painting.
as
life,
At
though, in his paintings, he brought the sculptures below
in a conscious display
of the power of the
the same time he borrowed
many of
rival art
of
the nude youths from
Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling, yet created a warmer sensuality.
At
either
end of the long
gallery are paintings telling the story
Polyphemus and Galatea. The body of the
210
of
cyclops, Polyphemus, has a
U
truly massive grandeur
u ra
Po
e s
and muscular power, and suggests Annibale's
response to the most celebrated and monumental classical sculptures, the
Vatican
Belvedere Torso
and the
Farnese Hercules,
which then stood
in the
courtyard of the Palazzo Farnese. Annibale thus unites a tribute to the
splendour of his patrons princely collection, with a proclamation of the
power of painting to
framework plays on
sculpture.
rival
different layers
The
of
illusionistic
architectural
creating a dazzling
illusion,
array of feigned bronze roundels and simulated stucco sculptures, playful satyrs
and
putti,
and nude youths holding garlands,
of which
of Michelangelo's
re-create, in a lighter vein, the decorative accessories
Such an extraordinary display of pagan nudity was
Sistine ceiling.
all
Clements Rome, when palace decoration
truly
for the
most part
consisted of dull biblical scenes and personifications of the
Virtues. It
startling
was perhaps only possible for so powerful a family, and one so hostile to
the Aldobrandini.
The theme of
brated line in Virgil: Omnia

let us, too, yield
all,
ionable.
The
recalling a cele-
nos cedamus amori
(Love conquers
Annibale's ceiling, love conquers

vincit
amor;
et
to love) (Eclogues X,6(})
all
became
wake of Marsilio
painters throughout the sixteenth century. In the
commentary on
Ficino's Latin
es
and dialogues on
authors as Pietro
della
immediately fash-
nature of Love was a popular subject with poets and
Plato's Symposium, 1469,
dozens of
treatis-
amongst them works by such celebrated
love,
Bembo and Mario
Equicola, Tullio d'Aragona and Pico
Mirandola, had been written. Writers and poets endlessly analysed
the distinctions between earthly love and heavenly love, which Plato had
seen as a metaphysical principle, transcending the material universe.

Bellori,
with probably mistaken emphasis, was to describe the Carracci
ceiling as 'the strife
and the harmony between Heavenly and
Love, a Platonic division'.-
The theme was
Mancini, writing to his brother in
promised him
feet
ness,
a painting
Cupid and
and
picture,
this
all
1613,
Common
taken up by Caravaggio, and
recalled
how
Caravaggio had
of the wrath of Mars, trampling beneath
his arms.
He
had attended Caravaggio during an
his
ill-
was to be his reward. But Cardinal Del Monte had seen the
and taken
it
for himself,
Madama. 59 Del Monte
also
and
owned
in 1613
it
was
still
in the Palazzo
a Divine Love triumphing over Earthly
211
Caravaggio A Life
30.
Bartolomeo Manfredi, Mars
chastising
(Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago)
Cupid
PLATE
St John the Baptist
plate
Victorious
plate
Cupid
17: Narcissus
PL ate
The Calling of St Matthew
plate
19:
The Martyrdom of St Matthe w
plate 20:
The Crucifixion of St Peter
PLATE
21
The Conversion of St Paul
plate 22:
plate
The Supper
at
Emmaus
23: Doubting Th omas
PLATE
PLATE
St
Matthew and
the
Angel
plate 26:
The Entombment of Christ
Po
u ra
e s
mentioned by Baglione (though possibly
Love (untraced),
picture promised to Mancini),
and Caravaggio
date, a Sleeping Cupid (untraced).
40
this
also painted,
was the
around
this
Mancini, unable to get a copy of the
Caravaggio, commissioned instead a Mars
Bartolomeo Manfredi, and thought
it
chastising
Cupid (Plate 30) from
Manfredi s best work.
It is a
mock
which may well echo aspects of Caravaggio s
heroic, sexy picture,
lost
pictures.
Sophisticated collectors enjoyed setting one painter against another;
Tiberio Cerasi (perhaps encouraged by Vincenzo Giustiniani) had paired
Annibale with Caravaggio, and in a similar
spirit
Onorio Longhi, who
in
married the young Florentine Caterina Campani, commissioned
1601
portraits
of himself from both Caravaggio and Annibale (both
untraced).
'
are
(Caravaggio also painted Caterina Campani.) Later, in 1608,
Mancini asked
his brother to arrange a contest
between two paintings of
St John, one by Caravaggio, one by Annibale, which he had sent to Siena
outcome
(the
On
unknown). 42
is
the unveiling of the Farnese Gallery, Giustiniani perhaps saw a
new opportunity
for competition
naturalistic art against that
admired. For
and urged Caravaggio to
of Annibale, an
in the period
artist
pit his
whom Vincenzo
immediately after the completion of the
Farnese Gallery and the Cerasi chapel Caravaggio painted his only
length male nudes, the
Victorious
Cupid (Col. Plate
16),
full-
probably in the
half of 1602, for the collection of Giustiniani himself, while the
first
Capitoline St John
the
Baptist (Col. Plate 15)
friend Ciriaco Mattei in 1602.
With
was painted for Giustiniani s
these works, both smiling, disturb-
ingly provocative figures, Caravaggio answered
the
also
power of
art
Annibales celebration of
with equally ambitious claims for his
own heightened
illusionism; again like Annibale, he suggested that painting
may
rival the
power of sculpture; and against the radiance of Annibales heavenly

lovers,
he
set
an earthier, bitterer concept of the dangerous power of
love.
The
into
Cupid shows a young boy, of about twelve, transformed
Victorious
Cupid by shaggy
ly alighted there,
a starry globe,
on
and
eagles wings, perching, as though he has sudden-
a white sheet
at his feet
draped over a stone bench, with behind
symbols of
intellectual
213
life,
of worldly
Caravaggio A L
31.
Cupid with
Bow
bis
(print after antique sculpture,
from the
power, of military glory and fame.
The
model, languorously posed against a

are linked above all
intensity
light,
by
fur,
their naturalism.
of presence, of
St John the Baptist
embracing a ram. The paintings
The Cupid
vivid sharpness
shows the same
and
has an extraordinary
clarity;
with the
St John the
gathering in curves and hollows, suggesting the play of muscles
beneath the surface of the skin, brings the flesh to

quality that attracted Caravaggio
the Cupid
John that
had been painted from

it
could not
warm
life. It
nature, while Scanelli wrote
'reveal truer flesh if
he had been
Carracci. It
is
still
as if Caravaggio,
214
this
more deeply indebted
having studied the very
of the
alive, like
Amoretto'. 43 Both have their roots in Michelangelo, in the

Sistine ceiling, but they are
was
contemporaries. Baglione stressed that
ignudi
St
the
of the
to Annibale
many
quotations
U
from Michelangelo and
ed to
by
u ra
classical sculpture
Po
e s
on the Farnese
redo these poses
test his naturalistic style against this exemplar, to
He
a direct reference to nature.
Hellenistic sculpture
done, rivalled the
intensely
of
in the sturdy torso

in 1600
of Cupid with
Cupid- 44
his
saw, in his patrons collection, a
Bow (Plate
naturalistic
Guidobaldo Del Monte,
had praised painting
perspective,
his
ceiling, decid-
31),
of ancient sculpture
effect
(The
and, as Annibale had
paragone debate lived on,
and
on
in the introduction to his treatise

as superior to sculpture.)
another variation on the theme of Michelangelo's
The
ignudi,
St John is
which had
themselves inspired Annibales display of male beauty, the flesh-coloured
whom
youths
colours'.
45
his poses,
described as 'nude youths painted in
Bellori
But where Annibale had drawn from
life,
and then
lifelike
idealised
Caravaggios works are demonstrations of the power of paint-
ing directly
from the model. Caravaggios triumphant Cupid
triumph of painting
Milesi praises
it
itself,
such
as
over the other arts, and over
all rivals.
is
the
Marzio
Love conquers
all
things,
and you painter conquer
all
things
He
And
indeed conquers souls, but you bodies and souls. 46
the painting plays, too,
conquers
all,
or Omnia
vincit
on the theme of Annibales
amor.
ceiling, love
Where Annibale opens up
over the
viewers head a sunlit world of heavenly lovers, Caravaggios Cupid has

emphatically descended to earth.
sheets
He
displays himself
of the bedroom, and both pose and expression
enticing;
Cupid seems
on the rumpled
are provocative,
a dark force, ruling over the planets,
man's highest and most civilised aspirations.
and mocking
With one hand behind
his
back, he points suggestively to his buttocks, while displaying the softness
of
his thighs,
In this
and the
V between his legs, to the spectator.
conception of Cupid Caravaggio drew on
Renaissance literature and
art.
him
as
as carrying
two arrows,
Ovid, in the
classical
Metamorphoses,
and
describes
does Caravaggios Cupid, one golden, to
kindle love, and the other tipped with lead, to put love to flight and
generally create
chaos. His
clearest
ancestor
is
Parmigianino's Amor
215
Caravaggio A Life
(Cupid carving
his
bow), in
which Cupid, an androgynous young boy
dis-
playing his buttocks, conspires with the spectator as he maliciously
sharpens his bow. Glimpsed between his sensual thighs are two putti,
one of
whom
out in pain
cries
as
he touches Cupid; Cupid parades
two books, the
his triumph, his elegant foot poised over
fruits
of the
intellect.
Caravaggios Cupid, too,
is
dangerous, and Murtola addressed three
madrigals to Caravaggios picture, warning against
Look not on
power.
and these
heart,
love,
fresh
love's
dangerous
he implores, for he will make ashes of your
and
living colours bring death.
And
the perils
associated with love run through Marino's Adone, his epic of love, where
the light and playful tone of
part of his sixth canto to
associated with death.
away
life; it is
mind and
darkened. Marino addressed a large

is
no longer the
inspirational
but has become a darker power,
tradition,
He
Medusa,
is
Amor. His Amor
of the Petrarchan
force
Ovid
describes a love which, while laughing, sucks

a basilisk, a bird
of prey which gnaws
at the
destroys reason (and so naturalistic are Caravaggios dark
eagles wings that they invoke the sinister
madness, a pleasing
a voluntary
evil.
power of
of prey);
it is
this canto, love
and
a bird
At the end of
death change places; they exchange their arms of torch and bow, and
Amor, with
and reason.
his wolf's eyes, laughs while
47
Love and death
weeping
intellectual
dominated by
and worldly power,
a skull, a chilling
here Caravaggio, as
Marino
he destroys youth
are close, too, in Caravaggios painting. Its
composition reminds us of the traditional
symbols of
as
vanitas still life,
beautiful,
in
which
and piled high,
are
reminder of their insubstantiality. But
also does, has replaced the skull with the
mocking and malign Cupid.
The
picture was one of
sessions. It flattered
Vincenzo
and displayed
Giustiniani's
his
most treasured pos-
knowledge, and the objects over
which Cupid triumphs suggest the range of
his learning, that
true Renaissance courtier, skilled in the arts of warfare
They
lute,
of the
and of peace.
include music, one of Giustiniani's greatest passions, and the
becoming,
at this date, a nostalgic
taposed with a modern
prominent
violin,
for Vincenzo.
216
reminiscence of a past
era, is jux-
while the musical score starts with a
touching tribute to the breadth of his
interests
lived in
Cavaliere di Bassano, a
all
years,
The world
r a
his
Po
e s
Theodore Amayden,
man of
Flemish
incomparable virtue and merit,
and not
have
known him
known
to
very well for upwards
day has gone by but that we saw each other.
never saw a greater intellect.
most recondite
things, even the
drawn to
c t
Rome, and wrote of him: 'Marchese Vincenzo,
but particularly to me, since
of twenty
given by his close friend
is
who
lawyer,
He would
discourse
on
sciences: and, with his affability, he
all
had
house a gathering of gentlemen and practitioners of every
profession whose like had never been seen in Europe'. 48 Vincenzo,

delighting in the stylistic debate between Annibale and Caravaggio, also
enjoyed literary
country
villa
conversazione,
and
in the erudite literary gatherings at the
of Bassano, where the
ceilings
may well have
mythological scenes, the subject of love

discourses, reminiscent
may
of those described
Baglione
hung
it
may
is
also
room of
this
antichi in
the Palazzo Giustiniani
room were
the
Sandrart,
when Caravaggio was himself
far
modern
who
been seen properly was

gested, not
it
finally exhibited' 49
from prudery, but from
it
all
kind of
Salmacis
of the
finale to a tour
and only when
in the
his
later curated the collection, tells us that 'at

silk covering
in
Caravaggio and
painters,
from being hidden away
formed the triumphant
was given a dark green
this way;
most celebrated of Old Masters, but
chamber where Marino intended to put
Hermaphrodite,
Love.
not clear when the paintings were arranged in
Annibale Carracci. The Cupid,
it
the quadri
included the works of two
private
ideal love, as a play-
all
Del Monte's picture of Divine
have been a different hang
Rome). In
He
us that Vincenzo admired the Cupid beyond reason, and
in the great
(though
there
tells
stimulated learned
in Castigliones Courtier.
have seen his picture, a sardonic joke about
ful rejoinder to his friend
it
were decorated with light
my
and
gallery;
suggestion
the others had
a device probably sug-
a desire to increase the startling
immediacy with which Cupid seems to have alighted on the bed and to
emphasise, in a way then customary, the paintings fame.
Vincenzo's
gallery
demonstrates
his
sense
that
Caravaggio had together brought about a rebirth of
of
Italian painting,
liantly
and
and unexpectedly
clear.
He
lists
and
the great traditions
in his later Letter on Painting he

50
Annibale
makes
this bril-
twelve categories of painting,
217
Caravaggio A Life
up
leading
to a final group of three. First of these are artists
them Roncalli and
the Cavaliere d'Arpino)
who work
(among
di maniera,
that
is,
without a model, but drawing on knowledge acquired through long

study; second are those
from the
directly
final,
which united painting
most
this category, the
and most
perfect,
was the twelfth category,
maniera with painting

excellent,
from the
object.
And
in
he placed Caravaggio, Annibale and
this passage Giustiniani separated
who saw
critics,
di
paint
emphasis on light and shade, colour
object, with the
and chiaroscuro. But
Guido Reni. In
(among them Ribera and Rubens) who
himself from
classicist
only Caravaggios dependence on the model; he was
aware that Caravaggio had
much
common
in
with Annibale and
that,
far
from simply copying nature, he had
art
of the past and united an extraordinary immediacy of vision with
gestures
and compositions rooted
Renaissance
art.
who
complex relationship with the
in the eloquence
His most famous Caravaggios, The
Victorious Cupid, are
seur
refined works,
delighted in
all
of ancient and
Lute Player
and the
commissioned by a cultured connois-
the arts.
Vincenzo may well have discussed the iconography of the Cupid with
Caravaggio, but the picture, with
its
provocative sense of triumph,
undoubtedly had a strong personal meaning for the
artist. It retains,
very powerfully, a sense of the studio and of the model.
instruments are
and
it
seems
as
still-life
accessories (both lute
and
still life,
and that
this has
in a corner
Amores,
its
mocking mood
when Cupid
it
(saeve puer) grins
of
forcefully suggests that
intense,
of Ovid's
and calmly puts an end to Ovid s
epic aspirations;
My epic was under
construction
wars and armed
violence
in the
I
grand manner, with metre matching theme.
had written the second hexameter when Cupid

grinned
and calmly removed one of
218
his
been suddenly disrupted
by the flaunting behaviour of the model, who has so strong, so

a presence. In
musical
violin lack strings),
though Caravaggio has been arranging,
studio, an elaborate
The
and
its feet.
U
'You young
Po
u ra
e s
none of your
savage,' I protested, 'poetry's
business
We
poets are committed to the Muses.
my
You've a large empire,
boy
too
i6)
(11
much power
already.
Why
so eager for extra work?
Or
the whole world yours
is
the glens of Helicon
included?
Can't Phoebus call his lyre his
This smiling boy appears
in other paintings,
Caravaggio's principal model; he
Capitoline
St John, the
perhaps Isaac in the
around the same

that he
is
1604.
Murtola
been suggested, but
at
also
picture of a sleeping
Emmaus.
He
Saul,
and
less convincingly,
version of St Matthew? and
first
as
John the Baptist in the
painted for Maffeo Barberini at
Sacrifice of Isaac,
date. It has also
(11
and replaced Minniti
certainly St
is
these days?
angel in the Odelscalchi Conversion of
the angel in the
Christ in the Supper
own
the
Angel,
and
disappears from the paintings around
poem
addressed a
to Caravaggio's Amore, a lost
Cupid
Should you wish to depict Love,

skilled painter,
you might paint that beautiful

both
are pretty,
You might wish

look
at
him
both
little
Giulietto;
are fond.
to portray
him
blind:
there,
his tender little limbs,
languid in sleep
This
is
52
.
one of a group of madrigals, a sequence addressed to a baby,
Giulietto,
Caravaggio
sucking
at
his
mother's
moved from something
story around
it,
and
in the
breast.
real
and
It
neatly
seen,
suggests
how
and then created
same way Caravaggio's Cupid began
219
in the life
Caravaggio A Life
of the
studio,
and moved into myth; he
flattered a real
boy by giving him
the wings of Cupid, and the beauty of a Hellenistic sculpture, creating

that
ambiguous relationship between symbol and
reality, art
and
life,
so
loved by the Marinisti.
Symonds
In 1649-50 the English traveller Richard

Giustiniani,
visited the Palazzo
and before the Victorious Cupid jotted down
in his note-
book:
'Cupido di Caravaggio / Card,

milia duboli p[er]
3
cento scudi.
among
/ Checco
laurel
rare,
But
this passage, at first sight
disintegrates
sexuality,
on
servants or studio assistants,
young
haire darke,
&
face
/ of
armes
2 milia
his
owne boy
that laid with him/ 53
seeming evidence of Caravaggio's homoCaravaggio did have
examination.
closer
and Milesi,
of Caravaggio'.
painter, pupil
vuolle dare
&
dubole / Twas the body
his boy-
/Costo
/calld
tis
compasses lute / violin
/ Monsr Crechy
or servant
Savoya profe. / 2
di Caravaggio
del Caravaggio
/ twas
the painters
two winges /
&
di
Cupido
il
54
in 1606, addressed a
poem
Divmo Amore.
It is
short for Francesco.
The model
house
possible that he was a relative,
him
Caravaggio, and that Caravaggio used
paintings
'a
In 1605 a boy, Francesco, perhaps
a studio assistant or simply a servant, lived with Caravaggio in his

in the Vicolo del
to
for the
when Caravaggio moved from
as a
from
model; Cecco may be
Cupid disappears from the
the house, and perhaps, if he
was Francesco, he had had to seek other lodgings. Mancini writes of a

painter,
Cecco del Caravaggio,
Caravaggio, but what
whom
we know of
that he was in Caravaggio's studio
he describes
this artists
as
a follower
of
works does not suggest
when he was
twelve.
Nor
is
there
anything to suggest that Caravaggio lay with his assistant. Like Longhi
and Minniti, both undoubtedly heterosexual, he mixed with the

whores.
Symonds' garbled
jottings,
far
from
settling
the
Roman
issue
of
Caravaggio's sexual orientation, have the feel of a colourful anecdote
enjoyed by tourists
220
particularly English tourists, so convinced that
U
sodomy was
a favourite Italian practice
the picture s fabulous value.
Nor
is it
u ra
and
Po
e s
he also spun fantasies over
likely that
Vincenzo, a pious and
married man, and brother of an eminent Cardinal, would have flaunted

a painting
papal
of so celebrated
Rome.
a painters
homosexual lover
at the centre
of
CHAPTER NINE
The Shock of
Humility: the
Imitation of Christ
'Humility
...
it is
the cornerstone of the Christian virtues
is
the inclination of the
mind towards God'
Agostino Valier
the years 16001601
In
Caravaggio,
now
aged
thirty,
was
at the
height of his public success, and in the next few years he was to
continue to paint public works, and to be very
He
with private collectors.
number of works from

Towards the end of
painted
fast,
and there
much
in
demand
are a remarkable
the years 1601 3.

1601 he finished his Crucifixion of St Peter for the
Cerasi chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo, and with this painting, in
which the
saint,
old and heavy,
is
very
much
the poor fisherman from
Bethsaida, and the executioners, their hands heavily veined and reddened,
their feet dusty, are toiling
workmen, he
initiated a
new phase of
his art.
In the next years he painted scenes from the Passion of Christ, and from
the Apostolic age, which are meditations
on the mysteries of the
Christian faith, and convey the passionate contemporary concern with

salvation; they explore the Christian ethos
of humility, an ethos so
deeply at odds with the code of honour that ruled the
For the Protestants the

it
was through
faith
Catholics believed that
of
Fall
was
total
The
imitating Christ, for in
humankind could be
but
God
virtue,
and through the
Christian should cherish the ardent ideal of
Him
had become the exemplar of
222
and irredeemable, and

saved;
that
through good works and the attainment of

sacramental church.
streets.
could re-create his ancient union with
alone
man
Man
Roman
lay all the virtues,
'Patience,
and
at the Passion
and humility, and exalted
He
charity,
The Shock of Humility

and meekness, and obedience, and unshaken firmness of soul not only
but also in meeting death'. Through a
in suffering for justice sake,
'
meditation on the Passion the worshipper could participate in Christ's
human
intensely
drama so powerfully
tragic
this
dropping
teares,
bitter passion.'
on
the Life
new
suffering. Preachers,
that 'the hardest hart melteth into
and craveth mercie for
The
of Christ,
his sinnes
by the merites of that
thirteenth-century Franciscan treatise the Meditations
which dramatised every
detail
the worshipper to
were present, and watch
Him
attentively',
life,
enjoyed
these things as though
all
3
Christ's
and
it
It
you
was written in a rough
rough sermon reaches the heart while the
familiar manner, for 'the
polished one feeds the
'Heed
of
of the devout individual.
popularity, saturating the imagination
recommended
and
wrote Gregory Martin, depicted
ear'. 4
plethora of treatises on meditation,
throughout the sixteenth century, encouraged the development of techniques for making the Christian mysteries as tangible and visible as
and
possible, so renewing the affective piety

life
of the Middle Ages, and
at their centre
richly imaginative spiritual
the paradox of
is
man. They encouraged empathy, and the creation of

images.
And
immagini sacre
that
move
art to
seemed
major
profane (1582),
real
and
The
the viewer.
At the
through the bonds of

in
Rome
the
Paleotti in his Discorso intorno
alle
visible reality, to create figures
and through
this naturalistic
and human
the early years of the century, but soon after

in painting.
of the Christian virtues was humility, and through min-
istering in humility to the
and
move
Passion and miracles of Christ had not been
became dominant
centre
Gabnele
was to imitate
tangible,
artistic subject
1550 Christ
vivid interior
the Christian painter, too, was implored to
heart; his duty, wrote Cardinal
God made
the vast
poor and
charity.
sick the
To Luther
Roman Church
was united
poverty was the curse of God,
numbers of beggars, making
it
difficult to
walk in
the streets, angered the people. But devout Catholics saw Christ himself
and through an ardent charity aspired to perfect
in the suffering poor,

virtue;
Camillo de
commented: 'The
Lellis,
at the Jubilee
of
laboured in the most derelict
and the poor
sick
at the Jubilee the great
done
who
Roman
1575,
reveal to us the face
aristocrats, as
streets,
of God.' 6
And
Marcantonio Colonna had
abased themselves,
as Christ
223
had done before
Caravaggio A Life
Peter, to
Orders
wash the
Capuchins,
charity
feet
of the pilgrims. The austere
ideals
of the poor
the Barefoot Carmelites, founded in 1597, and the rigorous
who
revived a pure Franciscan ethos, with
its
emphasis on
Rome. Filippo Neri shocked and mortified
radiated through
courtly world with insistent reminders of the religion of the streets; he
of the poor
strove to revive a pure sense
should reunite the
literate
in spirit,
and a
spirituality that
and sophisticated with the lowly and simple.
when
In the early days of the Oratory,
members had together read
its
sacred texts, they had favoured the Laudi of the medieval Franciscan
Jacopone da Todi, whose harsh and rugged poems convey emotion with
a passionate simplicity.
His
Pianto
della
Madonna has the primitive voice
which Filippo sought:
Help! Lady
For
see,
And on
With
The
stark,
full
of woe
they strip
Him now
the Cross bestow,
nails, that
pared-down
Body
blest
of Baronios Annates too sought to
style
re-create an Apostolic simplicity,
and Baronio himself
the early days of the Oratory,
meetings had resembled those of the
first apostles.
on
The
its
Oratorian emphasis on a low
a Christian sublimity that rejects
ments of the
fine style,
style,
recalled how, in
on the
sermo humilis,
pagan subtleties and the blandish-
perhaps contributed something to the harsh
vernacular of Caravaggio.
Around
the ministry of the Orders there
sprang up a vast charitable world, of confraternities, seeking eternal
through good works, and devoted to such
acts as
life
burying the dead and
comforting those condemned to death, of caring for pilgrims, of administering hospitals,
and
it
drew
was from
and
institutions for converting
this enlightened
world of
and protecting women,
active charity that Caravaggio
his patrons.
Earlier artists
of the Catholic Reform, such
as
Scipione Pulzone, had
painted religious pictures with humble figures, but they tend to be dull
and timorous works, where the poor, devotionally

and grateful
recipients
224
of
charity.
But
idealised, are the clean
in Caravaggio's art the
poor
are
The Shock of H u m
included in a way strikingly
against the
so
in art.
the
frontal
plane:
grave,
figures;
the innkeeper in the Supper

a
viewer
Roman
ragged
St John the Baptist;
the
at
Emmaus
gestures,
renders
in The Conversion of
are set against the holy
of the gospel appear from the massive
The
Apostles are poor
weather-beaten and old, with torn and rustic clothing. Their
ordinary humanity
and
Peter,
figures
roughened by work, models for
street boy,
first lines
proletarian
groom
the
labourers hands of a doltish St Matthew.

travellers,
thrust relentlessly
is
insistently
from the contemporary working world

St Paul,
The
rough and soiled clothes of the executioners of St
to
close
new
i 1
is
stressed
by the simplicity of
their expressions
and by the extreme surface realism with which Caravaggio
worn and
for old age
frail flesh; his feeling
itself,
for wrinkled
brows and heavily veined limbs, so distant from the springtime world of
the Renaissance, suggests an ancient church.
In a sense Caravaggio, like Filippo Neri,

ity,
creating a shock
is
pushing the world of the poor before an
elite
of humil-
audience, and using a
language that seems rough and vernacular, and available to everyone. Yet
his figures are also
power of
grand and
his massive, sculptural style conveys the
a primitive, heroic era. Christ
God chosen the poor of

Among high churchmen, and
not
had come
particularly
days of the early Church seemed vividly

a
for the poor, for 'Hath
this world, rich in faith?' (James, 2: 5).
among
real,
the Oratorians, the
days when,
it
was believed,
poor fisherman had reigned, and the Apostles, simple and unlettered
men, had shared
and worldly goods. Theirs was
their meals
a vision
nourished by the writings of the Fathers of the Church; Tertullian had

written
'Deus semper pauperes
justijicavit,
divites
praedamnat
and St John
Chrysostom that Christ had come to subjugate human pride and

gance, 'for this he
made himself not only
man, but
he chose a poor mother and a most modest dwelling
was attributed the saying 'Follow naked the naked

ers
sought to re-create
this ancient purity
To make
arro-
poor man; for

.'
Christ'.
To
this
St Jerome
The
reform-
and to renew the glorious days
of the
early
in the
mind, the moving drama of Christ's suffering, was the aim of
many
meditative
Church.
techniques;
this past vividly present,
but
Caravaggio
and to
creates
an
re-enact,
intensely
personal vision of the early Church through figures and scenes from
225
Caravaggio A Life
the contemporary secular world. This too
for,
Lorenzo Scupolis popular handbook to the devout
as
Spiritual Conflict (1589) says,
everything
may be
When
Every time the clock

with which
He
strikes
was nailed to the Cross/
profoundly Catholic art which
terror
of broken humanity
mans
at
to.
hear those hard blows
Caravaggios was a
new and
tragic darkness conveys the
alienation
figures are travellers or pilgrims,
mired
world, and unconsoled by any vision of Paradise.

the soul, and the grace without which
the ideal beauty of Raphael
rejects
and Michelangelo, and whose brooding and
bound
of the
cries
"Crucifige, crucifige"
you may seem
life
and the
stable
you hear the shouts and the
remember those abominable words:
people,
the
life,
reminder of Christ s
and death: 'Poor inns may bring back to the mind the
manger of the Lord
a meditative technique
is
man
from God. His earthof
in the prison
Only
this
the light suggests
cannot attain union with
God.
Painters were swift to follow his lead,
and some great and
guished collectors, too, were enthralled by the power of a

art
which broke with the dull conformity of such
Pulzone and which regained the

Ages.
affective
new
artists as
power of the
art
distin-
religious
Scipione
of the Middle
small circle of patrons was anxious to acquire works by
Caravaggio.
It
included
members of
the old
Roman
aristocracy,
such
as
the Mattei and Massimi families, high churchmen, such as Cardinal
Benedetto Giustiniani, and also self-made men, lawyers and wealthy
who
bankers,
Curia,
were anxious to play a prominent role in the
and to display
Roman
their wealth
in
of the
major
churches.
Prominent amongst these

family, a
Roman
in the years
of 16012 was the Mattei
family of venerated antiquity, and for this contact
Caravaggio was again indebted to the

Orsi, his 'torchbearer',
of
affairs
by the patronage of chapels
1601 Caravaggio left
who was
tireless
campaigning of Prospero
already in their service. In the
summer
the Palazzo Madama, and took up residence
the Palazzo Mattei, the splendid
home of
whose two brothers, Ciriaco (the
elder),
in
Cardinal Girolamo Mattei,
and Asdrubale,
lived in an
adjacent palazzo. Here, on 14 June 1601, Caravaggio signed a contract with

the distinguished lawyer Laerzio Cherubini to paint, within a year, a
226
The Shock of Humilit
Palazzo dell ill. et bcc. sigjjvca gir.oi.amo mattei et bacoata verso s"caterina de fvnari nel rione di sange
j.o Aiu:nni.rrviL\ ni
***r*>'
G.
32.
carlo uadeknl
B. Falda, The Palazzo Mattei
(print)
Death of
the Virgin
Roman
for the
church of Santa Maria della Scala in
Trastevere. In the contract he states that he
is
living 'in the palace
and reverend lord cardinal Mattel'. The Palazzo Mattei (now
illustrious
Caetani) overlooks the Via delle Botteghe Oscure, in what
even rundown, area of

palaces,
of the
10
known
Rome.
It is
there
now
a quiet,
part of a vast block of adjacent
as the Isola dei Mattel, in the
Rome. The Mattei had moved
is
Sant'Angelo
from Trastevere, and
district
of
in the first half
of the sixteenth century had amassed riches and power, presiding over a
court vaster than any save that of the Pope himself.
The
facade of the
Mattei palace, enriched by chiaroscuro frescoes by Taddeo Zuccaro,
looked out over the Piazza Mattei,

Fountain of
churches
the Tortoises
by
Tommaso
at the centre
of which
is
the elegant
Landini. Close by were the small
of San Sebastiano, and Santa Caterina dei Funari, with
Annibales much-admired St Margaret
Within the palace where Caravaggio
altarpiece.
stayed, the salone,
227
and the private
Caravaggio A Life
chapel which opens from
The
these years.
en
salone is a
ceiling, glittering
it,
perfectly convey the spiritual atmosphere
grand room, with a sumptuously carved wood-
with reds, blues and golds, and decorated with the
Cardinal's arms, but the frescoed decoration
is
very far removed from the
sensuous mythological decoration which graced so
had been decorated
palaces. It
painter Paul
Brill,
whose
in 1599
frescoes
spirit,
before the viewer.
many Renaissance
by the fashionable landscape
show the peaceful charms of the
world of nature, and unfold the landscape, with

the
of
They show
all its
power to
forest scenes, with
refresh
horsemen
and hunters (Ciriaco Mattei had hunted with Vincenzo Giustiniani);

mountainous views, with monastic buildings or
and harbours,
full
Roman
ruins; estuaries
of incident, where mill wheels turn, and donkeys and
pedlars journey across bridges.
And
framing each scene, with
recognisable attributes drawn from the
Iconologia
easily
of Cesare Ripa,
are
female figures, well draped, personifying the Virtues, such as Charity,
Prudence, Truth.
The Mattei
were close friends with both the Giustiniani family and
with Del Monte, and, while Cardinal Girolamo had only a modest
interest in painting, Ciriaco
and Asdrubale were avid
aesthetic debate, keen to practise the skills
Vincenzo Giustiniani, interested

active role in the
Roman
in
art world,
young
and
collectors, aware
of the connoisseur, and,

artists.
11
in 1598 his
of
like
Asdrubale played an
name headed
the
list
of gentlemen amateurs under whose protection Federico Zuccaro placed

the Accademia di San Luca. Both Asdrubale and Ciriaco were celebrat-
ed
as collectors
of ancient
art,
and Ciriaco was an enthusiastic
of the most advanced contemporary

lookout for new
talent.
They were on
painters,
collector
and was always on the
close terms with
Roman
artists,
and both were attracted by the naturalism of Caravaggio, and by

fashionable northern
classical art
less
as
artists,
while at the same time appreciating the
of the Bolognese. These
men
were connoisseurs
who doubt-
enjoyed discussing the finer points of painting with such an expert
Vincenzo Giustiniani.
In the same circle was the noble
Roman Massimo
commissioned from Caravaggio a Crowning

picture
now
at
Prato) and an Ecce
228
with Thorns
Massimi,
who
(probably the
Homo. Massimo Massimi was
the

richest
and most famous member of
Massimo
the celebrated Palazzo
his illustrious family,
alle
who
lived in
Colonne, made splendid by the
remarkable pagan decoration o Perin del Vaga, and the centre of his
family's activity.
He,
was a
too,
new decoration of the
virtuoso,
Palazzo, and he
dei Crescenzi, since he
who
played an active part in the
may have
frequented the Accademia
was in close contact with Cristofero Roncalli.
Caravaggio stayed in the Palazzo Mattei during 1601 and probably

until 16023 Dut he
was
still
in the service
he was arrested in the Piazza

challenged, although he
had no
Del Monte had
possible that
Navona
licence,
of Del Monte;
for bearing arms,
in
October
and when
he claimed this privilege. 12
initially lent
him
It is
to the Mattei for only a
few months, and perhaps he moved between the two households.

Caravaggio was
did
Roman
now
in
an enviable position.
He
had
access to splen-
of Del Monte, the Giustiniani brothers, Ciriaco
collections,
Mattei: Prospero Orsi was a tireless agent, and Vincenzo Giustiniani was
equally effective, and played a key role in the contract for The Death of
Virgin (as
the
perhaps he had in the Cerasi chapel), securing an unusually
high price for Caravaggio. Laerzio Cherubini, the patron of this work,
lived
in
region of Sant' Eustachio, where the Giustiniani and
the
Crescenzi lived, and in 1603 he bought another house, near Del Monte's
Palazzo
Madama.
Caravaggio had a close relationship with his patrons; he aroused
and the
intense loyalty,
rich
and powerful never
protection in times of distress, and to step in

ties
failed to offer
when he
money and
ran into difficul-
with some of his bolder projects. Asdrubale was to remain faithful
to his art long after his death,
and to
create an extraordinary gallery
of
Caravaggesque paintings.
The immense
privileges that Caravaggio enjoyed, cherished
wealthy and powerful protectors, enraged his
rivals,
by such
and many years
later
Malvasia's account suggests their malice and envy: 'This authoritative
support (of a Marchese Giustiniani, a Ciriaco Mattei, but above

others of Cardinal
works, that
exhibitions,
a piece,
now
Del Monte) brought such immense fame to
where
at first
there was
no
all
his
they had gone begging at the public
gallery,
no museum,
through his henchman Prospermo
.'
that did not acquire
I3
229
Caravaggio A Life
During
his stay in the Palazzo
Mattei Caravaggio, perhaps while com-
pleting the Cerasi chapel canvases late in 1601, painted an outstanding
group of
new
the marvellous power of his
naturalistic art.
They were
assured and
confident works by an artist at the height of his fame, lacking the
some of
ness of
melancholy of
later
presumably painted
December
name
his
works.
The
Battista,
was the Supper
first
at
Emmaus (Col.
Plate
on 7 January 1602, and which was

There followed two payments, in June and
150 scudi
in 1601.
1602, probably for the Capitoline St John
saint
stiff-
and without the brooding
his earlier figure paintings
which Ciriaco paid
22), for
of
gallery paintings, assertions, for discerning connoisseurs,
which Ciriaco commissioned
the Baptist,
a picture
as a gift to his son,
and which shows the same model, and flaunts
of
Giovanni
a similar provoca-
tive naturalism, as Giustiniani's Victorious Cupid. Finally, Ciriaco
paid 125
scudi for The Taking of Christ in January 1603. Asdrubale was less fortunate,
but by 1603 he owned a
now
untraced painting of St Sebastian/ 4 which
he does not seem to have kept for very long,

inventories after this year.
At
as
this time, too,
it is
not mentioned in his
probably
late in 1602,
he
almost certainly painted the Doubting Thomas. These were high prices (in
1602 the Trinita dei Pellegrini offered
him only 40
scudi for an altar-
and Baglione, who believed that Ciriaco had been duped by
piece),
many
Prospero Orsi, spitefully remarked, 'Thus Caravaggio pocketed
hundred scudi from
The
which
them
told
seemed to them
Then two of
off,
Emmaus
story of the supper at
(24: 1332),
who
They were prices almost certainly

who bought no works in these years.
this gentleman.'
out of the reach of Del Monte,
tells
how
that Christ
15
is
told in the Gospel of St
the disciples could not believe the
had
as idle tales,
risen
from the dead:
and they believed them
the disciples, Cleophas and an
And
bread,
and blessed
opened, and they
drew
it,
near,
women
their
words
(Luke 24:
11).
unnamed companion,
set
not'
downcast and dejected, to journey to Emmaus, and
Jesus, unrecognised,
Luke
as they travelled
and went with them. As they
and brake, and gave to them.
And
knew him; and he vanished out of
ate, 'he
took
their eyes were
their sight
(Luke
24: 30-31).
This
is
story
of muted despair, and slow recognition. But
Caravaggios rendering
230
is
explosive,
full
of movement and dramatic

effects
of
The
light.
sacramental
gesture
disciples recognise Christ's gesture,
and
it
the
is
of blessing the host that Caravaggio shows.
Cleophas thrusts back his
other flings out his arms,
chair, while the
reaching towards the spectator.
The
tight perspective, the chair cut off
by
the frame, very close to the viewer, and the foreshortened gesture that
explodes through the picture plane, seem to destroy the barriers between
the world of art and the world of the viewer, and draw
him
into the
drama. At the same time the picture interweaves different kinds of

ity.
Our
upon
sense that Christ
his face,
by flowing
disciples,
Both
and
a vision
is
heightened by the brilliant light
is
his face itself, youthful, sensual, beardless,
and framed
humanity of the
contrasts sharply with the earthy
hair,
real-
with their heavy fishermen's hands, and torn working dress.
are distinguished
from the stocky innkeeper, standing
dark shad-
in
ow, his hands, in a brilliant gesture of blunt incomprehension, thrust in

his belt,
and
temporary
his
head covered
from the
figure,
in the presence
ordinary,
of the
seems conjured up by his imagination. As we observe
Roman
tavern, with
is
a con-
this scene set in a
rough wooden chair and majolica
its
He
divine.
working world, and the moment
jug,
Caravaggio
subtly suggests a world in which the acts of every day are steeped in
echoes of biblical
reality.
The
behind Christ's head, and the
innkeeper's
fruit
which suggests that much-loved

great gesture of the apostle,
shadow
casts a
early Christian
arms outstretched,
of Christ on the
cross,
blesses the bread
and wine, the
The body of
bowl
shadow becomes
where the apostles
dark halo
against the cloth
symbol, the
is
fish.
had seen him, and
last
The
poignant reminder
as
he
reminded of the Eucharist.
disciples are
Christ was present throughout the created world, and
the richness of the fruits suggests the beauty of this world, through
contemplation of which the mind ascends to God. Emmaus, the
communion, had
Richeome
Eucharistic
finished a meditation
Shall
'
and the
significance,
on the Eucharist with
admire thy
infinit
Jesuit
first
priest
a prayer:
bounty, in making us
this present
of thy Body, a present that surpasseth
the price of
all
own
selfe,
of
things created, a present of thyne
infinit
valew
and therefore
231
in
Caravaggio A Life
holy Table, we haue a
this
pledge of the future
heauen of thy
in
food of thy
selfe,
selfe
favour, thus to eate
my
infinite charity.
shall
me, sweet
and receaue
drowned
selfe alwayes
which
be to Hue
and to enjoy the immortall
Do
and
lively figure,
felicity,
in the
Iesus, this
thee,
and to
see
depth of thy
16
After the years of the great public commissions, the Contarelli and
Cerasi chapels, this picture, a collectors piece, has a virtuoso quality, a
on which Caravaggio s
sense of renewed delight in the skills
had
rested. It
on smoothly
is
in flat areas
of unmodulated colour, and lacks the
home of
darkness of recent works. In the

family of art patrons,
showcase of
new and
surface
illusionistic skill. It
traditions
and
texture,
of Rome.
tragic
sophisticated
Caravaggio set out to create a flamboyant

a
is
throwback to
his earlier works,
and to those Lombard and Venetian themes of the varied
on
fame
early
brightly coloured, exuberantly naturalistic, the paint laid
effects
of
light
with which he had challenged the idealising
It also retains a
strong sense of the studio, of the
majolica jug, a twist of startlingly white cloth, a fine
artist selecting a
oriental rug, such as he
might have seen
in the collection
of Del Monte
or Ottavio Costa.
Bellori
complained that the
fruits that
in season at Easter time (they are
Caravaggio showed were not
autumnal
was painted) and he perhaps sensed, in
fruits, ripe
when
the picture
this extraordinary bowl,
which
perches so precariously on the table edge, and which seems so lush and
decorative in this grave context, Caravaggio
The
fruit
seems
like
insistent claim for attention.
an insertion, a quotation from another painting;
links the painting to his earlier Basket of Fruit (Col. Plate 12)
Uffizi Bacchus (Col. Plate
10),
Vincenzo Giustiniani that there
the
still life
and to the
with the force of a trademark, a reminder
of the presence of the Lombard
painting of flowers as in the
it
artist
is
human
as
who had
much
figure.
said so provocatively to
crafstmanship in a good
Prominent, and distracting,
seems laid out to entice the spectator, to encourage him to
reach forward, and push the bowl back
232
on the
table,
where
it
will reveal

of astonishing
itself as a display
work of
have admired, a
skill,
which probably hung with
The Taking of Christ (Col. Plate 24),
work,
is
more sombre,
Marino would
a meraviglia such as
art that rivals or surpasses nature herself.
tragic vision,
this
and the two pictures would have
presented a dramatic contrast, setting deep space against a crowded

frieze
of
betrayal
The
figures that press against the frontal plane.

is
told in both John and Mark. John
story of Christ's
how men and
tells
officers
went to seek Christ with lanterns and torches and weapons' (John
and Mark that Judas revealed him with a
that
same
'Whomsoever I
and lead him away
he; take him,
is
kiss
was come, he goeth straightway to him, and
And
safely.
as
18: 3)
shall kiss,
soon
he
as
Master, master; and
saith,
And they laid their hands on him, and took him' (Mark 14:
4446). Mark adds a detail about a young man, draped only in a linen
cloth, whom the soldiers tried to hold And he left the linen cloth, and
kissed him.
fled
from them naked' (Mark
14:
52).
Caravaggio has taken elements
from both accounts, and has re-thought the
human
biblical story in intensely
Everything heightens the scene's
terms.
been betrayed, suffers with humility. In the
Christ, aware that he has
brutal face of Judas,
dramatic intensity:
who
has kissed him, there
is
a nascent horror. It
was Christ's humilty on which devotional writers laid emphasis
moving
passage, Luis de
how he goeth
his
enemies
all
this evil entreatinge
of
his countenance, the
resemblance
The
every
.''
.
of
abandoned of
his colour
his person,
his
changed
owne
.
in a
well,
disciples;
And
yet in
beholde the modest behaviour
comelye gravitie of his
and that divine
eies,
picture
aspect
Granada wrote: 'Consider our saviour
in this dolefull waie,
accompanied with
is
an elaborately orchestrated tableau vivant, in which
of the composition
unprecedented immediacy and
is
reality
concentrated
of the
on
figures.
creating
Almost
the
three-
quarter-length, they are ingeniously arranged in a semicircle that suggests
movement from
profile, thus
left to right,
while the subsidiary figures are seen in
focusing attention on Christ and Judas. Christ's hands, so
poignantly interlaced, are at the apex of a huge inverted triangle that
woven
into,
and
gives variety to, this semicircular
movement. The
is
close
viewing point creates an overwhelming sense of physical presence, and
^33
Caravaggio A Life
involves
the spectator in the
soldiers
armour seems
become involved
drama; the gleaming highlight on the
we
to burst through the picture plane, so that
in his guilt.
The main
source of light
but an unseen source of light high on the
left,
is
not the lantern,
and the dramatic chiaro-
scuro both enhances the three-dimensionality of the figures and accents

the drama,
together.
creating an
The
abstract pattern that draws
foreground
Much
soldier, the delicate wire
of Caravaggio's power
when he
Giustiniani,
paint from
memory and from
The
old,
in his
lies
nature.
this,
as
did Vincenzo
amongst those painters who
Thus he blends heavy and pon-
with those which have the authority of
life,
left,
at
Emmaus,
whose billowing cloak frames the

classical
Maenad, such
have seen in the Mattei collection. His anguished
so redolent of ancient
earlier
carried.
union of naturalism with
heads of Judas and Christ, was based on a
may
is
bearded soldier reappears from the Supper
while the fleeing figure on the
Caravaggio
rich in passages
is
the decorated helmet of the
by which the lantern
classed Caravaggio
derous figures, taken from

tradition.
and perhaps Ciriaco appreciated
idealism,
and
picture glows with brilliant colour,,
that proclaim the artists naturalistic skills
the composition
art,
was a favourite motif, which Caravaggio had
used in his Martyrdom
of St Matthew,
of the sounds of terror to the
may be intended
as the
as
cry,
jostling
and through
drama of
young man who
it
he adds a sense
his picture.
left his
This figure
cloak in the soldiers
hands, although Bellori believed that he was John the Evangelist, as his
red and green drapery suggests.
of one
figure and, Janus-like,
approaches,
whom
The
three heads at the left
draw together past and
seem part
As Judas
future.
and
his
grief
of the painting appears the shadowy figure of the
artist
St John,
Christ
so
loved,
flees,
anticipates the Crucifixion.
At the
right
himself, holding the lantern. Caravaggio
had already painted
himself,
looking over his shoulder at the violence he had created, in the Martyrdom
of St Matthew.
Here again he includes himself
had indeed often been

and panic
reality
in
present, at the
the dark streets.
as witness, present, as
sudden
flaring
he
up of violence
His presence heightens the pictures
and drama, and suggests the influence of sixteenth-century
meditative techniques, which encourage the participant to visualise the
234

Passion of Christ, with an emphasis on what
then, to suffer with Christ; as
there present
who
so abuse
istic
art.
him
amongst those
.'
l8
At
villaines
the same time
The composition
and this was
be there and
it
ill
...
we must consider
that
and that our sinnes be they

exalts the
power of natural-
derived from a print by Diirer, but in
is
Diirer s print
like to
Antonio de Molina wrote: 'Thus when we
see our Saviour taken prisoner, and used so
we be
was
it
motif
a traditional
the lantern
the
lies in
foreground, dropped in the confusion. Caravaggio, however, holds the

lantern, emphasising that he, the painter, has
brought
light to the scene.
The
light
brightly
on the painters hand and
eye,
and the position of Caravaggio's hand,
at the painter's angle, as
from the lantern
though holding
of the
artist
falls
most
a brush, emphasises this point.
which brings
light to nature,
tion of an art rooted in nature. It
and
eye, a
is
This
is
the divine
and the painting
is
hand
a celebra-
a polemical work, a defence
of hand
response to the idealising doctrines of Federico Zuccaro, and
one which Caravaggio was to make
less subtly in the trial
holding of the light was an evangelical

tion of the true path to follow, a
call to
younger
of
His
1603.
artists, a revela-
symbol of the rebirth of
painting.
In the Palazzo Mattei, too, Caravaggio almost certainly painted the

Doubting Thomas (Col. Plate 23), a picture perhaps ordered by Cardinal
Benedetto Giustiniani, or given to him by Ciriaco Mattei.' 9 Caravaggio
had almost
1602,
up
and
it
certainly painted a portrait
of the Cardinal (untraced)
in
was probably in these years that Benedetto Giustiniani built
a remarkable
group of works by Caravaggio, among them
now
Christ on the
in Vienna,
and
paintings of St Jerome, St Augustine and Mary Magdalene (untraced).
The
Mount
of Olives (Plate 33),
a Crowning with Thorns,
DouhtingThomas became a treasured possession, and later Benedetto took

it
with him to Bologna. After the crucifixion, Jesus appeared to the
doubter,
into
my
Thomas,
side;
saying to him, 'Reach hither thy hand, and thrust
and be not
faithless,
but believing' (John 20:
it
27).
Caravaggio creates a tautly constructed semicircular arch of figures, with

the four heads patterned in a
light falling
the
wound
stresses the
diamond around
the central axis, and the
on Thomas's wrinkled brow. Christ guides Thomas's hand

in his side,
which he explores with
to
a shocking intensity. It
humanity of Christ, and reawakens
235
medieval sense of
33.
Caravaggio, Christ on
the
Lif,
Mount
of Olives
(destroyed; formerly Berlin, Kaiser-Friedrich
encountering divinity through His wounds.
Anima
It
Museum)
suggests the prayer of the
Christi:
Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of
Christ, save me.
Water from the
side
of Christ, wash me.
Hide me within your wounds
The
disciples are travellers, old
and bewildered, earthbound
in the dark-
ness of this world, but gradually touched by the redeeming light of

Christ.
The shocking
mystery of a
realism of Thomas's probing
man-God who
more movingly conveys
hand heightens the
alone could conquer death, and no painting
the eras renewed sacramental confidence, and
passionate belief in the Real Presence of Christ, 'true

the Sacrament of the Eucharist. For the Catholics
it
God and man,
in
was a story that
refuted Protestant heresy, and suggested the certainty of resurrection,
236

and
faith in the life to
painted for a cardinal
come. Less showy than the Mattei pictures, and
who
liked night scenes
naturalism, the picture has a
and appreciated harsh
Borromean humility and sober
intensity,
conveying the kind of stark vision, unrelieved by distracting ornament,
which Borromeo had himself demanded from painters. At almost the
same date Caravaggio was painting the
Victorious
Cupid for his brother
Vincenzo, and the collections of the Cardinal and the connoiseur
Vincenzo contrasted
sharply.
His relationship with the Mattei did not prevent

other
working for
his
and throughout 1602 the troubled history of the
patrons,
San Luigi
Contarelli chapel in
dei Francesi continued.
The Flemish
sculptor Jacques Cobaert struggled with his statue of St Matthew and

Angel,
and was paid for the St Matthew alone
on
that
'He spent
how
to carve the hands since he
his life
it,
was almost
Matthew,
eighty,
still
had no experience
and when old could not
it,
somewhat
He
finish
lacking an angel, was installed
it,
and not knowing
in sculpting marble,
worked on
20
it/
on the
it
until he
In January the St
altar,
but disaster
and the long wait had been
followed. It was a dull work,

Baglione,
in 1600; Baglione tells us
never letting anyone see
but would not get advice or help of any kind.
the
maliciously, wrote: 'The Contarelli,
in vain.
when they saw
expecting something divine, or miraculous, and finding something
dry, did
not want
it
Above
all
commissioned
in their chapel; in exchange they
Matthew from Michelangelo da
Caravaggio.'
a St
21
the statue disappointed Francesco Contarelli, the
illegiti-
mate son of Cardinal Matteo Contarelli, who had been brought up by

the Crescenzi, and
made Rector of
eight days after the rejection
Giacomo
Crescenzi,
the congregation in 1602.
22
of the sculpture, on 7 February 1602,
on behalf of Contarelli and the
priests
of the
church, signed a contract with Caravaggio for a painted altarpiece.

to
show St Matthew
his right-hand side,
in the act
and both
deadline was Pentecost, 23

fulfil this
Only
It
was
of writing the Gospel, with an angel on
figures were to be full-length. Caravaggio's
May
1602, his fee 150 scudi, and, if he did
not
contract, the Crescenzi were free to find another painter. Yet
the problems of the chapel were by

a St Matthew and
-the
Angel, sticking
no means
over.
Caravaggio painted
very closely to the
237
demands of the
34.
Caravaggio,
St
- A Li
Matthew and
f<
the
Angel
(destroyed; formerly Berlin, Kaiser-Friedrich
contract, but this too was rejected,
he replaced
He may
it
and within
Museum)
a very short space
of time
with a second version, which remains in the church.
well have kept the original deadline for the first version, for he
238

was paid for the second
St
Matthew on 22 September 1602, and in the
succeeding months the carpenter Gregono Cervini received various
payments for frames. 23

Caravaggio's
first St
and bald, dressed

is
Matthew (Plate 34) showed an old man, bearded
in a simple tunic,
and seated
He
in a Savonarola chair.
with a tough, weather-beaten appearance, and his
a plebeian figure,
sturdy legs are thrust towards the spectator, his foot apparently bursting
through the picture plane

held the elevated Host).
forward, to look with
He
(just
above where the priest would have
holds a heavy book on his knees, and leans
amazement
at the
Hebrew
characters that appear
with such startling precision on the page before him. These form the
first
of Matthews Gospel, describing
verse
Abraham; they
'The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the
read:
son of David, the son of Abraham, Abraham begat

the
first
of the Gospels, and
Matthew had
descent from
Christ's
written
it
in
it
was believed
Hebrew,
Caravaggio portrays Matthew
in his
'
.
Matthews was
by God,
that, inspired
own hand.
simple and unlettered. His pose
as
is
uncomfortable, and he grasps the book as one unaccustomed, his heavy,
workman's hand resting on the page;

convey astonishment.
across the page, his
miraculously, with
The
The
his wrinkled
eyes
angel touches his hand, and seems to breathe
wing framing the
little
brow and bulging
saint's
head, as the words appear
help from the quill pen (there
is
no
ink-well).
crosss-legged pose and chair had been traditional in Renaissance
evangelist portraiture; but Caravaggio rethought the story's meaning,
and
tried to unite an old
humble Matthew
all
recalls the
power that pervaded
men. For
if it
bold novelty. His
Apostles as they were described by St John
who emphasised
Chrysostom,
divine
and revered tradition with
all,
their proletarian qualities
and made
had not been
so,
'.
it
was a
[the Gospels] to prosper with
how could
the publican, and the
fisherman, and the unlearned, have attained to such philosophy?' 24
Caravaggio thrusts the coarse and very physical presence of St Matthew

in the face
of the spectator, and
his startling
image perhaps
Filippo Neri's shock tactics, his desire to humble a polished
push the
vernacular
religion
recalls
elite,
to
of the poor before them, and to value rough and
modes of
expression.
239
Caravaggio A Life
Caravaggios picture was apparently, however, rejected. Baglione,
in these years
was growing increasingly hostile to the
artist,
who
said that the
painting pleased nobody, and later Bellori elaborated this incident. 'After
he had finished the central picture of St Matthew and installed

he wrote, 'the priests took
altar,'
legs crossed
and
its
it
down, saying that the
decorum nor
the appearance of a saint/ 25
this burly St
Matthew
One
But most
is
likely Bellori's explanation
Caravaggios composition
Matthew must have had
may
factor
is
from the
corrected in the second
was
right, for
although
based on a print by Raphael, his lowly St
a shocking strangeness, an ironic inversion
values, unacceptable to the conventions
ed to replace a sculpture,
its
have been that
a completely different figure type
elegant tax collector of the Calling, and this

version.
figure with
exposed to the public had neither the
feet rudely
is
on the
it
of public
art.
massively plastic, and
is
seemed threatening. The plebeian hero
is
of
The
group, intend-
its
power perhaps
brought uncomfortably close to
the spectator, challenging hierarchical views of sanctity, and too radical

for a clergy possessing a French admiration for the intellect.
The second
version of St Matthew (Col. Plate 25) supports this interpretation. It moves
away from the description
in the contract,
erotic undertow, above the saint,
down
but,
He
his words.
who
transformed into an
intellectual,
The
angel, with
no
has hastened to his desk to write
remains an austere
with halo and toga-like cloak.
and shows the
figure,
has
with bare chest and
feet,
attained a greater dignity,
stool seems about to tumble into the
viewer s space, but compared with the way in which he had thrust the bare
feet
of the
earlier
and the picture

pattern,
is
St
Matthew outwards,
this
seems a gimmicky device,
less sculptural, displaying a greater
and exploiting to the
full the tall
emphasis on surface
format. St
Matthew
is
now
reconcilable with the saint as he appears in the lateral paintings, and the
picture provides a far less startling focal point to the entire chapel.
Caravaggio, Bellori
altarpiece,
tells us,
was
in despair after the rejection
of
his
but Vincenzo Giustiniani, so closely involved in furthering
Caravaggio s career over these years, stepped in and bought the painting
for his gallery.
Meanwhile on
25 June 1602 the Archconfraternity
of
Santa Trinita dei Pellegrini, so closely associated with the spirituality of

Filippo Neri, approached Caravaggio to paint an altarpiece of the
240

Trinity, 'con qualche
hel capriccio,
Roman
may
institution. It
for the
modest sum of 40
scudi.
The
Mexican confraternity newly admitted
piece was destined for a
altar-
to the
well be that Caravaggio was suggested by
Ciriaco Mattei, who, with other
members of
the Mattei family, partici-
pated in the assemblies of the Archconfraternity; Francesco Contarelli,
was associated with them. In
too,
commission was
1603, however, the
handed over to the Cavaliere d'Arpino.
It is
not clear what happened;
it
seems likely that Caravaggio did execute the painting, as a painting of

the Trinity
is
recorded in the Borghese inventory of 1634, and later
described in language that strikingly recalls the contract as
'a
caprice of
Caravaggio's through which he has wished to convey the Trinity'.
26
It is
possible that this work, like the St Matthew, was rejected, or that the
Archconfraternity lost
safer
the
artist,
Caravaggio
its
nerve
this
happened, and moved to the
d'Arpino. At his notorious
Cavaliere
commented
when
in
trial
1603
that the Cavaliere d'Arpino 'did not talk to him'
and d'Arpino, resenting
his
former
success,
pupil's
was becoming
increasingly jealous.
IN
the following years

demand
Caravaggio was to be very
and these
in the public arena,
point. But in the later part
rejections
much
marked
a turning
of 1602, he was busy with the altarpiece of
The Entombment of Christ (Col. Plate 26) for the Oratorian church
Maria
in Vallicella
prestigious
less in
of Santa
which was to win universal admiration. This was
commission and
in 1606,
when Rubens won
the high altar of this church, he wrote in
some
jubilation
of the 'new
church of the Priests of the Oratory, called Santa Maria in Vallicella
combined
known
efforts
as the
of
Chiesa
flourishing areas of
at the
all
the
of the
most
Nuova (new
Rome, amid
city,
and to be adorned by the
able painters in Italy'.
27
The
church,
church), stood in one of the
most
the great houses of the aristocracy,
heart of Rome's business centre.
It
Rome
without doubt the most celebrated and frequented church in

today, situated right in the centre
the contract for
and
had been enlarged towards the
end of the century, and Caravaggio's altarpiece was intended for a new
chapel, replacing a chapel in the earlier church,
and
originally
241
under the
Caravaggio A Life
patronage of Pietro Vittrici. Pietro died in 1600, and
and
heir,
it
was his nephew
Gerolamo, who commissioned the work from Caravaggio. 28
Pietro may, however, have interested
almost certainly the
Gerolamo
owner of the
first
in Caravaggio, for he
Paris Gypsy Fortune
Teller,
which
29
Pietro
passed to Gerolamo and then to his son Alessandro Vittrice.
moved
in the
same
He
other early supporters and patrons.
circles as
was
had
been Gregory XIIIs Master of the Wardrobe, and much loved by that
austere Pope; he
had
also
been a close follower of Filippo Neri, and
instrumental in introducing Neri to the papal court.
we have
as to his personality suggest that
The few
hints that
he aspired to the simplicity and
humility that characterised the early stages of the Oratory's history; he
spoke simply and
clearly;
and on one occasion he was miraculously saved
from death by Filippo Neri
himself. In 1584 he
had made
a pilgrimage
with Fabrizio de' Massimi, whose family was also deeply involved with
the Oratory.
seems
It
art,
that Pietro Vittrice shared the Oratorians' ideal of
likely, too,
prizing works that were direct and simple, and touched the heart,
just as their discourses
were intended to do. Such ideals were articulated
by Cardinal Baronio, who,

figure
had written of
as early as 1564,
wooden
of the crucified Christ, which he had commissioned, that
suited 'to
make those weep who contemplate
it
attentively'
it
was
and recom-
mended that a simple wooden cross of chestnut should be made for

Tor the nearer
it
draws to nature, the more
clear that the priests
it
arouses devotion
dependent on rich patrons to decorate the chapels, none the
liminary drawings or
hozzetti,
and
artists
It is
his vision, and, although
of the church shared
an active role in the choice of
3
.
it,
less
played
in iconography, asking for pre-
and making refined
aesthetic decisions. In
the 1570s and 1580s the church had received altarpieces which, although
stylistically disparate,
do nevertheless share
tenderness. Durante Alberti s Nativity

ures,
(r.
qualities
1580)
of naturalism and
shows humble, gentle
fig-
conveying a spiritual ideal of poverty that was later to characterise

works.
Caravaggios
Sicilian
Caravaggios
work was
The
destined,
chapel
of the
Pieta,
for
which
was between the chapel of the
Crucifixion, with an altarpiece by Scipione Pulzone, and a chapel with
an altarpiece of the
Ascension
242
by Girolamo Muziano. Scipione Pulzone s

Crucifixion (1586), a harsh, realistic
work, sharply
won wide
composition and dark background,
commented,
canonised
[Velli]
it
as the
it
most
him
Crucifix, did not please
on the
fell
face
of the
Filippo himself had most deeply loved
}jl
painters,
Only Padre Agnolo
beautiful in the church.
drop of blood, which
said that a
Federico Barocci's
and everyone, even
great satisfaction,
'gave
with a concentrated
lit.
acclaim, and, an observer
Visitation (1586),
work which shows
the meeting of St
Elizabeth and the pregnant Virgin in a domestic and tender context, laying emphasis
of
on the human and
naturalistic
He
is
still life,
everyday,
on
lovingly rendered passages
animals and birds, rather than on the miraculous.
said to have been rapt for
many hours
before this painting.
Caravaggio's painting unites the direct appeal of popular art with the
stability
and grandeur of the most
passes these pietistic works, but

interest in naturalism
harmony with
and
classic
none the
Roman
less it shares
emotion, and
in strong
traditions. It far sur-
with them an
ideals are entirely in
its
the Oratorians. (It seems likely that an Oratorian scholar,
perhaps Baronio himself, created the chapels programmes).

the
entombment
Its
subject
is
of Christ, and the figures are standing within a sepul-
chre, lowering the
body of Christ
ing that was originally
much
into a tomb, with,
on the
clearer (the stone slab
is
left,
an open-
the door to the
tomb).
The
man,
story of Christ's
a disciple
entombment
is
told in
all
the Gospels.
of Christ, called Joseph of Arimethea,
begged the body of Jesus from Pilate and 'wrapped

cloth.
And
rock;
and he rolled
departed.
laid
And
it
in his
a great stone to the
assist at the burial,
mother of
(Matthew
Mark
Jesus beheld
in a clean linen
adds:
27: 5961).
the other Mary, sitting
Although the Virgin did
And Mary Magdalene and Mary
where he was
another character, Nicodemus,
in the
door of the sepulchre, and
Mary Magdalene, and
there was
rich
said to have
own new tomb, which he had hewn out
over against the sepulchre'
not
it
is
who
laid'
(Mark
15:
47).
the
John adds
anointed Jesus' body with spices. In
Caravaggio's rendering of the scene he has brought together different
moments
in the biblical story.
more often lowers the body

recalls this earlier scene,
and
The
unusual presence of St John,
in paintings
of the
Descent from
the
who
Cross,
Bellori refers to the picture as the Deposition
243
Caravaggio A Life
of
Bellori
Christ.
describes
also
the
burly
on the
figure
right
Nicodemus, which means that Joseph of Arimethea, the key

omitted; Caravaggio was concerned above
simple,
humble
figures.
The
all
to
fill
Women (Mark
Pieta,
i 8).
16:
The
and the picture was intended to
is
with
to par-
of the empty tomb
ticipants in the drama, anticipate the later discovery
by the Holy
his painting
moved from onlookers
three Marys,
as
actor,
chapel was dedicated to the
on the death
inspire meditation
of Christ.
The
would have looked up
spectator before the altar
which was
by a comparatively dim
lit
light
the painted light within the painting.
from the
at the altarpiece,
right, identified
The body of
Christ
is
with
lowered
towards him; the sharp edge of the stone juts forward, into his space;
Nicodemus'
highlit
elbow breaks through the plane, and
his gaze,
and
deeply shadowed eyes, draw the spectator into the drama, as does the
great diagonal sweep
of the composition, which leads upwards from
Mary
Cleophas' outflung arms, so subtly
reminiscent of the Cross. Bellori
commented on how 'Nicodemus holds
Christ's
trailing
hand
to
under the knees; in lowering the hips the
[the body]
throughout there
ing of Christ's
is
an emphasis on physical
wound
in his side;
reality,
legs jut out' 32
on the
and
cruel reopen-
on the awkwardness and
difficulty
of
lowering the heavy body; on the muscles and veins in Nicodemus' legs
and
feet,
brought so close to the very edge of the stone; and on the
confusion of
The
arms and draperies
legs,
grieving figures are grouped
of the
in the lower part
in pairs,
young and
old,
explores different responses to grief, setting the darkly
shadowed
and passionate gesture of St John, who seems to embrace

against the
more
stoical
Mary Magdalene,
Madonna
and to
where
whom
Christ's body,
sensuous, with bare shoulders, against the ageing
whose wide-flung arms brings
stability to the
to recall the universally protective gesture
della Misericordia. It
the disciple
face
Nicodemus, and the inward-turned grief of
Virgin, in heavy nun's garb,
group, and seem
canvas.
and Caravaggio
may be
that Caravaggio
of the
added St John,
Christ so loved, to heighten the emotional impact,
create continuity with Scipione Pulzone's
a strikingly similar St
John stands
at the foot
Crucifixion
chapel,
of the Cross. The
picture has a static, iconic quality. It inspires passion, and invites the
244

viewer to empathise with each of the holy figures, appealing to the
emotions with the directness of Luis de Granada's evocation of grief

the death of Christ:
Those
Al those that were
al
my good
forwards?
The
accompanied the
creatures
holie Evangelist also wept,
who
my
shal be
picture
very large (the
is
body of Christ
and monumental, and Caravaggio unites
The stupendous
strikingly sculptural character,
and
his
physical
is
his maister said:
from
teacher
ancient and Renaissance
art.
showing
reliefs
time
this
.'
.
33
over seven feet long)
is
Lombard
realism with the
power of the
figures has a
reminiscent of the veristic groups
of terracotta sculptures that Caravaggio would have seen
Monti of Lombardy, but underlying
The
virgin.
Likewise that holie sinner Marie Magdalene wept
grandeur of Rome.
Roman
[the Virgin].
of the
teares
and embracing the body of
lord and maister,

.
wept with
Those noble gentlemen wept. Heaven and
holie matrones wept.
earth wept, and
present,
at
this realism
The composition
in the Sacri
the eloquence of
is
has echoes of Greco-
hero carried from the battlefield, and of
famous compositions by Raphael and Titian. But he
rejects ideal beauty,
and, in the true spirit of the Catholic Reformation, shows the pain of
Christ's suffering.
and humble
tunic,
the
and weathered
tragic grandeur,
past,
And
Caravaggio brings the biblical world of the poor
worn Madonna,
face
the burly
Nicodemus, with
into the contemporary world.
of the holy
the mystery of
They
attain a
and movingly suggest that Christ, both now and
brought a message of hope and salvation to the poor
suffering
his coarse
figures
heightens
God-made man. As
in spirit.
humanity,
their
in the
The
deepening
the priest at the altar raised the
consecrated host to the worshippers, the body of Christ represented

the reality which the
composition,
its
create the sense
Mass symbolised. The
painting's tightly
poise and careful balancing of expression and gesture,
of community which the Mass
itself
conveyed, and
would have deepened the worshipper's sense of mystery. With

of
real
direct
and
ideal Caravaggio creates a
and yet retaining
this
it
union
new and popular Catholic
art,
a classical emotional power.
In the stucco decoration over the chapel's archway
of the Holy Shroud of Turin, a celebrated
from France
woven
to Turin in 1578.
34
It is a long,
relic
is
a representation
which had been moved
narrow
cloth,
245
which bears on
Caravaggio A Life
the front and back the coloured and realistic imprint of a crucified body,
and was believed to have been the winding sheet
had been wrapped

of mystery
as
it
lay in the
and
in Christ's burial
which
in
body
Christ's
tomb. This shroud deepened the sense
and
resurrection,
at the
same time
exalt-
ed the emotional power of naturalistic painting. In Turin Marino
later
wrote a discourse on painting, called 'Painting, or the Holy Shroud', and
he plays on the theme of
God
as a naturalistic. painter,
move
that the shroud has, like poetry, to

painting, he writes, has the
power to deceive the
to ravish man's senses, and
its
greatest example
passes even the illusionism of Zeuxis' grapes.

after her son's death, visiting the
shedding tears upon
for
it,
whoever sees
Caravaggio's altarpiece was, Baglione
Plate
z-f),
of the
in the
tears.
who
He
imagines the Virgin,
painting,
to be his best', 36 but

the Virgin
1601, just
San Luigi
The
(Col.
which he
in bitter failure, for
summer of
lived very close to
damaged
35
The Death of
lateral paintings for the Cerasi chapel.
Cherubini,
God, and
the shroud, which sur-
tells us, 'said
commission which was to end
is
sees a
it
same time Caravaggio was busy with
had signed the contract
devil, to please
tomb, and finding there the shroud, and
coloured with blood, and varnished with
at the
and the power
the emotions. Naturalistic
before the delivery
patron was Laerzio
dei Francesi,
and must have
been impressed by the two remarkable histories of St Matthew, installed

only six months
earlier.
brothers, friends
He
was doubtless encouraged by the Giustiniani
and business
palace was just across the road.
associates,
The
and
contract
close neighbours
demands
their
that Caravaggio,
then living at the Palazzo Mattei, should paint, for a newly constructed
church of Santa Maria della Scala, an altarpiece showing the
altar in the
death or transit of the Virgin (mortem

finished within the year,
judge,
of 50
and decide
its
sive transitum).
The work should
and Vincenzo Giustiniani was to be the
monetary
be
picture's
37
Caravaggio was given an advance
who came from
Norcia, in Umbria, was a distin-
value.
scudi.
Laerzio Cherubini,
guished criminal lawyer, and legal historian, whose greatest claim to fame
was the publication of a collection of papal bulls from Leo
He
many
was
offices,
prominent
and
figure in the
in 1601
246
Roman
to Sixtus
legal world, the holder
he was a Conservator of Rome.
He
of
was also a

Rome and
successful businessman with extensive property in
Newly
country.
his six sons
rich
and ambitious, Cherubim was
became monks) and
in the
also devout (four
of
public-spirited; he was closely associat-
ed with Cardinal Benedetto Giustiniani, whose interest in social welfare
he shared, and
of 1602.
such
He
38
as the
whom
he appointed guardian of his children in his will
was also involved
in the
work of
charitable organisations,
Archconfraternity of Santa Maria delT Orazione
(whose principal task was burying the dead), to which he

of which he may have been
Morte
money, and
left
member. Self-made, professionally on the
connected with the most enlightened sections of the Catholic
rise,
reform, Cherubini was characteristic of a
new
who was
type of patron
then seeking the honour of the decoration of an important chapel in a
Roman church.
The church of
Santa Maria della Scala stands in Trastevere a
back from the road. This was Rome's poorest working-class
of narrow
parts of
begun
and many churches, lacking the grand
streets
Rome. The new church of Santa Maria
in 1593,
palazzi
della Scala
an area
of other
had been
under the protection of Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, to
celebrate a miracle-working image
porated into the high
of the Casa
little set
area,
altar. It
of the Virgin, which was
finally incor-
was closely associated with the monastery
Pia, a charitable institution
founded by Carlo Borromeo, and
currently under the protection of Cardinals Benedetto Giustiniani and
Tolomeo
Gallio.
The monastery
ran a kind of battered-wives refuge,
whose aim was the protection of women

titution
and other
social
women who had been
ills.
It
in
danger of falling into pros-
gave protection to malmaritate
abused or
left
in poverty
by
(ill
married)
their husbands,
although in 1599 the emphasis was changed, and the Casa Pia began
instead to concentrate
hoping to make them

ties.
on the education of young unmarried women,

fit
for a role in society or in religious
communi-
In 1597 Laerzio Cherubini had been appointed one of three official
custodians of the church, and in the same year Clement VIII ordered
Gallio to allocate his newly constructed church to the order of the
Discalced Carmelites.
1609.
The
The
ties
with the Casa Pia remained strong until
Discalced Carmelites were a
pendence by Clement VIII
in 1597,
new
order in
Italy,
granted inde-
and dedicated to veneration of the
247
Caravaggio A Life
Madonna and
to charitable works. Cherubini played a leading role in
the affairs of the church and was present at the ceremonies
when
the
church was allocated to the Carmelite order; he was deeply involved in

the activities of the Casa Pia, a
institution,
and
member of
1597 appointed supervisor of admissions to the
in
monastery and house of the Casa

For
this
Pia.
church and patron Caravaggio painted his Death,
of the Virgin. In the contract
means
transit
the governing board of the
passage,
it is
called 'death, or transit',
or Dormition
and the word
and suggests the Christian belief that death
is
not
an end, but a passage from one state of being to another. After the death
of the Virgin,
heaven.
it
was believed, her
Around her
last
soul,
and then her body, ascended to
many
days and death
picturesque legends had
clustered, but in the later sixteenth century, with the
historical accuracy,
same time,
there was a
earthly
tal
in
some of
answer to the Protestant attacks on the cult of the Virgin,
new emphasis on
her humanity, and on her sufferings as an
woman. Baronio himself
death
'The
mor-
declared that the Virgin had died a
Catholic Church admits no doubt concerning the death
of the mother of God, because

it
new emphasis on
had been stripped away. At the
these legends
it
knows
that she shared
affirms that she experienced equally the
human
human
nature;
necessity of death*.
Despite the ecclesiastical passion for historical accuracy, however,

Caravaggio drew on the old account given in The Golden
how,
at the
Legend.
This
tells
death of the Virgin, the Apostles, then scattered around the
world, were miraculously transported to her deathbed in Jerusalem,
where they officiated

Christ
bier,
is
at
her death and burial. In earlier Italian renderings
shown miraculously appearing
at the
Virgins deathbed or her
ready to convey her soul to Paradise, while northern
the dying
Madonna
artists
show
lovingly tended in a comfortable domestic setting.
But Caravaggio has rethought the story; he
strips
it
of
all its
fanciful
and
picturesque anecdotes, and removes any hint of bourgeois northern
warmth. Most
flights
strikingly,
he excludes any reference to the divine; no
of angels choir her to her
rest;
no upward-turned eye looks
to a
world beyond; no hint of divine succour lightens the atmosphere of

heavy
grief.
Madonnas
Caravaggio shows the eleven disciples gathering around the

corpse. St Peter
248
is
at the feet
of the Madonna, John
at
her

hand
head, while the central Apostle, one
raised,
is
St Paul. It seems that
Mary Magdalene (whose
she has just died, and that
presence
unusual) has been washing the body, before wrapping
mantle flung across
and the wake
The
is
highly
in the
brown
Apostles have been allowed into the room,
about to begin.
is
moment
show the
it.
it
after Christ,
may be
It
that Caravaggio intended to
with a multitude of angels, has taken her
body too ascended
soul to heaven. After the burial, the
to heaven.
Caravaggio shows the scene in a setting of bleak poverty, with cross-
beamed
ceiling, bare walls,
and rough wooden
whose simplicity
young, with the startling pallor of death, and
self, still
Magdalene,
in
the contemporary dress
Trastevere, lies stiffly stretched out
on
The emphasis
is
is
is
wooden
clad, as
the
is
woman from
cot.
She has not
and the immediacy touches the
throughout on
restrained, yet compelling; there
of a working
a simple
yet been decorously arranged in death,

heart.
chair,
by the vast red curtain looped over a beam. The Virgin her-
relieved only
human
inward-turned,
grief,
complex patterning of gesture and
expression, of heavily veined hands suggesting revelation, melancholy
brooding, or deep contemplation, and of the dark play of shadow on

the face.
The
sheer weightiness of the Apostles, simple, rough figures,
and heavily robed, contributes to the sense of

interior.
Above
and
grief-filled
the colour suggests passion, and the unconventional
all
and daring red of the
whose deep
a stifling
Virgin's dress
taken up in the vast red curtain,
is
of the brown mantle over
folds continue the flowing shapes
the corpse, and suggest a soaring
upward movement,
filling the
spectator
with awe.
The
model
to
painting
is
immediate and contemporary. The Magdalene,
for female sinners
and penitents,
recalls
whose cause the church of Santa Maria
those endangered
della Scala,
and the
women
associat-
ed Casa Pia, were devoted, while the working-class poverty, with
its
overtones of paupers' funerals, suggests the surrounding squalor of

Trastevere. It
death.
that
ty
And
makes
is
yet
it
about the starkness and bleakness and utter

it
has a grandeur that
lifts it
finality
out of contemporary
profoundly moving religious work.
The
of
life,
painful humani-
of the Virgin, whose hand on her swollen belly seems so movingly to
recall the protective gesture
of
pregnant woman, does not negate
249
Caravaggio A Life
redemption, but inspires a passionate contemplation on the mystery of
made human. She
the divine
the poor
is
mother of
John Chrysostom had written: 'He chose
Christ,
of
poor mother, and
modest dwelling, embracing from the very beginning and from

itself the
The
Apostles themselves, toga-clad, from another
and
their touching,
classical art,
and
the
left,
them
most
his birth
era, their
bare feet
the weight of the apostolic
sometimes childlike
gestures, are
drawn from
the painting with the resonance of ancient gestures
fill
of grief and mourning. The
dow on
light
seems to flood through an unseen win-
shining on the Virgins body, above
on her
all
head, so fraily encircled by the thinnest of haloes, and
it is
face
had held the body of
brown cloak
the
Virgin to St
across her belly
Simon
promised mercy
in the
lover
its
of Caravaggio.
terested
42
the scapular, a garment given by the
The
Discalced fathers did not see a moving
on
their altar,
removed
its
rendering of harsh poverty.
irritated
it
from
by the immense
their altar,
on the market, Mancini wrote

and
telling
him
decorum
or cleanness
.'
that
...
it
it
to be the
interest
They were
it
unin-
aroused in the
1606,
when
the picture was
to his brother reminding
had been removed because
it
him of
it,
was lascivious and
was well done, but without decorum or
invenzione
43
The common humanity and
poverty of Caravaggio s Virgin, and his
unprecedented empathy with the sacred
temporary
known
and hastened to commission a
tame replacement from Carlo Saraceni. In
lacked
with offensively bare feet
They were shocked by the picture s lasciviousness,
and
and perhaps
art world,
cel-
and reminds us of the Eucharist;
Yet worse, the picture showed a whore
lack of decorum,
The
and death, but 'some dirty whore from the
grief
belly.
Dead was
hour of death. 41
Ortaccio', shockingly displayed
and swollen
is
for the
Stock, venerated by the Carmelites, and which
But disaster followed.

meditation on
Christ,
Mass
and
the extraor-
dinary intensity of this light that creates a sense of divine mystery.
Virgins dead body, above the altar where the

ebrated,
St
extremes of poverty/ 40
ancient symbols of holiness, carry with

age,
whom
spirituality,
must have shocked
figures, albeit
all artistic
rooted in con-
preconceptions.
To
the Carmelites the Virgin was the Queen of Heaven, and Federico
250

Borromeo,
his
De
Pictura Sacra, said that the
Virgin should be shown
with the greatest majesty while preserving decorum, and in painting her
death the
should carefully avoid apocryphal sources. Caravaggio
artist
had not only painted

er
whore, but his
warned against the use of
It is
it
not, however, clear
was painted.
It
may
own
lover,
models
prostitutes for
when
and
Paleotti
had
earli-
in sacred paintings.
the painting was removed, or indeed
well be that Caravaggio, a fast painter
when
and good
deadline keeper, kept his deadline, and finished the painting in 1602. It
is
possible, however, that pressure
of work caused him to
the painting was delivered later, although this
when Caravaggio
late as 1606,
when Cherubini
of 280 scudi;
buy
it
when
it
later sold
it
it,
delay,
and that
unlikely to have been as
after
whom
monetary worth, admired
its
44
Rome,
Vincenzo Giustiniani,
sold. Certainly
the judge of
fled
is
which the picture was
the contract appointed as

for the price was high,
and
he was anxious to recoup his purchase price
Mancini, too, deeply admired the painting, and tried to
appeared on the art market.
251
CHAPTER TEN
Rival s
all its
greatest
men
tribute, in this age
of ours
'He stuns the world, and
Do
pay him
.'
Marzio Milesi
The
Contarelli paintings
enthralled
Rome. Never
all
before had an artist presented religious drama as contemporary
life,
nor had any
apparently taking place in the chapel before the viewer;

earlier painter
dared to break so dramatically with long-
established studio traditions, painting his figures
complex
to the canvas, with
having been painted from

Bellori, generally
effects
life
that
of studio
most
nature, directly
heads from
life,
the coins, with one
was the figures
lighting. It
fascinated his contemporaries;
among them
hand on
commenting
that he painted
the saint s, who, stopping to count
toward the Lord'. 2
his chest turns
miraculous ability of Christ to draw St Matthew to him

Caravaggio s evangelical
art
call to
young
whose compelling power was
tors,
whom
on
unsympathetic to Caravaggio, admired the power of
his story-telling in The Calling of St Matthew,

'several
from
Caravaggio
Grammatica and Orazio
is
him
painters, to follow
a revelation.
new
in a
Older painters and men-
had long known,
Gentileschi, were
The
paralleled in
such
drawn to
very different traditions, such as Giovanni Baglione,
as
Antiveduto
his art. Artists
Tommaso
among young
from
Salini
and
Guido Reni, were
early converts, while
established, such as
Orazio Borgianni and Carlo Saraceni, were sown the
artists
not yet
seeds of a passionate partisanship. In 1602 Borgianni was living in the
Via
della Croce, while the Venetian Saraceni
had come
to
perhaps in the entourage of Del Monte. Artists arriving
Rome in 1598,
in Rome from
northern Europe, bringing with them new forms of naturalism, found

the
art
world
Caravaggio.
arrived
alive
with passionate debate over the new
The melancholy and
introverted
style
of
German Adam Elsheimer
around 1600 and over the next few years painted tiny landscapes
252
Rivals
on copper, of
In the
1601 Peter Paul
and dark.
in
made
until the
Rubens studied the
the collection of Ciriaco Mattei,
and may well have
a longer
Monte household. He
the 'good conversation he

artists;
Gonzaga
with an introduction from Vincenzo
stay.
frequented the Del
other
light
after a period at the
Del Monte's friend Cardinal Montalto; he stayed
to
following spring, and later

antiquities
Rubens,
Rome
court in Mantua, arrived in
Gonzaga
of
a magical intensity, with lyrical effects
summer of
had enjoyed
later
wrote with nostalgia of
Rome, with Elsheimer and
in
he admired Caravaggio, and copied his works, drawing the
seated youth with his back to the spectator in The Calling of St Matthew.
In 1601
who
Guido Reni
arrived
from Bologna, followed by Domenichino,
joined the Carracci studio, in 1602. Reni possessed a marvellous ease
of manner and grace and painted,

and charm. But
and modified
he, too, fell
initially,
works of refined simplicity
under Caravaggios
his elegantly pre-Raphaelite style
with a darker naturalism.
From southern Lombardy came Bartolomeo Manfredi,

become
Roncalli, but later to
Distinguished collectors
the closest of Caravaggios followers.
artists;
art, their
Malvasia
wealth and power deeply
later
wrote
spitefully:
this influential
support that gave Caravaggios works so
There was no
gallery,
.'
There
is still,
in
to study with
such as Vincenzo Giustiniani and Ciriaco
Mattei hastened to support the new

resented by less glittering
no museum,
Franceso Scanellis
II
Microcosmo
of
his
Roman
works,
'.
is
truly
was
'It
much renown
that did not acquire a
work by him
della Pittura
sense of this excitement. The Calling of St Matthew, he writes, 'the

also the best'
works,
spell, collected his
(1657), a
first,
and
one of the most lumi-
nous, sculptural, and natural works, which serves to demonstrate the

artifice
It
of painting when
it
imitates
was a new situation, for no
studios,
But Caravaggio, having
the world, responded badly.
reality'. 4
earlier artist, in
had created so individual
partisans.
mere
He
a cause
an era dominated by vast
drawing to
won sudden
it
such passionate
stardom, with a place in
became vain and proud,
increasingly
involved in street violence, and so famed for his belligerence that
news of
it
circulated through Europe. In 1604 the
Van Mander published

letters written
from
his Lives of
Italy
the Painters,
Dutch
artist
Carel
basing his information on
around 1600; Van Mander describes Caravaggio
253
Caravaggio A Life
as
working for two weeks, and then
sallying forth 'for
two months
together with his rapier at his side and his servant boy after him, going
from one tennis court to another, always ready to argue or

he
fight, so that
impossible to get along with'. Often his accomplice was Onorio

5
is
Longhi, and Longhi s
many brushes with
Mander s
the law confirm van
account, even of the tennis courts, and yield a vivid picture of the
sudden bursts of violence, of the
of vulgar abuse and taunts that
volleys
provoked brawling and duelling among those

as
whom
Sandrart described
Caravaggio s 'young friends, mainly lusty fellows, painters and swords-
men
6
,
and which characterised
Roman
Rome, and
abroad, Longhi had returned to
more
in trouble
street life. (In 1598, after a
was already once
in 1599
with the police.) Caravaggio attracted not only voluble
He
taunted more
and quarrelsome supporters, but
also bitter rivals.
traditional artists with provocative
and boastful remarks, but
time was jealous of his followers, and bitterly resented any
came too
close to his style or
Other painters trod
The
Rome
'is
warily,
who seemed
and came to
fear
who
summer of
1600 split
into opposing artistic camps. Caravaggio, wrote van

little
of the works of other masters, but

is
or children's work, whatever
and whoever
after
it is
that
all art is
a dangerously attractive liberation
will
not
nothing but a bagatelle
it is
done
by, unless it is
seemed a
facile call to anarchy,
of young painters from the rigours of
and composition. To many
a long studio training in drawing
Caravaggio s style spelled the death of history painting, for
way could not put two
in this
which held together past and
Caravaggio s cellar lighting, gave a
world which
Mander,
and that we can do no better than to follow Nature.' 7 To
life,
artists trained in a classical tradition this
tives
same
artist
him.
openly praise his own. His belief
worked
at the
to challenge his leadership.
unveiling of the Contarelli pictures in the
one who thinks
done
period
young ones, were
artists
who
nor create narra-
future. Bellori, after a description
lively
his pictures stimulated
particularly the
figures together,
critics
account of the debates in the art

the painters in
greatly taken
looked on his work
by
as miracles
Rome, he
his lighting,
wrote,
and
Without
devoting themselves to study and instruction, each
254
of
one
found
easily
in the street
and the models for imitating
their masters
With
and
in the piazza
nature.
this easy style attracting the others, only the
older painters already set in their styles were
dismayed by
new study of
this
nature: they never
stopped attacking Caravaggio and

that he did not
and
know how
that, lacking invenzione
decorum or
art,
of
single source
to
come out of
and
he painted
his style, saying
all
the cellar
without
disegno,
his figures
with a
and on one plane without any
light
diminution; but such accusations did not stop the

flight
of
up arms, an
First to take
his
fame
8
.
'older painter already set in [his] style',
himself increasingly out of favour, was Federico Zuccaro,
who
and
attempt-
ed to stop the flight of Caravaggio's fame by a shrug and a dismissive
comment. Baglione believed
became famous because they were

revered Cavaliere d'Arpino,
known
He
artist.
saw
and
'While
after
cast lustre
was
Roman
there,
figure painting,
he exclaimed:
see anything here other than the style
on the younger,
and he
What
of Giorgione
what Zuccaro meant by the
tells us,
little-
Zuccaro s
recalled
is all
the fuss about?
astonished by such commotion, he turned his back and
Vasari
life,
by the
in a chapel already decorated
whose fame
having studied the entire work carefully, added:
entirely clear
after
their admirers as conspirators, plotting to destroy
the great traditions of

reaction:
done
that Caravaggio's paintings,
style
do not
and, sneering,
left.'
It is
not
of Giorgione; Giorgione,
loved beautiful things and did not want to paint anything
that he did not paint
from
10
life'
and probably Zuccaro saw Giorgione
as
own
epitomising the naturalism and colour of Venetian
art,
Roman
the arts and as some-
concept of
disegno as
the foundation of
thing divinely inspired was opposed.

arrived in
Rome
from Ferrara
In the same
which
his
Venetian paintings had
with members of the Pope's entourage on his return
in 1598,
must have
art
Many
all
to
and the new and modish enthusiasm
for Venetian
irritated the increasingly unfashionable Zuccaro.
camp
as
Zuccaro was
his pupil,
Marco Tullio, and
255
in July
Caravaggio A Life
1600, a little after the installaton
of the Contarelli
della Scrofa, very close to the church
became the
voked by
target
of San Luigi dei Francesi, Tullio
with Zuccaro." Longhi gave a
of the incident to the magistrate.
He
and
certain painter',
took
as
Longhi protested, he did not know him

of such scum
balls
as you')
until they were separated.
12
turned to
The
painter,
insults,
meant
at
account
lively
group of friends had been
walking along, idly muttering scurrilous

'a
Via
of an attack by Caravaggio and Longhi, perhaps pro-
his association
accompanied by
pictures, in the
all.
which
a passer-by,
for himself, although,
Insults ('Let us fry the
fisticuffs
and stone-throwing,
added Longhi, was Marco
Tullio,
while he himself was accompanied by Caravaggio. But throughout
Longhi
loyally insisted that Caravaggio
claimed, had been seriously
ill,
had not fought; Caravaggio, he
almost too weak to walk; he had been
who had been
reduced to having his sword carried by a boy,

during the incident;
it
was Longhi's opponent
with him
who unsheathed
his
sword and Caravaggio who separated them. Caravaggio had indeed been
seriously
ill,
but
this evidence.
made
it is
For
possible, even likely, that
in the following year,
Longhi was lying during
on 7 February
a judicial peace with Flavio Canonici, a
1601,
Caravaggio
former sergeant of the
guards at the Castel Sant' Angelo. He, Longhi and Caravaggio had been
involved in a brawl, and Caravaggio had
hand, leaving a
companion
scar. It
may
in the fight that
took place
in July
that this was the brawl over which he later
Longhi s
was
desire to protect his friend
rarely short
wounded Canonici on
the
be that Flavio Canonici was Marco Tullio s
is
of the previous
made
peace.
year,
and
13
characteristic,
and Caravaggio
of friends and protectors, anxious to guard him from
the results of his 'excessively fearless nature', and of his thirst for adventure.
More shameful
Spampa,
attacks were to follow. In
young pupil
at the
Accademia
di
November Girolamo
San Luca, made
complaint to a notary that Caravaggio had attacked him
home, with the French painter Horace Le Blanc, from
at the
he came
and while he
door of the candlemaker for candles, he was suddenly
attacked by Caravaggio,
Some
formal
a late evening's
dutiful study at the Accademia.' 4 It was eight o'clock,
knocked
as
who
rained cudgel blows
upon
his shoulders.
butchers with lanterns approached, and at that point Caravaggio
256
drew
his sword, tearing the
to parry the thrust,

fled,
and
heavy cloak with which
and which he produced
at this point,
it
Caravaggio then
Spampa, who had been attacked from behind, and
The cause of this attack is not clear,

Roman streets, whose atmosphere
in the dark, recognised his assailant.
but
Spampa attempted
as evidence.
evokes the hazards of sinister
Caravaggio re-created in his Martyrdom of
Caravaggio was socially on the
Christ
Longhi
did,
Roman
through the
success with illness
and
and
St Matthew,
parading his servant,
rise,
but insecure, and responding to
Roman
academies writers, too, became
Lombard Marzio
detractors.
verse
whom
his genius, to a painter in
of
antiquity.
about 1600 or
Milesi threw out a deliberate challenge to
which opens Ammirate
has been reborn the fabled
longer poem,
in
l'altissimo
demanding homage
Pittore' celebrates the artist in superlative terms,
painters
as
streets,
partisan, adherents to Caravaggio's cause. In verses written
Caravaggio's
Taking of
violence.
In the spirited world of the
1601 the
his
skills
to
of the
blank verse, praised the
Contarelli paintings themselves, and these verses are the
first
written
descriptions of them. Here, in language which echoes Marino, Milesi

reveals his
wonder before the powerful illusionism of Caravaggio's work:
Let others simulate, illume, outline:
You
and
bring us things that are
a touching desire that his
touched by their
glory.
own Muse,
alive,
and
real
.' 5
.
so pallid beside them,
At the end he suggests
may be
that Caravaggio towers
above the hatred and envy of his detractors, and although a somewhat
feeble
and stumbling conclusion,
a partisan, as
the
it
does seem that Milesi saw himself
as
defending Caravaggio against the fury that he aroused in
camp of Zuccaro and
Baglione,
more
classicising
and
infinitely less
gifted artists. Milesi later contributed a sonnet, 'Pittura', to the 1613
edition of Ripa's
He
Iconologia,
where he
clarifies his
defined painting as an imitation of
passion through colour,
is
reality,
Lombard
standpoint.
which, conveying
an act of creation that
rivals
nature
human
itself; it is
the greatest of the arts, which both ravishes the eye and suggests the godlike
power of the human
intellect.
His
is
a view
opposed to that of the
257
Caravaggio A Life
Roman Zuccaro, who
believed that the basis of art
beauty of a work of art

world, but in the
not in
lay,
in the artists
idea
its
is disegno,
and that the
representation of the outside
mind, which derived from the mind
of God. 16
To
terly
Baglione, Caravaggio
resented Prospero
Baglione was one of the
proselytisers were 'evil people',
Orsis advertising prowess.
CaravaggioV
He
afterwards
had,
too,
Tommaso
Salini
perky
and small double
hat,
ill
of other
and
But,
his
bit-
ironically,
and
manner of the
a time the
seems that he turned to that of
it
own
most prominent
supporters,
(nicknamed Mao), with
unattractive character,
and he
painters to dare to emulate Caravaggio,
first
Mancini describes how he followed Tor

Cavaliere Giuseppe
17
a pudgy,
dapper
face, neat,
chin. Salini, a pedestrian painter,
little liked.
He
was an
was notorious for speaking
he was sued by Adriano Monteleone for
artists; in 1601
calumny, 19 and even Baglione wrote of his
and biting tongue.
satirical
Antiveduto Grammatica detested him. His art limps along behind that
of Caravaggio, and
by Caravaggio
Malvasia
beautiful'.
20
well have been to
in the collection
tells
attribution,
may
it
us
and gave proof of
his
was shocked to see
hand by painting
Baglione, however, showered praise
painter, writing that he
with leaves in
was
vases, playing
'the first
on
that a flower painting
of Del Monte was wrongly attributed;
Caravaggio
that
him
this
who
theme
on
painted,
others,
this
false
yet
more
Salini as a flower
and arranged flowers
in varied
and
original ways'.
21
Bagliones claims are probably exaggerated, and suggest a desire to

belittle Caravaggio, to
whom
Baglione followed his

Divine Love Overcoming
the
such praise was due.
first
imitations of Caravaggios style with a
World, the Flesh and the Devil (Plate 35), in
attempted to surpass Caravaggio s already celebrated

Plate 16), the picture that
idealising artists.
22
With
had thrown out such

this
Orazio Gentileschi, who,
work he
Victorious
which he
Cupid (Col.
a provocative challenge to
also threw
at the art exhibition
down
the gauntlet to
held annually in San
Giovanni Fiorentini, on 29 August 1602, had exhibited a picture of

Michael
of
the
rivalry,
Archangel (untraced),
opposite
theme, which has
its
this.
and Baglione hung
St
his work, in the spirit
All three artists were experimenting with the
roots in ancient art and in the art of Michelangelo,
258
of
conquering
full-length,
vanquished opponents,
figures, astride their
but Baglione's subject, Divine Love, threw out a specific challenge to
Caravaggios emphatically earthly

to
love.
Baglione dedicated the painting
Cardinal Benedetto Giustiniani, whose brother Vincenzo
owned
Caravaggios work, which hung in their family palace, and the Cardinal
rewarded him with the compliment, so coveted by
of a gold
all artists,
chain.
The
picture, however,
which shows the somewhat
of
stiff figure
Divine Love awkwardly encased in armour, subduing a languorous Cupid,
was mocked by other painters, and did not, according to Gentileschi,
much'
'please as
plainly that
it
as
Caravaggios. Gentileschi, moreover, told Baglione
had many imperfections, among them
grown-up, armoured man,
who should
his depiction
of
'a
have been young and nude, and
he therefore did another, which was entirely nude'. 23 In a second rendering of the
theme (Plate
36) Baglione does
not show a nude
figure,
but he
has bared Divine Loves leg, and the figure stands astride a fallen Cupid,
while behind
tator.
him
the devil has turned a macabre face towards the spec-
In his autobiography Baglione
lists
these
two commissions
as 'two
Divine Loves done for Cardinal Giustiniani, which have Profane Love,
and the Flesh beneath
the World, the Devil,
proud of these
paintings,
but in fact his Divine
pompous and
chilly
of Caravaggios
Love,
dalliance between
and described them

with
attempt
Victorious
its
Cupid; moreover,
Cupid and the
his rivals
on
piece
measured
(it
as studied
elaborate jewellery
at idealisation, a
Devil,
of Caravaggio himself. 25 His intense

to demonise him,
their feet'. 24 Baglione
nature;
and drapery,
is
it
seems to interrupt the

to bear the features
of Caravaggio, and
his desire
had been further stimulated by the abuse heaped by
Baglione's
8
most ambitious work of
by
4V2 metres)
of the most prominent of
Roman
of the
these years, a vast altar-
Resurrection for the
churches.
He
Gesu, one
had been awarded
this
coveted commission in 1602, and had presumably been working on

in this
atmosphere of envy and
leadership of
Roman
vanished, but a
visionary,
response to the earthiness
who seems
dislike
from
was
rivalry, fired
by the
painting away from Caravaggio.
bozzetto,
The
or sketch, remains, and, although
bombastic work,
far
it
desire to wrest the
painting has
it
suggests a
removed from Caravaggios naturalism,
259
a r a v a 2 g
35.
- A L
Giovanni Baglione, Divine Love Overcoming

and
the
Devil
(Staatliche
Museen zu
Kulturbesitz Gemaldegalerie)
260
Berlin
the
World, the Flesh
Preufiischer
Rival
36.
Giovanni Baglione, Divine Love Overcoming

the Flesh
and
the
the
World,
Devil
(Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica)

_
261
a r a
va
g 2
Ottavio Leoni,
37.
Lif.
Portrait of Giovanni Baglione
(print)
the lighting
is
stormy and dramatic, and the
figures in the lower half,
crowded and turbulent, suggest that perhaps Baglione was aping the
drama of Caravaggio's Martyrdom

although Baglione describes
learning',
26
and
it is
not
as
it
of St Matthew. It is
having been done 'with love and with
why
clear
an unsuccessful work,
the General of the Jesuits, Claudio
Acquaviva, awarded the commission to Baglione, though
it
may be
that
he appreciated the sense of spiritual chivalry Baglione had attempted in

the Divine Love, which
had been painted
was unveiled on Easter Sunday,

it,
all
but to Baglione s rage
it
1603,
for a Jesuit cardinal.
and
Roman
The
picture
painters flocked to see
was greeted with scorn and contempt, above
by Caravaggio.
Shortly after the unveiling of the painting, scurrilous verses began to
circulate
around Rome. These attacked Baglione and
proselytiser,
The
first
Tommaso
poem
runs:
262
Salini,
his
in the most obscene and
henchman and
filthy language.
Giovan Bagaglia, you
Your
are a
know-nothing;
mere daubs.
pictures are
warrant that you will not earn
I'll
So much
Not
from them.
as a brass farthing
even enough cloth
To make
yourself a pair of breeches,
So
you'll have to
So
take your drawings
Round
to
go round with your
arse in the
air.
and cartoons
Andrea Pizzicarolo
[the grocer],
Or maybe wipe your bum with them,

Or stuff them up Mao's wife's cunt,
So
that he can't fuck her any
more with
his great mule's
prick.
I'm sorry
But you
And
I can't
join in
are quite
all this
mindless praise,
unworthy of the chain
you're wearing
a disgrace to painting.
Because, having seen the fathers,
You now appear
The award of
to practise with the sons.
gold chain had infuriated Baglione's
rivals, as
completely unquestioning and indiscriminate praise of his

ments.
The
gold chain was a coveted symbol of status:
for intellectual achievement, that

lustre to the painter, for
nobility
it
honoured painting
it
had
Salini's
idol's achieve-
was a reward
itself;
it
brought
was an attribute of honour, and suggested
and exalted rank. The great painters of the seventeenth century
Rubens, the elegant Anthony van Dyck, Rembrandt, with a variety of
self- awarded
decorations, parade before us bedecked with golden chains,
and Federico Zuccaro,
in a frescoed self-portrait in the
toys idly with a golden chain as he looks
down
Palazzo Zuccaro,
at the viewer. Baglione's
attainment of such distinction was an intolerable provocation, and in the
second
is
poem
scorn
is
heaped on him for
his
mediocrity as a painter.
derided for his malevolent remarks about the works of other
and for
his hypocrisy, for in his
own house he kept works which
be shame to exhibit.
263
it
He
artists,
would
Caravaggio A Life
The
phrase prize prick might certainly describe
One who
Who
undertakes to find fault with another
could be his master for a hundred
With my words
Since this
man
am
years,
referring to painting,
[Baglione] claims to be called a painter,
Though he could
never rank with that
man
[Caravaggio].
am not mealy-mouthed,
Nor do I lavish undeserved
I
As
praise,
[he] does [upon] his idol
Were
to undertake to discourse
About
mans
this
exploits,
An entire month or two would not be enough.

Come hither, please, you who presume to find fault
With
other
mens
paintings,
and yet know that your
own
Are
still
up
nailed
in
your house
Because you are ashamed to show them in public.
Indeed
Because
abandon
will
I feel
that
my
undertaking
have too great an abundance of
subject matter,
Especially if
The
For
An
gift
I
were to enter upon the chain,
which he wears around
certainly think that
iron one
on
his feet
if I
his
am
neck unworthily,
not mistaken
would be more
Angered by these outrageous
verses,
Baglione, supported by Salini
(who had gone
and sure whose
fitting.
27
his attackers were,
to considerable trouble to
obtain written copies of both poems), brought a suit for libel against
Onorio Longhi, Caravaggio, Orazio
Gentileschi,
whom
he identified as
Roman painter
copies. The evidence
the writers of the verses, adding, as an afterthought, the
Filippo Trisegni,
who had
supplied Salini with the
that followed suggests an acrimonious art world, where painters bor-
rowed each others props, envied each others
skills, lied,
quarrelled and
deceived one another, and where petty resentments could suddenly flare
264
into violence
position,
and
real danger.
and the defamatory
amusing and scandalising

scores,
28
of Baglione and
Above
verses
all
had spread rapidly through Rome,
their audience.
Salini
they gossiped, and jockeyed for
There
pushed to the
and blows; of Caravaggio, anxious to defend
a sense
is
limits
of
settling old
by repeated
insults
his position as leader
of
the naturalism, defensive of his style, disingenuously disarming and
enemy by
distracting the
giving generous praise to the artists of the
whose enmity would have been unwelcome, and who
establishment,
presented no competition.
In his deposition,
made on 28 August
1603,
Baglione says that
Caravaggio and his friends had been motivated by envy over the com-
mission for the

pictures were
Resurrection in the
Gesu, and by their fear that Baglione's
more highly esteemed than
painted a picture of
Our Lords
their
own; he says that he 'had
Resurrection for the Father General of
the Society of Jesus. Since the unveiling of the said picture
Sunday of
this year,
on Easter
Onorio Longo, Michelangelo Mensi [Caravaggio],
and Orazio Gentileschi, who had aspired to do
themselves
it
mean
my reputation by speaking evil of

my works/ 29 He then adds, tellingly, 'They
have always been persecuting me
seeing that my works are held in
higher esteem than theirs.' On the same day Salini, whom the first verse
Michelangelo
me and
have been attacking
finding fault with
had so scurrilously mocked, added

ing
how he had
his supporting testimony, 30 describ-
questioned Filippo Trisegm about what the world was
saying about Baglione's Resurrection, and
how he had
over a period of months, copies of verses
made
against
him
claims,
who, presenting him with one copy 'with
'for
being his companion'.
It
extracted
against Baglione
fine words' (a phrase
which subtly suggests that Trisegni may have taken some
one
set
sly pleasure in
of the poems. Trisegni
of poems was made by Gentileschi and Ottavio Leoni,
and the other by Caravaggio and Longhi, and he elaborated the

adding that one
set
of
verses
Ludovico Bresciano, to many
lives in
the Corso', while Trisegni

a
young
boy,
story,
had sped around Rome, distributed by
painter,
poem from
and
was Trisegni himself, so Salini
his friend's discomfiture), revealed the authorship
said that
from him,
'a bardassa
artists,
had got
among them Mario 'who
his copies
of Caravaggio's
of Onorio and Michelangelo, called
265
Caravaggio A Life
Giovanni
who
Battista,
raises difficulties. It
claim that
means
it
According to
behind the Banchi'. (The word
lived
of Persian
is
but where some authorities
origin,
catamite, others insist that
Caravaggio had been
Salini,
bardassa
means simply
it
a servant.)
made anxious by
the swift
spread of scandal, because his servant, Bartolomeo, had distributed these
and
others, to
anyone
who wanted
Trisegni to be careful to keep the
them. Accordingly he had warned
poems from
hands of
falling into the
Baglione and Salini. At the end of his evidence he recognised the two
poems presented
as evidence.
After Bagliones deposition, nothing happened for a week or two,

until,
in
early
On n
September, the accused people were arrested.
September Filippo Trisegni was seized
dinnertime at
at his house, 'at
home', and imprisoned, while Caravaggio was picked up in the Piazza
On
Navona.
the following day Gentileschi was imprisoned, and
house various poems and
his
monks of
playful letter to the
among them
were removed,
letters
St Paul, for
whom
from
a
he was working on a
commission, and various sonnets sent to him several years
earlier
by the
engraver and painter Giovanni Maggi. Longhi was away, but sonnets,
love
poems and accounts were taken from
The
that he
first
to give evidence,
on
iz
his house.
September, was Trisegni.
had given copies of the two poems to
emphatically
who
say
to
had
written
Salinis testimony into considerable doubt.

Salini well,
and
went to look
at
lived close to
him on
Gregorio Rotolanti,
friendship for Salini.
hints
but had refused

thus
described
the Via della Croce.
his
recite the verses,
He
throwing
how
he knew
The two
artists
For
Salini
hearing another painter,
he acquired copies of them, out of
showed them to
prevarications.
On
friend.
Salini,
how
written them, and described
and
them,
confirmed
each other s paintings, and Trisegni had once or twice bor-
rowed an iron helmet from
who had
He
Salini,
He
but he refused to
tell
him
he had provoked Salini with
made many
suggestions,
putting
forward the names of Caravaggio, Bartolomeo, Gentileschi, Ludovico

Parmigianino, Francesco Scarpellino, to
ly
answered. 'Perhaps/
he was angry with

to
do
He
Salini,
of which Trisegni maddening-
explained his irritating behaviour by saying that
because he was waiting for
figures in cast shadows,
266
all
and had offered to
him
tell
to teach
Salini
who
him how
wrote the
poems when he
received this guidance, but Salini never offered
it.
Trisegni
then acquired, again from Rotolanti, a written copy of the second poem,
beginning 'Giovan Baglione'; Rotolanti claimed that these were written by

'a
youth studying logic or physical science, he was a vaknt'huomo and a friend
of
his';
love
adding that
this versatile
poems should Trisegni so
young man would gladly turn
to
wish. Trisegni identified the written copies
of the poems, and added that

Baglione, so that an attack
hand
his
31
Salini
spoke
on Baglione was
of
ill
painters except
all
also an attack
on him.
Gentileschis testimony, on 12 September, was largely concerned with

trying to establish his handwriting,
his house; Gentileschi,
replied:
day,
13
'I
know how
from the material confiscated from
on being asked whether he knew how
to write but not very correctly/
September, two events took place.
Trisegni and Salini together, to confront

testimonies,
He
On
to write,
the following
magistrate brought
them with
their
opposing
and Caravaggio himself gave evidence. Trisegni stuck to
guns, and firmly denied that he
poems.
The
32
had
who wrote
ever told Salini
his
the
agreed that Salini had put forward several suggestions, but
denied that he had confirmed them, and stressed that he did not want to
who had wished no one any
involve Rotolanti,
ill.
But
Salini, too,
con-
firmed his evidence, repeating, with particular emphasis, that Filippo
had told him the name of the boy,

Salini
had forgotten
this
their bardassa. (But oddly, at this point,
name.)
There followed the evidence of Caravaggio himself, who gave

fession as painter.
33
His evidence
is
confusing; he
is
rude,
his pro-
and contradicts
himself; he protects his interests, trying to see where the advantage
But none the
of a court
less,
trial,
lies.
beneath the prevarications, and the shifting evidence
a strong statement
about his belief in painting does
emerge. As the magistrate tried to establish his relationships with other
Roman
painters he parried the questions, adding asides, contradictions,
attempting, deceitfully, to distance himself from Gentileschi. Naturally,
he
said,
he knew
all
the painters working in
them, beginning with the
whom, he
valent'huomini,
or
claimed, were his friends. His
Rome, and proceeded

good
list
artists,
almost
to
all
list
of
includes the Cavaliere
d'Arpino, Carracci, Federico Zuccaro, Roncalli, Gentileschi, Prospero

Orsi, Gio. Andrea, Baglione,
Gismondo, Giorgio Todesco, and Antonio
267
Caravaggio A
Ottavio Leoni, Group
38.
Portrait of Artists,
including Sigismondo Laer
and Ottavio Leoni
(print)
He then
Tempesta.
but not
all
t'huomo I
do
are valent'huomini.
to paint well
Thus
do
well, that
is,
he
in painting a valent'huomo
and to imitate natural objects
well.' 34
is
who knows how

he
This
to
who knows how

is
a provocative-
agenda with overtones of
realist
truisms that Caravaggio would have picked up years earlier in
Peterzanos studio. But
of hand and
important
figure.
defined a valent'huomo: 'By the term valen-
to
down-to-earth definition of a
Lombard
skills
He
mean he knows how
well by his craft.
ly brief,
says, puzzlingly, that all these painters are his friends,
eye,
it
also stresses technical ability, 'doing well', the
which, as Caravaggio had earlier said, were as
in painting a fine picture
He now
of flowers
adds that some of the
as in painting the
artists
mentioned
human
earlier,
d'Arpino, Baglione, Gentileschi and Giorgio Todesco, are not his friends
'because
with me*.
they do not talk to me,
And
as
all
the others talk to
me and
he brooded on the question of what made a
mo, he shortened his list dramatically, leaving only four
Zuccaro, Roncalli, Annibale Carracci and, a

afterthought, a
fifth,
Antonio Tempesta.
268
little later,
and
converse
valent'huo-
d'Arpino,
as
an odd
Rivals
whom he
Those
had dropped from
the mainstream of Italian figure painting,
some highly
individual,
new kinds of
with
specialist
second
this
are artists outside
some from northern Europe,

and
artists,
scientific naturalism. Gio.
identified as Giovanni
list
experimenting
artists
Andrea may perhaps be
Andrea Donducci, known
as
Mastelletta, 55 a
il
Bolognese painter, whose fanciful landscapes, crowded with whimsical,

spirited figures, were enlivened
by intensely naturalistic
effects
of
light,
suggestive
of Elsheimer. Mastelletta had worked
academy
in
Bologna, but, impatient with long study from the nude, had
come
work
to
Rome. He was
in
at
Carracci
the
independent character, only
a prickly,
comfortable with vulgar and low-bred people, and rejected the praise of
of
rich patrons. Malvasia gives a vivid picture
his later life in Bologna:
'He was such an enemy of company and praise that when patrons
came
to see
him
paint he hid behind the canvases ... If they considered
themselves satisfied and praised him, he answered gruffly that he was
and did not know how to do
ignorant,
turned out well
things,
and that when anything
had happened thus by chance and
it
Todesco remains an unidentified German
luck.'
36
Giorgio
and Sigismondo
artist,
Laer,
another German, was a specialist in small pictures on copper, and tiny
on
paintings
jewels,
which sometimes showed
several figures in a space
only the size of a fingernail. Although he never competed in the

public arena, his works caused such
wonder
that his
name was famous
throughout Rome. (Giustiniani owned a portrait of him, attributed to

Caravaggio.)
Asked again what made

artist
good
artist,
Caravaggio replied that a good
one who understands painting, and agrees with Caravaggio
is
about everything, for ignorant and bad painters esteem those
bad
like
themselves. Caravaggio's redefinition of
surge of
tric
bad temper,
a desire to give
good
who
are
artist suggests a
an insultingly simple and egocen-
answer to an irritating question. His
final list
somewhat
surprising, for the experimental
and these
are the
most conservative and
artists
of
valent'huomini
is
have been excluded,
classicising artists in
Rome,
popular with the Church and with great patrons. But his redefinition
also suggests a traditionally Italian belief in the
painting,
and
in the
human
figure as the subject
supremacy of history
of the
269
artist.
Perhaps,
Caravaggio A Life
like
Vincenzo Giustiniani, he could appreciate the
these artists; his
main complaint
classicising artist,
different styles
of
against Baglione was not that he was a
but that he did not 'do welT, for he was clumsy and
incompetent. Caravaggio enjoyed the friendship of an odd collection of
people
booksellers,
perfume makers, eccentric
tailors,
artists
Mastelletta and Cherubino Alberti, Sigismondo Laer and Orsi
remains, despite his respect for the skills of
human
figure,
and
and expression, by
is
but
his
with a deep awareness of tradition.
art unites a revolutionary naturalism

It
like
still life,
based on the
given resonance by a traditional language of gesture
figures
and compositions underpinned by an aware-
ness of the classical past and of Renaissance
art.
Yet his definition of painting would surely have enraged high-
minded
theorists such as Zuccaro,
and to some extent
his list
may be
smokescreen, an attempt, with an eye on future commissions, to placate
showed no such
the artistic establishment. Annibale Carracci

criticising the
works of d'Arpino and Roncalli. Caravaggio s relationship
with d'Arpino had perhaps truly soured

to rivalry over the
rejection
commission
of Gentileschi was
at
at this time,
maybe
who
praises Baglione,
partly due
Santa Trinita dei Pellegrini, but his
politic.
But
as the questioner turns
Baglione, Caravaggio speaks out with blunt scorn. There

claims,
reticence in
and the painting of the
is
no
to
painter, he
Resurrection,
which
he went to see with Prospero and Gio Andrea, had pleased no one: It
me
didn't please
Only
because
done and
that he has
it
was clumsy and
Salini, Baglione's 'guardian angel',
painting's
unveiling,
think
little,
was the worst thing
to
praise
it;
and
was present and ready,

Salini,
at the
beneath contempt,
summarily dismissed with the lofty comment that

in painting a
it
have not heard any painter praise that painting.'
he, too,
is
might dabble
but that Caravaggio had seen nothing by him.
In the rest of his evidence Caravaggio simply distanced himself from

all
of those involved. Longhi,
great friend
safely absent
from Rome, he
of mine' but the two have never discussed the
has not talked to Gentileschi for three years
(this,
says,
is 'a
Resurrection;
surely,
he
was quite
untrue, and his closeness to Gentileschi was clearly his biggest danger);
Ottavio Leoni was his friend, but, Caravaggio added in an odd aside,
1 have never spoken to
270
him.' Mario,
who
lived
on the Corso, and was
presumably Mario Minniti, had once lived with him, but had
years ago,
and he had not talked to him
his servant,
but he had been away from
Giovanni
bardassa,
known him;
'I
particularly not
one who
Rome
Caravaggio
Battista,
know no young man

lives
since;
left three
Bartolomeo was indeed
tor
two months. As for the
emphatic that he had never
is
Giovan
called
Battista,'
behind the Banchi and
is
he
says, 'and
young.'
He
ends
with a ringing statement that he has heard no verses, neither in Latin nor
in Italian,
about Giovanni Baglione.
Having reached
this
on
impasse,
new
called back, for Baglione presented
from
allegedly
Gentileschi, in
September Gentileschi was
14
which the
evidence against him, a

artist insultingly
golden chain which had been so ridiculed in the

Gentileschi
listed
the
Caravaggio had done,
principal
painters
verses.
letter, 37
mentioned the
Like Caravaggio,
Rome, beginning,
in
as
with the Cavaliere d'Arpino, and including
Annibale, Giovanni and Durante dal Borgo, Roncalli, Caravaggio, and,

diplomatically, Baglione,
of whom, he claimed, were
all
then, however, admitted that there
is
rivalry
his friends. 38
between them, and described
the sequence of paintings of Earthly and Divine Love that he, Baglione
Caravaggio had painted, and which, he
He
says,
brought to an end
and
his
friendship with Baglione. There then poured out, in a long stream-of-
consciousness sentence, that perfectly conveys the touchy pride of these

artists, Gentileschi's
deep resentment against the pretensions of Baglione
and of Caravaggio. Both, he claims, expect him to defer to them

streets
for
me
of Rome, even Caravaggio, he says

to greet him,
seven or eight
none the
months
less
both
crossly,
who
are friends
is
in the
my friend,
of mine.
waits
must be
It
since he spoke to Caravaggio, but Caravaggio did
send to his house to borrow a Capuchin robe and a pair of wings, which
he had returned ten days ago. (Caravaggio used wings in the
Egypt
in a
and the
Victorious Cupid,
and
at this
Capuchin robe.) The poems had
of other
artists,
painters
are
greatest
men
period he was painting St Francis
criticised Baglione for
supported by their pupils,

in the world,
do
speaking
so Gentileschi makes light of this, for, he says,
Giovanni Baglione
his views, as
Flight into
is
who
describe
although perhaps Salini goes a
them
ill
all
as
the
little far,
and
not particularly foul-mouthed, but simply gives
all artists.
271
Caravaggio A Life
In the next piece of his evidence Gentileschi tied himself in knots
over an attempt to identify his handwriting in the letter presented as
evidence by Baglione. In the preceding year Baglione had journeyed to

Loreto, and had brought from there an image of the
Madonna of
Loreto, which he had given to Gentileschi. But his gift had enraged
recipient, for
image
He
although
and
their hats,
Gentileschi
of course he was pleased, because
and
letter to Baglione,
referred to Bagliones golden chain, saying that he
around
his balls
it
was a holy
would very much have preferred an image
put his views robustly in a
hang
its
was a humble lead image, of the kind pilgrims wear in
it
his neck,
in silver.
in this letter
would do
he
better to
Tor such a chain would form
more
ornament'. These phrases were, of course, very similar to those in
fitting
the poems, and Gentileschi, aware of his danger, and in considerable
confusion
the
letter,
(jnvolvens se in verbis),
which was produced
not, that this
things and
The
On 25
is
my
hand, but
refused to recognise the handwriting on

as evidence:
I
am
It seems to
seems
not aware of having written those
done that damage which appears
trial
me and yet
in this
letter.'
seems to have petered out, without reaching a conclusion.
September 1603 Caravaggio was released from prison under house
arrest. 59
The French
and Conte Ainolfo
ambassador, Philip de Bethune, went bail for him,
di Bardi guaranteed that Caravaggio
would not
Baglione or Salini. 4 Caravaggio was ordered not to leave his
out written permission, on pain of being sent to the
attack
home
galleys.
with41
De
Bethune was an admirer of Caravaggio, and owned works by him,
amongst them
Danae (untraced), which presumably showed a female
nude; he was perhaps also encouraged to intercede by the pro-French Del
Monte. 42 Sandart mentions

Victorious
that
it
was because of the fame of the
Cupid that Caravaggio was freed, and perhaps his celebrity did
help.
Longhi,
on
who had been
his return.
He
away,
became
Minerva, hurling insults and pulling faces
As Baglione and
making him
angrily involved in the dispute
followed Baglione and Salini to the church of the
Salini left church,
fall over,
and
at
them
as they
Longhi threw
as Baglione s cloak flew
attended Mass.
a brick at Baglione,
open,
it
he was armed with a dagger. Longhi withdrew, but went to
272
revealed that
lie
in wait for
Rivals
them
et.
face',
in the
doorway of
Salinis house, his
shopkeeper described
how
sword hidden under
he had seen Longhi,
whom
rushing furiously after the two painters,
attacking
him with
stones and daggers.
On
his jack-
with a red
he accused of
November Longhi was
18
and imprisoned, and released two days
arrested
man
'a
under house
later, also
arrest. 43
There seems
doubt that Baglione and
little
attackers correctly, but, in the confusion
son to
much
lie,
Giovanni
tantalising
from whom, according to
Battista,
had
figure, the
claimed to
bardassa represents Salini s
gossip,
the slightest hint that
both a
44
and he remains
Most
who
probably, the
attempt to smear Caravaggio and Longhi with
sodomy
and sodomitic
that denied. 45
rea-
had acquired
only evidence for his existence being Salini,
know him from hearsay, and
the accusation of
had
all
the bardassa
is
Salini, Trisegni
the verses. Trisegni denied the existence of the bardassa,
shadowy
identified their
of evidence where
Most
remains unclear.
Salini
Salini
insults
was notorious for spreading malicious
were very common. Nowhere
else
is
there
Longhi was homosexual, and indeed he enjoyed
fruitful marriage,
and an energetic night
life
of
in the brothels
Rome.
In the period immediately after the
Rome. He may have accepted an

Capuchin church, Santa Maria
Marches
(a
commission
for
for Tolentino
provincial stage. It
is
invitation to paint an altarpiece for the
which he was perhaps indebted to Del

in order to defuse the situation in
must have seemed,

likely that
after
letter
prominence, a
Caravaggio
them
in their adventurous
as the leading painter in
something extraordinary, which
weak copy of an
altarpiece
of the
shadowy glimpse of Caravaggio's
visit
the
whose Madonna was to be
most celebrated works
in the following year.
from Lancillotto Mauruzi to the Priors of Tolentino, on
1604, encourages
create
Roman
he took the opportunity to
celebrated centre of pilgrimages, Loreto,

the subject of one of his
Caravaggio was away from
di Constantinopoli, at Tolentino in the
Monte, who came from the Marches),
Rome,
trial,
2 January
patronage; he describes
Rome, and
stresses that
he will
will bring glory to their city.

Blessed Isidoro Agricola
picture,
may
give a
which was described with
passion, in an eighteenth-century guidebook, as a
most
273
singular painting,
Caravaggio A L
with figures so natural that they seemed to
colours,
and so natural the
in 1604 he
gestures, but
live,
so
lifelike
were the flesh
which has since vanished. 46 Early
was back in Rome, where, on 8 January he received a payment
from Maffeo
Barberini. 47
274
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Rome: 1603 1606
The
fervour of the Jubilee
celebrations soon waned,
the last years of Clement's long reign were
marked by
The atmosphere was
ing violence and civic unrest.
V)
and when Camillo Borghese (the future Paul
and
increas-
repressive,
was made Cardinal
Vicario in 1603, he hastened to renew the intimidating edict of Cardinal

Rusticucci, which
had
set
down
rules for religious art.
He
inveighed
and decreed that builders and painters who
against indecent altarpieces,
works should be fined 25
failed to obtain a licence for their
scudi, or
suffer imprisonment, exile, or yet greater punishments. Painters should
submit preliminary cartoons or drawings for approval, before beginning

their works.
The Aldobrandini
food was
scarce,
family was becoming increasingly unpopular, for
and the poor were
described the darkening
mood
suffering. In June 1603
to the
Grand Duke.
Del Monte
friend of his, he
wrote, had been stopped near the Bocca della Verita by an old man,
had, with great courage, railed against the

a
Pope more deceived than him,
but we
live in a
summer of
God gives us
1604,
when
for debt,
oner.
abundance
in all things,
taxes are infinite,
rioting spread through
On
23
had escaped and taken refuge
claiming the ancient right to asylum.

arrest him,
and
Anger against the papal family exploded
was threatened with an armed uprising.
oned
Pope 'There has never been
harsh famine, justice has fled
there are snares everywhere.'
the
for
who
Rome, and the
August
in the
in
city
a sailor, impris-
Palazzo Farnese,
The Governor of Rome came
to
but Cardinal Odoardo Farnese refused to relinquish the pris-
As tension mounted, the Piazza
around 4000 armed
with an angry crowd of
filled
men (prominent among
the Farnese supporters,
Alessandro and Giovan Francesco Tomassoni) and the great Palazzo

Farnese seemed like a city under siege.
Aldobrandini
and Farnese
families
The
frail alliance
crumbled,
for
between the
when
Pietro
Aldobrandini came to seek peace, Odoardo rejected his embassy with
275
Caravaggio A Life
insulting arrogance.
The crowd clamoured
for Pietro to be hurled
from
the window, and for his and Olimpia Aldobrandinis house to be sacked.
The
incident ended with the humiliation of the Aldobrandini, and
thereafter the peace-loving
Rome, arranging
for
Clement began to keep
and rowdy
these restless years, in which an atmosphere of
and
his troubles
he was eating artichokes
and which
in oil,
of
yell,
serving
If
Pietro s face,
strike
him. Another witness heard
he hurled the plate of artichokes in
as
his cheek. (But
painter was perhaps
and explosively touchy.
tried along with a
He
he did not see Caravaggio grasp
still
smarting from the
was sued by the
penalty,
and
Monte, stepped
libel trial
terrified waiter,
it
seems
in.
But only a few months
likely that a
later,
on
19
again in the prison of the Tor di
He
and
alone received
powerful protector, perhaps Del
and 20 October, Caravaggio was
Nona, along with Pietro Paolo
Martinelli, courier of the Pope, Ottaviano Gabrielli, the bookseller,

a
of
mixed bag of defendants accused of similar misdeeds
a launderer, a convert, a beardless youth, a furrier.
no
them, and you will
not mistaken, you damned cuckold, you think you are
wounding
The
increas-
from Lago Maggiore, which of them were
in butter. Pietro replied: 'Smell
some damned bum,'
his sword.)
1603,
am
became
Tavern of the Blackamoor and asked the
companions, intending to
his
life
claimed that Caravaggio snatched the sword of one
easily know.' Pietro
him
own
armed
with the law more frequent. In April 1604
at the
waiter, Pietro della Carnacia,
done
factions,
aggression dominated the streets, Caravaggio s

ingly stormy,
in
fol-
and spasmodic
this blow,
between French and Spanish
conflicts
continued to trouble Rome.
Throughout
army
700 Corsican soldiers to be stationed there the
lowing month. Clement never recovered from

violence,
a private
perfume maker, Alessandro Tonti of Civitanova,
all
and
accused of throw-
ing stones at the police in the Via dei Greci at 9.30 p.m. Martinelli said
that he
had eaten with Caravaggio and
Gabrielli at the Tavern
of the
Tower, and they had then decided to take a walk through Rome.
Caravaggio claimed that he had been walking towards the Piazza del
Popolo with
didn't
Gabrielli,
Onorio Longhi, and someone whose name he
know, when they had run into the others; he had been standing
276
Rome:
when he heard
chatting to a whore, Menicuccia,
Before he was
jailed,
1603 1606
the stones being thrown.
Caravaggio sent for help,
Monte, then to the house of Olimpia Aldobrandini;

that Caravaggio told
him
to 'go to the house
Aldobrandini, to a gentleman
to Cardinal
first
Gabrielli testified
of the lady Olimpia
cant remember whether he
Del
is
called
Settimio or what'. Gabrielli took the message, but was himself arrested.
He
pleaded that he had only been in prison once before. In his evidence
Caravaggio denied swearing at the police, but he was constantly taunting

the despised
sbirri,
the
Roman
police, with volleys
of vulgar abuse, and
the corporal, Malanno, was an old enemy; Caravaggio unconvincingly
complained that Malanno was insolent and hostile whenever he ran into
The perfume maker
him.
struggled to disassociate himself from the
painter, claiming, hopefully, to have
been a long way from Caravaggio,
and pleading that he had never been
in prison before;
simply taking a walk alone in the Via del Babuino.
he had been
He
added that
Caravaggio, with arrogant confidence in the Cardinals intervention, had

boasted:
18
At any
rate
tomorrow
November, he was back
I shall
get out.'
Hardly
month
later,
on
in prison, this time for coarse language.
Arrested at the Chiavica del Bufalo, he had been asked for his licence to
carry arms, and had produced
it,
but spoilt the
moment by loud and
gratuitous insults.
Caravaggio's violence was not unusual in Clements
paranoid response to imaginary

his brutal tongue, suggest a
guities
stage
of
his status.
by the
Rome.
St
He
was
now
loyal,
his
touchy sense of honour, and
deepening insecurity that
reflects the
ambi-
in his early thirties, and, thrust centre
Matthew paintings, he was the most celebrated artist in
The Entombment of Christ
remained
slights, his
Rome. But
had been
and the most eminent
universally praised,
Roman
Del Monte
collectors longed for a
painting from his hand. But Caravaggio's path had not been easy; he had
been driven to despair over the rejection of the
was
now
Virgin.
St
Matthew altarpiece, and
troubled by the uncertain fate of the scandalous Death of
Young
the
painters continued to flock around him, but his charisma
was resented by more traditional
artists.
Bitterness colours the account of Filippo Baldinucci, the Florentine

art historian: 'Novelty always pleases
more than
beauty,
277
and
in
an instant,
Caravaggio A Life
among
and
painters
Rome
throughout
among young
particularly
an immense renown
.'
painters, there spread
In the increasingly repressive
atmosphere Caravaggio had begun to seem a dangerous
artist
whose
works shocked and disturbed, and he was no longer the recipient of an

overwhelming flood of demands for public works. Only two altarpieces
Roman churches were commissioned from him between 1603 and

1606. And he remained excluded from papal Rome, from that charmed
for
(among them
circle
of
1600,
and Cherubino
artists
Cesari d'Arpino, enviably
Alberti),
whom
on
the
made
a knight in
Pope lavished favours
Caravaggio responded to this exclusion with intense anger and

ousy, ruthlessly bullying
close to his style,
whose
away for some time
He
Rome
at
row over
artists, particularly
had returned on the death of
by
1606,
was a violent man, involved in
a doctor after a
other
those
he feared. Orazio Borgianni had been
rivalry
in Spain, but
he was definitely back in

law.
and sneering
jeal-
a picture.
his wife;
when he was
in trouble with the
street brawls,
and had beaten up
He
and
his friend Saraceni were
admirers of Caravaggio, and perhaps saw themselves as partisans, sup-
porting Caravaggios
leaders
as
of a
circle
of
colore
artists
against Florentine
who
words. Neither yet painted in a Caravaggesque
Caravaggio was hostile to Borgianni, 'who spoke

if
Roman
and
disegno,
and
protected their cause with blows as well

style,
much
ill
but even so
of him, [and]
he had not actually engaged in some handling of weapons, nonethe-
less
did have some untoward encounter with him'. 7 Borgianni was to
become
powerful Caravaggesque painter and perhaps the jealous
Caravaggio saw danger, despite Borgiannis adherence to his cause.
Caravaggios anger grew when he was allowed no part in Clements
second and
St Peters. 9
last great
The
Cigoli both
public commission, for a series of altarpieces for
Florentine artists
won
contracts,
Domenico Passignano and Ludovico
and with both of them Caravaggio had an
uneasy relationship. Passignano had come to
Rome
in 1602, and,
an easy-
going, unpretentious painter, he enjoyed drinking in the taverns of
Rome
with Caravaggio. Cigoli was a very different character, melancholy,
devout, and a universal Renaissance artist skilled in architecture and
theory as well as painting, and believing in an art rooted in

in
careful preparation; he
278
disegno
and
won
his
corresponded with Galileo, and
Rome:
commission for St
Peter's
1603 1606
through the Grand Duke Ferdinando and
through Del Monte.
Rome Cigoli was given hospitality in the Villa Medici, and the
Roman artists resented his privileged success. While he was away from
In
the city they
opened
and revealed the sketched-
his enclosure in St Peter's
out painting, accusing Cigoli of plagiarism. Cigoli, shocked and enraged,

at first refused to
continue with his picture. But he was diplomatic,
and he trod warily around the aggressive Caravaggio,

opposite. Baldinucci
tells
Caravaggio to the taverns
in every
order not to criticise the actions of the
this
Passignano had
left
curtained
work
to
fall
10
latter.'
foul
of
and most strange man'. One day when
'insolent
an assistant working on his altarpiece, 'with no
respect for place or person, [Caravaggio]
at the
who was
was the peace-loving Passignano
it
Caravaggio,
his
'He would accompany Passignano and
us:
former or suffer the persecutions and very strange mind of the

But
way
drew
his
sword and slashed
his
pavilion, and, sticking his head through the hole, looked
work and rudely pronounced: 'This
expected from a painter
him'.
like
11
is
The
just as
bad
as I
would have
long-suffering Passignano
refused to rise to the bait, and continued to seek out his and Cigoli's
company.
Caravaggio's leadership was soon to receive a far
threat.
Annibale Carracci had
painting very
little.
ingly small fee
Cardinal
fallen victim to black melancholy,
Odoardo Farnese had paid him
and had moreover sent the

physically exhausted,
all
painter
serious
and now
Reni had arrived
He
room
in a saucer. Annibale, already
utterly humiliated, fell into depression,
his projects foundered.
of Cardinal Sfondrato.
the decoration of the Farnese Gallery,
fee to his
on the threshold of
rival.
and was
the insult-
of 500 scudi for the works he had done since coming to
Rome, which included most of
and
more dangerous
But Guido Reni, a young Bolognese
triumphant
in
Rome
had lodged
career,
presented a far more
late in 1601,
under the patronage
in the forastiera
of Santa Prassede,
where he and Francesco Albani had enraged Domenichino by playing

cards late into the night: Albani
and Domenichino were Bolognese
painters in the studio of Annibale Carracci. In the vivid
the Bolognese biographer Cesare Malvasia, he
is
life
made
279
of Reni by
to incarnate
Caravaggio A Life
virtues that
ing,
opposed those of Caravaggio.
He
was possessed of a melt-
feminine beauty, and a sweet nature, being Very
fair
blue eyes and a finely modelled nose ... he was very
made, with
and
affable
all
parts
polite, tractable
was none the
less lively
thought to be a
a virgin
it
and members
virgin.
in harmony';
12
and courteous'; inclined to melancholy, he

money, and
his
was devoted to the Virgin, and 'being no
was thought that she had appeared to him.
company of
and preferred the
learned, wrote badly,
well
he was patient, 'always
and amusing, generous with
He
with rosy cheeks,
handsome and
He
less
was not
simpletons, gossips
and gamblers. Reni was, moreover, deeply neurotic, anxious, morbidly

afraid
of
women and
and passionately addicted to gambling.
witchcraft,
month
Later in his career he would 'spend a
months
in the card
in the studios, then
two
rooms, which took away everything that he brought'.
Reni could, however, be
'terrible
and
was always anxious to behave with
of
art,
and
fitting dignity before the rich
and
resolute' in the cause
powerful. His art was graceful and idealising, and the official artists of
Rome
were quick to see his power. His 'marvellous
tells us,
Malvasia
'were discussed by Cavaliere d'Arpino, Gaspare Celio, Roncalli,
and others associated with the papal court
who
qualities',
.';
they saw in
him
a leader
could oppose the supporters of Caravaggio, lead by Borgianni and
Saraceni.
Reni made
visits to
Bologna
in 1603
and 1604, and
it
may be
at this
point that d'Arpino, whose relationship with Caravaggio was deteriorating,
wrote and encouraged him to hasten to Rome,
to Caravaggio, his declared enemy'.
13
In 1604
'to create
Guido made
opposition
a puzzling visit
to Loreto, in the Marches, where a much-coveted fresco commission for
the
New
Sacristy of the basilica
negotiated. Guido's
there,
and Reni was
demned
it,
of Santa Maria
di
Loreto was being
young compatriot Lionello Spada was working

called in to give his opinion
and Spada did not win the
following year, to that far
more
contract,
on the work.
He
con-
which was awarded, the
established and experienced fresco
painter, Cristofero Roncalli. Baglione later wrote that Caravaggio
had
himself coveted this commission, and had been so enraged by Roncalli's

success that he
had hired
a Sicilian to beat
him
up;' 4 Baglione
had
himself recently been in Loreto, where he had purchased the insulting
280
Rome:
1603 1606
lead
madonna, and perhaps he too was
fact
Caravaggio never worked in fresco, and
interested in the commission. In

it is
unlikely that he wanted
but the story remains puzzling. Spada was young and
this contract,
little-known,
and Reni himself was only on the threshold of
ous career;
may
it
for the contract for himself,
and
of Spada
his rejection
passionate an admirer of Caravaggio that he became
of Caravaggio'
was
nephew,
Cardinal
the
Pietro
Crucifixion of St Peter for the
had
his eyes
on
young Reni won
Aldobrandini,
was
his patrons, and, as
a contract
for
as the 'ape
of aesthetic debate.
creating a lively sense
art,
autumn of 1604
was so
Rome Reni
he openly challenged his
who
known
an insult to his leadership.' Back in
competing with Caravaggio, angling for work from
In the
his illustri-
well be that Caravaggio thought that Reni was angling
an
from the papal
altarpiece
of the
church of the Tre Fontane. Caravaggio had
this prestigious contract,
and perhaps
had been des-
it
had been egged on by d'Arpino, who
tined for him. But the Cardinal
promised him that 'Guido would transform himself into Caravaggio'/ 6
and
this
bound
he did, while
vision.
Crucifixion
at the
of St Peter,
but the vividly naturalistic figures and surface
realism are softened by a

too,
is
gentler,
same time reproving Caravaggio's earth-
His remarkable work was inspired by Caravaggio's Cerasi
new
elegance and abstract beauty. The darkness,
and conveys none of Caravaggio's anguished
fear
while St Peter seems to reach upwards towards a divine light.

tioner holds out a nail to him, which seems to
become
of death,
The
execu-
a martyr's
palm:
death and salvation seem simultaneous.
At around the same time Caravaggio was exploring the theme of

the full-length semi-nude youth, painting the St John
the
(Col. Plate 15) for Ciriaco Mattel, and a second St John
Baptist (1602)
the Baptist
(Col.
Plate 28) for Ottavio Costa,' 7 both of which revive a Florentine tradition
of paintings of the youthful St John. Costa's picture was intended

altarpiece for the
Oratory of the Confraternity
the Oratory
painting so
new church
della Misericordia at
The
there, dedicated to St Alexander,
and
fief
of the Costa
had been the old parish church. Costa
much
that he kept
it
Conscente, which, remains in the
an
family.
Conscente in Liguria, near Genoa, and a

family was building a
as
liked Caravaggio's
for his collection, sending a copy to
Museo Diocesano,
Albenga.
Caravaggio A Life
St John the Baptist, born without
sin, a
voice crying in the wilderness,
brought a message of passionate -hope to
darkened world.
The
precursor of Christ, he was a light shining in the darkness, a model of
penitence and poverty.
of
live
dressed in rags and the skins
he was usually shown in paintings,' 18 had moved Filippo
beasts, 'as
Neri to
A vision of St John,
detached from earthly desires, and St Johns
prefigured that of Christ.
The
life
closely
Protestants had attacked this tradition,
throwing doubt on Johns childhood in the desert, and creating a new

tradition,
of a bourgeois family
life;
but the Catholics wished to revive
and the sense that through him we approach the
his visionary splendour,
mystery of Christ and the Eucharist. Through the majestic red drapery,
and the
eerie play
of moonlight, Caravaggio heightened
a sense
of
prophetic mystery; but he retained the reality of the curly-headed youthful saint, building
and the play on
up psychological tension through the shadowed

uncomfortable diagonals.
taut,
eyes
The deep and brooding
melancholy conveys penitence, while the reed cross holds out the
promise of salvation.
A contemporary wrote movingly: 'Before ascending
to the above-mentioned church, in the narrow but fruitful vallev,

one
j
comes upon
a small, holy oratory
restored in the
modern
who announces
the
of him
style in
coming of
in the desert,
formerly the parish church,
honour of
Christ, Saint
mourning human
that mysterious nightingale
John the
miseries,
famous Michelangelo da Caravaggio, and
it
Baptist.
The image
was painted by the
moves not only the brothers
but also visitors to Penitence/' 9
Reni was in competition here too, for Ottavio Costa,
as
Tiberio Cerasi
had done before him, seized the chance to juxtapose the two leading
artists
in
Rome, and commissioned Reni
Catherine for the
new
where
20
remains.
it
for his executioner
parish church of Sant' Alessandro at Conscente,
An
is
to paint a Martyrdom of St
idealising work,
it
handsome, and the
none the
less suggests rivalry,
setting dark,
marked by only
few heavy-leafed plants. At the same time Reni painted

plating the
Head
of Goliath (Plate 39).
his David contem-
His David, elegant and nonchalant,
leans against a classical column, his powerful gaze fixed
head of the giant Goliath. The painting boldly

style, in
on the severed
lays claim to
Caravaggio s
the dark background, and in the play of fur against flesh, while
282
Rome:
39.
Guido Reni, David
1603
contemplating the
Head
of Goliath
(Paris,
Louvre)
283
Caravaggio A Life
the bright red hat,
gory a scene,
is
Caravaggios
in
single
its
almost a
pink plume shockingly frivolous in so
theft, a jolting
disdainful of Caravaggios art in

intense inner
life,
is
is
insouciance,
its
its
live
model, so
utter lack
of an
based on a celebrated antique sculpture, and the
composition built up on
forms arranged
reminder of the worldly youths
Yet the sensual
of St Matthew.
Calling
a balance
of horizontals and
parallel to the picture plane,
is
verticals,
with
classical. It is as if
Reni
setting his belief in ideal beauty against Caravaggios naturalism,
David, young and

Goliath,
in a
was Guido himself, triumphs over the brutal
lovely, as
whose abundant black
hair
contemporary sonnet written to
But
look well
if I
More
beautiful
is
and beard
recall Caravaggio.
or a very similar picture, wrote:
this,
at the victor
and the vanquished
the living one than horrible the dead
and Reni s picture dramatises the contrast between
trapped in
seemed painted by an
angel,
his ideal art,
Caravaggio.
Rome
and that of Caravaggio,
was deeply resented by both Annibale and
Annibale had developed an intense dislike of him in
Bologna when the young Reni was studying
at the Carracci
warning his cousin Lodovico to 'keep quiet when he
Guido was always looking

more
which to
cellar darkness.
Reni's arrival in
ful,
Marino,
2I
one
his contemporaries
and
exquisite'.
22
for 'something
Caravaggio, however,
more
who
is
academy,
in difficulty', for
delectable,
more
grace-
greatly 'feared this
new
manner', 23 was enraged at his presence, and threatened outright to break

his skull.
He
also said that if
a great
Guido Reni claimed
to be such
man, why then did he spend the whole day
searching for Caravaggios paintings and buying any

that
came
to hand?
and why did he do

style
and
it?
a strange thing that was,
Why
did he steal Caravaggio s
his colour in the Crucifixion of St Peter at the
Tre Fontane?
284
What
He
added that even
if
he had stolen
Rome:
that job
1603 1606
from him, he had not taken away
man
renown, that he was just the

that evil
man
his
to take the
of
life
d'Arpino who, he well knew, had
arranged this intrigue and had gotten for Reni, from

Cardinal Borghese, the commission that should have
been
Reni
his
24
.
tried to placate him, avoiding his challenge to fight, saying, with
great delicacy, that 'he was a servant
not to duel
that he did not
and had come to court to paint and
want to compete with anyone, since he
recognised and admitted that he was inferior to

to
whom
In fact Caravaggio,
all'.
imitation was theft, was wrong: Reni became a far
dangerous threat when he moved away from Caravaggios
more
and,
style
drawing closer to d'Arpino, created a new classicism.
before this, Caravaggio
BUT
important altarpiece, in the
again
Roman
won
church of Sant' Agostino.
On
1602 the Bolognese Ermete Cavalletti had died, aged forty-six,
21 July
leaving 500 scudi to provide for the acquisition
chapel in the
arlier,
commission for an
Roman
church of Sant' Agostino.
had taken part
Cavalletti
in
25
and decoration of a
Only
few months
meetings of the Confraternity of
Santa Trinita dei Pellegrini to discuss a pilgrimage to Loreto,

chapel was to be adorned with an altarpiece showing the
Loreto, or the
Madonna of
September
1603,
to the
half of 1605.
first
from the
and
street,
was
it is
in
the Pilgrims.
likely that
The
church,
The
26
and
his
Madonna of
chapel was acquired in
Caravaggios work dates from 1604

its
early Renaissance facade set
an extremely busy and
lively area
back
of Rome,
constantly thronged with the traffic. It was close to the famous Albergo
della Scrofa,
on
a busy pilgrim route,
the feet of Jacopo Sansovino
and many pilgrims paused to touch
cult Virgin and Child just across the nave
from Cavallettis chapel.
The
cult
of the Madonna of Loreto was particularly widespread in
the later years of the sixteenth century.

hilly
The
small town of Loreto, in the
countryside of the Marches to the east of
Rome, was
285
celebrated for
Caravaggio A Life
the miraculous presence there of the holy house of the Virgin Mary.
Legend
said that this
humble stone
dwelling, once one of the three
most
famous places of the Holy Land, had flown there from Nazareth,
search of safety
settled in
from the dangers of
it
had
Loreto in the night between 9 and 10 December 1294, and
its
of the Virgin who had so desired
its
cult flourished, along with the cult

safety.
war. After various adventures,
in
This house, where the Virgin had been conceived, where the words
of the Angel Annunciate had
her heart, and where the Christ child
filled
had played, touched the popular imagination, and

mingled with the Christian myth.
It satisfied
and legend
folktale
the need of a popular faith
for
something miraculous, removed from the everyday, that should
lift
the believer out of the here
and now. At
a time
when
devotional
practices encouraged the devout to visualise the holy places in the

greatest detail, the
Holy House made
Louis Richeome, in the Pilgrim
Tor
there:
since our Sauiour,
dwelt there,
how
comming and
talke
Jesuit
and
his holy mother,
divers other saints

it
by
going, by their breathing and looking, by their holy
How often hath the glorious Virgin his Mother made this place
honourable by the
of
The
imagined the Holy Family
often in this their dwelling, did they sanctify
their
and
a powerful appeal.
of Loreto,
teares,
offices,
and
seruices
of Charity, of deuotion, of
and other signes and markes of
sanctity?'
piety,
27
In these fervent years the medieval passion for pilgrimage flourished.
Luther had
will find
railed, 'Let every
more than
all
man
own
stay in his
the shrines even if they were
all
parish; there he
rolled into one';
28
but in Catholic Europe Carlo Borromeo's arduous pilgrimages to

Turin,
when he braved
the perils of the mountains, and performed
miracles, were legendary, as were his long nocturnal
Monte of Varallo. Caravaggio had
pilgrims,
of 1600 the Trinita dei
Madonna
del Caravaggio. In the
Pellegrini in
Rome housed
and many journeyed to Loreto, where,
decided to celebrate the
arrival
in 1590,
of the Holy House with
held on 10 December. Clement VIII himself
The immense
many
Sacro
himself been born in the shadow of
the great pilgrimage church of the

Jubilee year
vigils at the
made
it
210,000
had been
a procession
the pilgrimage in 1598.
popularity of the shrine at Loreto was a vigorous response
to Protestant attacks
on the
cult
of the Virgin, and so heightened was
286
Rome:
the tension that during the conclave
1603 1606
of 1605 rumours spread that English
students from Padua were plotting to steal the treasures at Loreto.
Madonna
Caravaggio's
way of
a house,
(Col. Plate
31)
stands at the simple stone door-
rough brick walls crumbling, and kneeling before her
its
are
dusty and travel-worn pilgrims, with cape and pilgrims staff She has
no
attributes,
Holy House, and she shows
suggests the
Jesus
but the poverty and humility of the dwelling immediately
about
is
for this
five,
the
is
the child to the worshippers;
home where
his
childhood was spent.
Pilgrims at Loreto knelt as they approached the shrine, and
on
the house
Madonna
their knees. Caravaggio's
who
brought close to the pilgrims,
are separated
is
many
warmly human, and
from her only by
while the low viewpoint, and the light, which seems to
fall
vision; she
medieval
is lit
art,
And
yet
we
from above, and towers over the
a step,
from the
doorway of the church, include the viewer within the painted

that he too seems to kneel before her.
circled
space, so
are aware that she
is
pilgrims, her size, as in
conveying transcendence, and her strange, weightless pose
Two worlds meet,

Madonna and child. She
suggesting that she has just alighted in the doorway.
and the sturdy pilgrims gaze upwards

is
a deeply
ambiguous
warm,
figure,
at the
fleshly
(we
feel the
imprint of her
fingers against the child's body), yet with an unreal grace,
by mysterious
reality
and
Roman
illusion; she
vicolo;
she
is
a housewife,
a statue
is
framed
from the
Her
faith
Loreto,
and
closeness,
mediator, and the
layers
welcoming the pilgrims
in a
in a niche, suggesting the
statue within the shrine at Loreto, brought to
Madonna of
and encircled
and shade. Caravaggio weaves together
light
warm
life;
she
is
of
dark
wooden
truly the
on the threshold of the Holy House, and born
in the
imagination of the pilgrims.
and her welcoming pose, convey the Madonna's
Madonna of
role as
Loreto was often invoked against
illness
and plague, and sometimes identified with the Madonna
della
Misericordia, whose cloak gave shelter to suffering humanity. Caravaggio
had perhaps looked
show
cuts
the
Madonna
which told the
received
its
at early devotional
images within the shrine which
displaying her young son to the people, 29 or at

story,
and
illustrated the
sumptuous marble revetment
Or he may have known Antoine
wood-
rough stone house before
it
in the mid-sixteenth century.
Lafrery's print
of The
287
Pilgrimage
to the
Seven
a^
*&-
Antoine Lafrery,
40.
^k
S^wm Churches of Rome
Z7tf
(print)
where kneeling pilgrims encircle a great statue of the
Churches (Plate 40),
Madonna,
The
upon
of the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. 30
pilgrim powerfully symbolised the
young and
old, suggesting the journey
of heaven. In Agostino Valier's
of the
human
of pilgrimage: 'When we arrived
God and Queen of
famous miracle, and when
memories
stranger
."' 31
.
exclaimed
To him
288
it
life,
pil-
kneel before the
Cusano spoke of the
is
joy
holy house where the
deeply venerated for the
saw the great number of miracles whose
are preserved in that
most holy Mother,
of
at Loreto, at that
the heavens
most noble church,
ed by an indefinable lightness, while,
holy Virgin
Dialogue on Christian Joy, a re-creation
spiritual dialogues held at the Oratory,
mother of
condition.
he journeyed to the world to come, and Caravaggios
earth,
grims,
gates
a personification
my
soul was pervad-
as I knelt before the
"How
praiseworthy
is
image of the
God
was a source of great joy that
'in
in the
most
pilgrimages
Rome:
of
this sort there
.'
32
almost always a preparation for death; so
is
that the passing to
God
And Richeome
it
happens
brings to an end these journeys and wanderings
spoke of
'the
to be pilgnmes,
and strangers upon
as pilgrims into
an
It
1603 1606
unknown
condition of mortall men, which
and of the Apostles walking
earth',
world. 33
was entirely new for the humble poor to appear centre stage
public altarpiece, and the people 'made a great fuss over

Paleotti
had written that the naturalism of
Roman
poor
Oratorian
The
picture shows
truly lived. Yet at a
spirituality, thrusting the
a courtly elite, insisting
on
low
it'.
level
it
is
in a
Cardinal
more consoling and
no hint of the squalor

deep
34
should not shock
religious art
or disturb, and perhaps the people missed a

tional splendour.
is
tradi-
m which the
harmony with
in
poor, and their simple faith, before
style,
and moving the viewer to that love
and compassion through which he might win
salvation. It
marks the end
of an era which had opened with Filippo Neri's foundation of the

Confraternity of the Trinita dei Pellegrini in 1548, to assist poor pilgrims
who had
travelled to the
Holy City from
every part of Europe, and
encouraging, throughout Clement's reign, an intense charitable activity
and evocative
rituals
the rhetoric of the

Loreto
is
of mortification.
Church grew
Now the mood was
increasingly triumphant.
the last great painting of Clementine
changing, and
The Madonna
Rome, and
of
the last of
Caravaggio's pictures which so movingly suggests a reawakening Catholic

spirituality.
Later
its
optimism would
yield to a
more
desolate vision.
had never recovered from his humiliation at the

of the proud Farnese. He fell ill m February 1605, and on 3
Clement
hands
March
the
Pope
died. France
mourned
his death, for
he had absolved the
King, and brought peace to France, but French supporters were delight-
ed by the unexpected election of Alexander de' Medici
as
Pope Leo XI,
the result of the tireless diplomacy of the French ambassador Philip de
Bethune. Yet this satisfaction was to be short-lived. Taken

nation ceremony, Leo XI, already
reduced to a
state
of almost
frail,
ill
died on 27 April.
at his
coro-
Rome
total anarchy, for while the papal throne
empty normal government was suspended, and the
lay officials
was
was
of each
Caravaggio A Life
district, the caporioni,
alone could administer justice. 35
Capitol tolled for the death of the Pope, the

their inmates,
away the
ried
ons
later
and the
had to buy back. Two
liberation
candidate, and,
caporioni, car-
which the keeper of the
pris-
swiftly successive Vacant Sees ensured the
amid
and Spanish factions could not agree on a
startling fracas
and uproar, schism threatened. The
day was saved by the leaders of the two

Aldobrandini, and Cardinal Montalto,
marked the end of an
era.
The
parties,
who produced
Cardinal Pietro
a politically
who became Pope
Camillo Borghese,
tral surprise candidate,
on the
of many long-restrained passions, and the second conclave of
1605 was a scandal. French
election
the bell
were emptied of
of the prisoners, following the
last
a rope used in torture,
corda,
As
city's jails
Paul
neu-
V His
great cardinals of Clement's reign
Federico Borromeo, Cesare Baronio, Roberto Bellarmine (the two
papal candidates), distinguished by their frugality and
latter reluctant
moral grandeur, began to seem the
and penitential
age,
relics
and the new young
of an
more
earlier,
austere
cardinals, jockeying for position,
were flushed with the ambitions of a new worldly triumphalism and

confidence.
Paul
V from a Sienese family long settled in Rome, was, at fifty-three,
a comparatively
his
intellectual
was
fleshy,
young man, and
good
health.
Not renowned
with a short pointed beard, and small, sharp
reforming Pope, in the
spirit
parsimonious in public
life,
His
in
charity, however, vied
for
he was stern and authoritarian. His face
brilliance,
eyes.
true
of the sixteenth century, he was pious and
but committed to charity and good works.
with his other great passion, the prestige of his
family and name, and to this end he lavished wealth and offices
on
his
nephews. At his side stood the pleasure-loving Scipione Borghese,
his
nephew,
whom
he hastened to
summon
to
Rome, and
to propel to
sudden fame. Scipione, who was only twenty-seven, was made
and
his bright vivacity
later portrait
and
joviality are
bust (Plate 41).
He
uncle, loved for his easy temper,
Venetian ambassador
later
a Cardinal,
wonderfully recorded in Bernini's
was a very different character from
and not
commented on
dedicated to pleasure and entertainment'.
at all
keen on studies.
his 'mediocre learning
36
With Scipione
The
and
life
the splendour
of the great Cardinals' courts of the Renaissance was reborn, and
290
his
his
Rome:
41.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Bust

(Rome,
lavish
1603 1606
of Scipione Borghese
Galleria Borghese)
banquets became the talk of Rome.
to encourage
new
talent,
and ruthless
in his
passionate collector, quick
methods, Scipione intro-
duced Caravaggio to the Pope, whose portrait he painted.

But the future of public
of
official artists,
from
m Rome
art
whom
lay
with the older generation
Paul V, continuing the traditions of
Clement VIII, commissioned grandiose works that should convey the

power of the papacy. The Cavaliere d'Arpino was quick to
opportunities.
election
He had begun to
of Paul
over the Pope,
who came
more
He
of Clement, but with the
him
paint. Reni, too,
was
abandoned Caravaggio's naturalism,
elegant works, closer in style to the Cavaliere d'Arpino,
and charming the Pope with the

ings
new
and he wielded immense influence
frequently to watch
swift to see the path to fame.
creating
lose the favour
his star revived,
seize the
on copper. Soon
official Borghese. style.
gift
of two small and exquisite paint-
Reni's graceful classicism was established as the
His paintings convey the radiance of Paradise,
291
Caravaggio A Life
and
his
an art suited to a more triumphal age which was reasserting
is
the old hierarchies, and
of
sense
guilt
moving away from the
penitential fervour
and shame that had characterised Clements
and
reign.
Caravaggio, himself dark and brutish, remained wrapped in darkness,
while Guido,
fair
and
beautiful, was, wrote Malvasia, like a noble eagle,
so to speak, [who] took off in flight toward distant spheres, and drawing
from on high concepts that were
something of
paradise'.
37
ed considerable influence
brought back to earth
celestial,
And Monsignor
Agucchi, a prelate
who
wield-
papal court, was beginning to formulate
at the
a considered opposition to Caravaggios naturalism. In his Theory of Art,
written a
little later
(between 1607 and
tions over these years with Annibale
but inspired by conversa-
1615),
and Domenichino, he formulated a
theory of ideal beauty, to which the enlightened should raise their

thoughts; Caravaggio, he wrote, whilst most excellent as a colourist, had
abandoned the Idea of beauty, and merely imitated
nature.
Caravaggio to Demetrios, a celebrated naturalist of

creating
an
Caravaggio
often
repeated
formula for hostile
became synonymous with
Federico Borromeo later jotted down:
dirty
'in his
and debauchery, nothing of beauty; Raphael

Caravaggios tragic
art,
product of a gloomier
age,
and
his
and confident naturalism,
in heavy,
classicist
and
work began
critics.
clothes,
robe, a stark image
and
there appear taverns
increasingly the
to lose the coherence and
when he had
created, with such
and
tragic vision
of
the aged St Jerome (Plate 42), his
deeply worn by time, pondering death; St Francis (Plate
worn
38
the opposite'. 39
a highly personal
Early Christianity. Solitary saints

flesh frail,
work
is
classical antiquity,
sombre and harsh, seems
consistency of the years around 1600,

fresh
feet
He compared
43),
of poverty and penitence; the young
St John (Col. Plate 28), meditative, veiled in darkness
replace the lyri-
cal youths of the 1590s, and the rustic yet grave Apostles that had peo-
pled Caravaggios works around the turn of the century. These were
saints revered for their asceticism,
and to St Jerome was attributed the
famous dictum 'Follow naked the naked

Baptist (Plate 44),
Costa,
is
rough
probably a
Roman
little later
street
Christ'.
His Corsini
St John the
than the picture for Ottavio
boy with crabbed reddened hands, an
uncomfortably stark image o humility, untouched by prophetic
292
fire.
Rome:
42.
Caravaggio, St Jerome
(Rome,
The
paint
is
1606
1603
in his
Study
Galleria Borghese)
thinner, the naturalism less showy, less provocative,
and
often Caravaggio's figures seem dissolved in dark shadow; his compositions are
sometimes strikingly
archaic,
and he no longer builds up com-
plex pyramids of interwoven and weighty figures.
the stormy year of
IN
following year, Caravaggio s

is
a sense that he
status
but,
the
life
and equilibrium.
and
Pope's election, and in the
was spiralling downwards, out of control, losing both
He
turned to Del
perhaps tired of the courtiers
himself,
new
was ever more disordered, and there
certainly
role,
Monte
in
moments of
he was attempting to
by March 1605 he had rented a house
dei Santi Cecilia e Biagio
(now
in the
the Vicolo del Divino Amore).
crisis,
live
by
Vicolo
He
is
recorded there, as a communicant, with one servant, Francesco, on 6 June

1605
ne
mav
have been there
earlier, for it is
not clear where he was
293
43.
Caravaggio,
(Rome,
living after his return
too,
was
living
- A L
St Francis in Meditation
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Palazzo Barberini)
from the Marches
beyond the
palace,
in January 1604).
and there
is
a sense that
40
Annibale,
both
artists
were asserting a powerful individuality against the repressive hierarchies
294
44.
Rome:
1603 1606
Caravaggio,
St John the Baptist
(Rome, Gallena Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Palazzo Corsini)
of the court, and both had suffered,
in different ways,
from
rejection.
Early in 1605 Annibale, already depressed, had a complete breakdown,
soon
he had recovered a
and
as
now
preferred to be left to himself, and
as
he
little,
Caravaggio's house was in the district of
Via dei
Prefetti
and the Via and Piazza
studio had been.
The Vicolo
is
left
moved
the Farnese palace.
his
Campo
Marzio, between the
della Torretta,
narrow
street,
where d'Arpino's
flanked on one side by
the vast walls of the Palazzo Firenze, where the ambassador to the
Duke of Tuscany
Here Caravaggio
of any
life,
value,
lived with very little comfort.
and an inventory of
reduced to the bare
essentials.
plates,
objects which call to
and the Supper

chest,
two
at
Ftnmaus.
two old straw
Grand
and opening out into the small Piazza Firenze.
lived,
crockery, with only
jug
He
house several times.
had almost nothing
the
glasses, a straw flask,
humble
still lifes
and
a small brush,
and water
in the Flight
His furniture was old and worn
chairs
haphazard
There was an odd array of cutlery and
but several
mind
He
his possessions suggests a
stools,
to
Fgypt
an old
although he also had a
295
Caravaggio A Life
more luxurious bed decorated with two columns, and
a servant.
There were few
an old coat in
worn by
rags'
clothes,
and these torn 'a
and may have been used
the pilgrims), and a
been collected
as
doorknocker'.
Some of
props
random
a pull-out
pair
collection
of trousers and
of items which may have
dagger, a pair of earrings, an old belt
'a
the objects are
more
likely that
for
in paintings (perhaps those
and
personal, such as duelling
weapons, and an ebony case holding a knife, and a guitar and
seems
bed
violin. It
Caravaggio played the guitar, which does not, unlike
the violin, appear in any of his paintings. There are also twelve books,
tantalisingly
and
several
without
and
titles,
primed canvases.
in the studio painting materials, mirrors,
'
Caravaggio's rough bachelor existence was not unusual, and nearby,
of San Lorenzo
in the parish
in Lucina,
Annibale Carracci lived
in a
similar style,
among an
candlesticks,
minimal furnishings and tableware. 42 Reni delighted
even sadder array of torn
Rome
splendid houses, and in
shirts,
old and broken

in
he had rented a palazzo from the Mattei
family for 160 scudi, even though he had a palazzo which he rented from
the Borghese for only 50 scudi. But he was interested only in upholding
the glory of painting by the external grandeur of his palazzi; he resisted
furnishing, saying that
it
gave
him
greater pleasure to see every
crowded with primed canvases than adorned with

ambitions were
in 1604
bought
ed to enrich
life.
far
His
on the Corso
architecturally,
for 3000 scudi,
and to make
desire to rise to the splendour
more usual ambition of

d'Alessandri, in
palazzo, well
adorned with
a centre
all
// Cavaliere
cavaliere,
and
artistic
Tommaso
Compito, dedicated to d'Arpino, describes the
Roman
men and
or knight, might aspire in a grand
in rich clothes
in the stables,
of
lovely
a magnificent gold chain,
with embroidered
literary
of the nobleman born was the
collars,
with serving
and varied
and on
enamelled rings with finely pointed diamonds

.
of
which he proceed-
the seventeenth-century painter, and
equipped with 'horses
women, dressed
Their
removed from those of the Cavaliere d'Arpino, who
a palazzo
luxury to which a
fine furniture.
room
and superb jewels ...
his
.
fabrics, his
neck
muscular finger
with large buttons

a table
decked with
the bounteous gifts of God'. 43
But for Annibale and Caravaggio the times were out of
296
joint.
The
Rome:
45.
(Columbia
streets
and taverns
densest part of
life.
Just
in
1603 1606
The Conclave of 1603

University,
New York)
Caravaggios neighbourhood,
Rome, became
at the heart
of the
increasingly the theatre of a violent street
around the corner from Caravaggios house,
in the Piazza di
San
family,
whom
Longhi, and probably Caravaggio, had run up against a few years
earlier.
Lorenzo
At
this
was
Lucma, there
in
lived the
rowdy Tomassoni
time of two successive vacant sees Giovan Francesco Tomassoni
caporione
of
Campo
Marzio, and he and his brothers, Ranuccio and
Alessandro, led a disruptive neighbourhood police force.

date, in the
urban
district
of
as caporione
preserved his neutrality; he probably

to write favourably
turbulent,
later
knew
through two vacants
sees,
was
caporione,
the Tomassoni, and was later
of Ranuccio. The spring of 1605 was particularly
and culminated, on
and Spanish
and
Castello, Baglione
wrote that he had, while acting
At the same
factions, in
which
May,
in
an alarming riot between French
several were
Campo Marzio between

Condotti. The Tomassoni
wounded, and some perhaps
killed, in the
the Piazza della Trinita and the
Strada delli
were formidably present. As the
297
Caravaggio A Life
sheriff
Rome
of
confronted,
'in
attempted to lead the rioters to the Tor di Nona, he was
the square of Cardinal Borghese', by the caporione and his
brothers, heavily armed; Giuseppe Dionisi, in the service

later described
'which
was
how
a vast
number of men, some armed with
And
and forbidden
daggers, swords
who had
dispute then ensued over
the month,
arquebuses,
some
Captain Francesco was

with
pistol, his brothers
swords, and Alessandro bore his drawn sword in his
At the end of
sheriff,
the three brothers appeared leading their bodyguard
with drawn swords and other sorts of arms.
armed with
of the
hand/ 44
violent
authority over the prisoners.
on 28 May, Paul Vs coronation
day,
Captain
Pino accused Caravaggio of carrying arms without a permit, and decorated his accusation with a quick sketch of Caravaggios dagger and
sword.
On
ly that
the Governor of
leave
him
Caravaggio had no permit, but claimed proud-
this occasion,
alone,
Rome had
and he was released without
suggests that Caravaggio,
Navona
told the sheriff and his corporals to
in 1598,
no longer
and again
bail. 45
The
lack of a permit
able to claim, as he
in 1601, that
had
in Piazza
he was in the service of the
Cardinal Del Monte, was losing status, and this perhaps aggravated his
general hostility.
contract with
accompany
He
was busy professionally, for on 25 June he signed a
Massimo Massimi
to paint a large picture, an Ecce Homo, to
a Crowning with Thorns that he
(probably the painting
now
in Prato)
had already painted
and to
for
deliver the picture
August. 46 However, Caravaggio was in the thick of the raucous

street battles
with the
Roman
throwing stones, yelling rude
Tor
di
Nona,
this
serious assault
Lena had entered
model
on
Isabella. 47
his story
for the Virgin,
a whore, but
visits to
him
of Loreto, for she
in his house.
a 'poor but honourable* family,
allowed her, for a considerable

frequent
for
fee,
to
far
woman, Lena.
with the Madonna
and she posed
came from
tailor
him. Then, only nine days later he made a
a notary over another
in
time for attacking the
Prospero Orsi, Cherubino Alberti, the bookseller Gabrielli, and a
more
of
was routine, and in July he was
insults,
house of two women, Laura della Vecchia and her daughter,
bail for
by
life
whores, where beating and kicking doors,
trouble again, and back in the
from Narni stood
him
model
was
his
Lena was not
and her mother
for Caravaggio. But her
Caravaggio were jealously observed by a young notary,
298
Rome:
1603 1606
Mariano da Pasqualone, who wished to marry
His
her.
suit
was rejected
(for his job meant that he was sure to be damned), and he angrily
rebuked Lena's mother for handing her daughter

48
and cursed man, Caravaggio.
'to
an excommunicant
Caravaggio, on hearing
sought
this,
vengeance, looking for an opportunity to fight Pasqualone, and in late
him
July he viciously attacked
in the Piazza
Navona. Pasqualone was
interviewed in the office of Paolo Spada by the Clerk of the Criminal
Court, and stated:
Mr
As
it may have been about

nightfall were strolling in the
Galeazzo and
one hour
after
Navona
Piazza
my
head.
suddenly
to the
blow on the
felt a
ground
at
once and
been the stroke of a sword
who wounded me, but
didn't see
I fell
believe to have
had been wounded in the head by
realised that I
what
of the palace of the
in front
Spanish Ambassador,
back of
never had
disputes with anybody but the said Michelangelo.
few nights ago he and
on account of
Mr
main door of
Michelangelo's
I
may
fall
dress
Please, excuse
girl.
my
turned round
at
found
It
me
is
quickly that
writer of apostolic letters,
and then saw
looked
like
'a
man
with an
a sword or hunting knife.
once and made three jumps and turned towards
the palace of Cardinal

shoulder.'
to be
wounds.
to the ground,
unsheathed weapon in his hand.
He
is
Sertorio Teofilo. She
With Pasqualone was Galeazzo Roccasecca,
who saw Mariano
Lena who
a girl called
Piazza Navona, past the palace, or rather
at the
the
had words on the Corso
Del Monte
(As Caravaggio
is
concluded, 1 only heard the
He
wore
a black cloak
doing in the Martyrdom
wounded man
but Michelangelo da Caravaggio.'
say
it
on one
of St Matthew.^)
He
could not be anyone
49
After this shameful encounter Caravaggio fled to Genoa. Throughout

this
period Fabio Masetti, the
Roman
agent of Cesare d'Este,
299
Duke of
Caravaggio A Life
Modena, had been
trying in vain to get both Annibale Carracci
Caravaggio to deliver paintings to Modena. Early in the
and
on
year,
12
March, Cardinal Farnese had himself written to the Duke: 'When

Annibale Carracci has recovered from a serious
and which
these past days
request will be attended
was too
picture, but
Caravaggio,
who
ill
to.'
keeps him from painting, Your Highness s
constantly put
Caravaggio' s
summer Annibale began work on
In the
to complete
Duke: 'Caravaggio
to the
still
is
in
him
from
a period
of
off,
and on
choice of Genoa was
which had made
found expression
Masetti- fared
it.
political
17
little
inspired by the possibility
grand recovery,
and commercial
in a lavish patronage
in Genoa.' 51
is
Genoa was
there.
the
better with
August 1605 he wrote
contempt of court, and
of finding powerful support

financial centre
which he has had
illness
major
city,
earlier in the century,
decline. Its recovered prestige
of the
arts,
led by the powerful
who
Doria, an old patrician family of soldiers and seamen
appreciated
the power of art to celebrate their worldly status and display their
wealth.
of
The
city
aristocratic
had been
suburban
lavishly embellished in recent years,
villas,
by a
series
and by the splendid palaces that lined the
Strada Nuova, whose Renaissance symmetry and elegance contrasted

sharply with the narrow medieval streets of the old town.
cultured ruling
class,
displayed their riches in the sumptuous

attracted artists
new
palazzi
from the most sophisticated
families,
villas.
cities
Amongst
Genoa
and was
Caravaggio's
patrons, some, such as Costa and the Giustiniani family, had
strong links with Genoa, and Caravaggio
support.
family,
and
Italian
unusually open to artists from northern Europe.
Roman
A brilliant and
of immensely wealthy trading and banking
He
who
may
have counted on their
may, too, have again used his connections with the Colonna
were to prove so constant and so loyal
Doria, an important political figure in the
city,
for
Admiral Andrea
had married Giovanna
Colonna, the daughter of Fabrizio Colonna and Anna Borromeo, and

niece of the
Marchesa Costanza of Caravaggio. Andrea Doria and
wife were influenced by
Borromean
spirituality,
and Giovanna had been
instructed by Giuseppe Calasanzio. Perhaps through
300
his
them Caravaggio
Rome:
of another branch of the
attracted the attention
recently risen to
1603 1606
economic power. Two of
Dona
family,
which had
members, Gian Carlo and
its
Marcantonio Doria, the two sons of Agostino Doria (Doge
in 1601 3),
were important collectors and adventurous patrons, and in 1606 Rubens,
who had
visited the city earlier, painted for
of Gian Carlo Doria

Compostela.
52
The
with
the
of
the
the equestrian portrait
Order of Santiago de
Spanish
family's spectacular art collection,
of works by the most
amongst them Titian and Tintoretto, was
celebrated Italian painters,
housed
Insignia
them
in the family palazzo.
Such patrons were well placed to appreciate Caravaggio's naturalism,

and Marcantonio Doria was to become one of the most progressive and
farsighted
painting,
cities.
Genoese patrons, developing
and encouraging
a particular taste for
a lively artistic interchange
Neapolitan
between the two
In 1605, only twenty years old, he leapt at the opportunity to
acquire a
work by Caravaggio, and offered him the fabulous sum of
6000 scudi to decorate
in fresco the loggia
of
his villa at Sampierdarena,
outside Genoa. Caravaggio agreed to this project, but then, perhaps
becoming uneasy
at
his
lack
of experience
fresco,
in
withdrew.
(Gentileschi and Caracciolo later decorated his loggia; since destroyed.)
Rome
In
but
it
who
of so princely a sum,
there was astonishment at his rejection
does not seem to have damaged his relationship with Marcantonio,
later
commissioned
a painting
from Caravaggio
remained attracted by Caravaggesque painting.

referred to as
religious
many
the
as
man,
visit to
a philanthropist,
hospitals, convents
same enlightened
Naples, and
Caravaggio
alT.
who made
princely donations to very
and churches, and he seems to have come from

of the Church
circles
Mattei family. Later,
as the
But on 20 August, Fabio Masetti wrote to the Duke,
being negotiated for Caravaggio, and, once

return.' 54
it
is
pomp
'Now
peace
'Caravaggio has appeared in

this
Rome
trouble
in the
hope of
at
is
concluded, he will
Almost immediately, on 24 August, he reported
Throughout
later
Genoa; Marcantonio was a deeply
Girolamo Mattei had done, he requested a funeral 'with no

53
is
who
friend and he must have spent some time
Marcantonio s
with him during this brief
in
peace'.
that
55
Caravaggio was perhaps helped by his
powerful patrons, and perhaps by Del Monte, with
301
whom
Caravaggio
Caravaggio A Life
may
him
to
on
well have again stayed for a while
his return to
Rome. For
it
was
that the tormented Este agent immediately turned for help
on
of Caravaggios return to Rome, begging him to order
hearing
Caravaggio to despatch the promised and partly paid-for painting for

the
Duke of Modena. Del Monte,
him ... he
can give very few assurances about

[stravagantissimo]' ,
sum of 6000
ly
and reported Caravaggios
commented
odd person
a very
is
rash. rejection
that 'one
of the
scudi to decorate a loggia for the Principe Doria.
Monte s remarks
genius,
in reply,
lavish
56
Del
suggest an indulgence towards the vagaries of artistic
and the splendour of an
artist
who
could turn
sums. But Caravaggio had hitherto been extremely
fulfil his contracts,
and the
down such
efficient,
superlative, stravagantissimo,
prince-
prompt
to
seems also to carry
the implication that Caravaggio was increasingly driven and difficult.
Certainly that was Masettis interpretation; he had been wondering
whether Caravaggio might be persuaded to transfer to Mantua and work

for the
fright
Duke of Modena, but on
and abandoned the
On 26
hearing of such instability he took
idea.
August Caravaggio made what must have seemed
a humiliating
peace with Pasqualone, apologising for his action, and receiving a
pardon from the Governor of Rome.
1,
Michelangelo Merisi, having been insulted by
Mr
Mariano, clerk of the Vicar s Court,
would not wear

strike
302
Mr
fit
anybody
all
should meet him.
am
very sorry for what

it
yet, I
for his forgiveness
the said
a
had not done
man
in the daytime, resolved to
having perfectly recognised his
struck him.
him
he
One
night,
come upon him accompanied by another
man and
if I
sword
him wherever
having
as
and peace, and
Mariano with
to stand his
else.
the above.
I,
57
would not do
sword in
face,
did,
and
beg
it.
regard
his
hand
as
ground against me or
Michelangelo Merisi, do affirm
Rome:
It
may be
1603 1606
that Caravaggio was claiming that since
Mariano did not
more
carry a sword, even in daytime (wearing a sword at night was far
he
restricted),
could
not be
therefore
challenged
to
The
Caravaggio was therefore obliged to pursue an unarmed man.
was signed
reverendissimi
Borghese,
fate,
at
the Palazzo
Domini
who was
anticamera
'in
Here, for the
later to play so powerful, if
appears in Caravaggio's
life. It
may be
peacemaking, and
active role in this
him
Quirinale,
del
cardinalis Borghesii'.
that,
for four
his landlady,
illustrissimi
et
time, Scipione
first
shadowy, a part in his
gratitude, Caravaggio gave
new
Caravaggio's troubles with the law were not over.
had paid no rent
peace
that the Cardinal played an
the St Jerome (Plate 42), a suitable gift for a
made peace with Pasqualone,
and
duel,
Cardinal. 58
On
the very day he
Prudenzia Bruna, to
months, sequestered
his goods,
inventory of his possessions on 26 August, and barring
whom he
drawing up an
him from
his
house. Caravaggio, in revenge, went to throw stones at her windows, and
on
September she brought charges against him,
in
which Caravaggio
59
described as homeless, a painter 'non babentem locum permanentem
is
The
enraged Bruna reported that Caravaggio had damaged her blinds (and
here she produced both blinds and stones as evidence),
and then had
returned with three friends, playing the guitar, and talking loudly in the
street.
ual
This bringing
attacks
in
of rowdy reinforcements was
on property, and
Prudenzia Bruna, whose
this
characteristic
behaviour was the
own house was
last
of
rit-
straw to
next door to the one which she
rented to Caravaggio. She also complained bitterly about his six months'
unpaid
es
rent,
and
a ceiling
which Caravaggio had damaged. The witness-
whom she summoned to
servant,
Lucretia,
do
The
so,
and her
both claiming firmly that they were in
until daybreak'.
nothing of damaged blinds.

vengeance.
story, Francisca Bartholi
neighbours in the Vicolo of the ambassador to
Florence, signally failed to
bed 'continuously
support her
next
month
They
They had heard
nothing, and
knew
were, perhaps, afraid of Caravaggio's
she rented the house to a
more
respectable
lodger, the Bolognese cleric Giovanni Battista Trombini.
The autumn of
this
year,
1605,
when,
despite
the
continuing
protection of Del Monte, Caravaggio was homeless, was a difficult and
uneasy time. Throughout September
and October Fabio Masetti
303
Caravaggio A Life
bewailed the problems that he was having with both Annibale and
him with demands
Caravaggio; Caravaggio pestered
money, and
for
promises that the painting would be ready the next week, wheedling 32
scudi from him, and in
November Masetti promised

on the
the views of intelligent connoisseurs

ture was forthcoming,
and
picture
in January 1606 Masetti,
to send the
Duke
worth. But no pic-
by now
tired
of
false
promises, and determined not to be strung along again, decided to seek
help from superior powers, begging the Farnese to exert their authority
over Carracci, and Del
ly
Monte
over Caravaggio.
The
32 scudi particular-
annoyed him, and, he commented, Caravaggio blushed when he saw
him.
Caravaggios fortunes seemed to be sinking
the end of October he was mysteriously
wounded
and recuperated
Andrea
in the
lived near the Piazza
house of a
interviewed,
on 24 October, by
commented
that
it
friend,
Colonna, and moved in
and towards
swiftly,
in the
neck and
Ruffetti, a lawyer
literary circles.
ear,
who
Here he was
who
the notary of the criminal court,
was hard to see the wounds, because of their being
covered with dressings, and reported Caravaggios feeble excuse that
he had
fallen
myself with
this
on
my
his
sword
own sword and wounded

as I fell
down
these stairs,
took place and there was no one there/
61
himself:
and
It
don't
was in
'I
wounded
know where
this
low
state,
homeless, inexplicably wounded, engaged in street fighting and stone

throwing, yet
Caravaggio
still
won
encircled by support,
and feted by
literary
men, that
commission whose prestige surpassed anything he had
obtained under Clement VIII: for an altarpiece in the most revered
church in Christendom, St Peters.

basilica
of
early Christian era so venerated
by
Clement VIII had dithered over the

Constantine, a hallowed
relic
of the
Baronio, but which was nevertheless a
fate
of the old
somewhat uneasy and delapidated
prelude to the massive splendour of Michelangelo's St Peters. But on 17
September
della
1605,
soon
after the election
Reveranda Fabbrica
di
of Paul V, the Congregazione

nave,
now
demolition.
The
San Pietro advised that the old
dangerous, should be destroyed, and Paul
V ordered
its
Congregazione had been appointed almost immediately on the election
of Paul V, and had
originally
consisted of only three cardinals
Evangelista Pallotta, Benedetto Giustiniani, and
304
Pompeo
Arrigoni. Care
Rome:
was taken to preserve
relics
1603 1606
and works of
art,
and the
stood in the old church. Amongst these was the

the
Company of Grooms, which was removed from
right transept of Michelangelo's basilica,
which showed St Anne (the patron
and
saint
which had
altars
of the
altar
Palafrenieri,
the old nave, to the
as a result their altarpiece,
of the Company of the
Grooms), the Virgin and the Christ Child, between Saints Peter and
Paul,
was no longer
company met on
painting'
painter
suitable.
31
and appointed
is
named
Anxious to
retain their right to the altar, the
October, and decided to make

officials to discuss this
minutes of
in the
beautiful
'a
and new
No
with the painter. 62
this meeting,
but on
December
On
Caravaggio received an advance of 25 scudi for the painting.
8 April
1606 he signed a receipt for payment, declaring his satisfaction with the
He
painting and referring to himself as Michel Angelo da Caravaggio.

received further payments in
of 75 scudi.
Palafrenieri.
exclusion
It
May, adding up
not clear
is
modest sum
Caravaggio to the
Although Caravaggio had himself been enraged by
from the
Clement VIII, the
commissioned
altarpieces
artists
chosen
been responsive to Caravaggios
Giacomo
the
for
style,
his
nave piccole
Passignano, Roncalli, Cigoli
of
had
and the Cardinals associated
with the commissions for St Peter's were

supporter,
to the rather
who recommended
far
from
hostile to him.
His
Sannesio, had been connected with this project,
probably after he was
made
a cardinal in 1604,
and Benedetto Giustiniani
was appointed to the new Congregazione. Del Monte was not made a
member of
the Congregazione until 1606, but he
have wielded some influence.
He
may none
and Giustiniani
are the
the less
most
still
likely
candidates for suggesting Caravaggio, and perhaps for having worked out
the unusually abstract subject matter.
But Caravaggios picture was not to stand for long on an

Peter's.
soon
The
carpenters were preparing
after this the painting
St Peter's (where there

Archangel).
Yet within a
were paid for carrying

Palafrenieri. In
so
it is
May
is
was
now
month
it
set
its
on the
support
early
March, and
altar in the right transept
a mosaic after
it
altar in St
Guido
Reni's St Michael
was removed, for on
16
of
the
April porters
to the church of the Palafrenieri, Sant'Anna dei
the Palafrenieri
made Caravaggio
his final
payment,
not entirely clear whether they, or other authorities, had rejected
305
Caravaggio A Life
some reason
the painting. For
altar in the transept,

altar, finally
and
May
early in
Old
acquiring one in the
they were negotiating for a
work was painted
for the
But the
Sacristy.
unambiguously that the picture was
declare
'This
the Palafrenieri had lost their right to the
do
early sources
rejected. Baglione states:
Grooms of
removed on the orders of the Cardinals
new
the Palace; but
in charge
it
was
of St Peters and sub-
sequently given by the Palafrenieri to Cardinal Scipione Borghese.' 6?

Caravaggio's altarpiece (Col. Plate 29) was composed, like his Madonna
of Loreto,
is
of sculptural
figures, isolated
from one another, and the model
Holy Family
again Lena. It shows three figures of the
Anne
Christ Child, and the Virgins mother, St

lashing snake at their feet.
The Virgin
the Virgin, the
staring intensely at a
tenderly supports her naked son,
and, with her foot beneath that of Christ, both crush the serpents head
under
their feet.
when God
The theme
is
taken from the
says to the serpent
book of Genesis
which had tempted Eve:
And
(3: 15),
will
put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
seed;
shall bruise thy head,
it
symbolises original
Eve;
it
and thou
shalt bruise his heel.' The serpent
and the Virgin and her son stamp out the
sin,
sin
of
suggests too the crushing of heresy, and the importance of Mary,
so belittled in the Protestant north, in the redemption of humankind.

Caravaggio's composition, apparently based
on Ambrogio Figino s
ing for San Fedele in Milan, which Caravaggio

apprentice, or perhaps
knew through an
may
it
was
Jesus,
not Mary,
have seen as an
engraving, reflects contempo-
rary controversy over the translation of the passage.

that
paint-
The
who had stamped on
Protestants held
the serpents head,
while the Catholics tended to favour Mary; but in a papal bull of 1569
had been decreed that the Virgin, with the aid of her
the serpent s head, and
feet so
it is
child,
this doctrine that Caravaggio's placing
precisely interprets.
With
this
it
had bruised
somewhat recondite
of the
doctrine,
Caravaggio interweaves another, suggesting, by the presence of St Anne,

the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, the belief that the Virgin
had been born without
sin,
and thus pure,
sinless,
she plays a role in
man's redemption.
St Anne, whose
figure,
name means
Grace,
who had been immensely popular
306
is
an apocryphal, non-biblical
in the early sixteenth century,
Rome:
when
it
1603 1606
was believed that she had been married three times, and these
marriages gave to Christ a richly extended family, a
embroidered the stark
biblical account.
Holy Kinship,
Such elaborations were
that
rejected
in the late sixteenth century,
and both Baronio and Bellarmine believed
monogamy; but
same time the doctrine of the Immaculate
in her
at the
Conception won increasing favour.

years
was believed that Anne,
It
of barrenness, had conceived Mary
in extreme old age,
Golden Gate. Thus Mary,
she had kissed her husband, Joachim, at the
her son, had been conceived without
like Jesus,
after
when
sin,
and through divine
intervention; her birth, too, was a kind of miracle.
In showing this scene Caravaggio separated the two faces of divine
womanhood, breaking with
the tradition, established by Leonardo, of
weaving the holy figures together in an indissoluble pyramid. St Anne

stands to one side; she
hands, just such a

ket.
And
is
model
aged, with weather-beaten face

as
Caravaggio might have seen in a
yet she has a grave
falling in heavy,
her body,
its
columnar
and work-worn
and
folds,
and the white wrap pulled
startlingly white creases so crisp that they
and the
ancient past.
with the
picture, so rooted in the present,
Her shadowy
warm humanity
light falling softly
on
stillness
tautly across
seem
undercut marble, lying heavily against her body, suggest

ture,
Roman mar-
classic dignity; her drapery, the skirt
like
deeply
Roman
sculp-
seems to reach back to an
and dark colours contrast sharply
with which the Virgin and child are painted, the
richly coloured fabrics
and
flesh.
The
Virgin, her
maternal aspect suggested by a deep decollete, and by the tenderness of

her expression,
is
dressed like a
member of
a prosperous artisan's family
was traditional in sixteenth- century paintings of the Holy Kinship)
(this
and she has looped up her dress to
reveal a darker underskirt.
There
is
hint of a domestic setting, for, unusually, Caravaggio has included a ceiling. Jesus
light,
is
and recoiling with an
suggests a
and
a curly-headed, entirely
memory of
distaste.
His tense
naked small boy, bathed
in a
golden
entirely natural horror, a figure that surely
a scene observed,
features
and
his
of
a child flinching with fear
whole body suggest
a shrinking
away, a fear that finds expression in the strangely fastidious gestures of
the hands,
one withdrawing within the protective embrace of
his
mother, and the other, silhouetted against the dark cavern that runs up
307
Caravaggio A Life
the centre of the painting, stretched bravely outwards, linking the two
halves of the picture.
The
tension^ between the
warm and
domestic
naturalism of the figures and their strange isolation in an overwhelming
darkness encourages meditation on the ceaseless mystery of the incarnation and redemption, of Christ, 'incarnatus
est'.
And
flesh
is
est
ex Maria
the emphatic nakedness of Christ, so
Virgine, et
human, so
real,
This
is
God made
it
mystery of his dual nature. 64
flesh, the
and beautiful meditation on the Incarnation, but
a haunting
Bellori says that
was rejected because of the 'offensive portrayal of the
Virgin with the nude Christ

are startlingly and,
child'.
The
65
rendering of mother and child
must have seemed, shockingly
it
naturalistic.
lack any hint of the regality associated with paintings of the
God and
her son. Christ's nakedness
may
offensive,
and
artists
The
treatise writers
was painted, asked
mother of
have seemed gratuitous and
who showed
Christ naked.
and the
his literary friend, Zaratini Castellini,
compose an epigram
his Iconologia, to
Marzio Milesi addressed
faithful
Milesi addresses the painter

art
rebuked
They
painting increased Caravaggio's fame. Andrea Ruffetti, in whose
it
had advised Ripa over

our,
whose
so vulnerable against the Virgins hands, symbolises both primal
guiltlessness, and,
house
homo factus
and thought, and
his
still
poem
in
hon-
to the picture.
as 'angelico pittore', celebrating
poem
its
who
both
his
suggests the complete orthodoxy of
Caravaggio's painting, whose problems lay entirely in the style, rather
than in the doctrine:
Through Adam's
Arousing
his maker's
When, God
new
sin
was wretched
man
led astray,
wrath
having been
made man, he was reborn
life,
For the way to heaven had been made
plain.
Whence
of
that sharp serpent, the cause
Was trodden underfoot

By mother and
son,
and the great Vigil
Kept by Gods mother
308
66
.
sin,
to a
plate 27:
The Death of
the Virgin
PLAT e 28:
St John the Baptist
plate 29:
The Madonna and
Child with Saint
late
Anne
pper
The Supper
at
Emtnaus
plate
31:
The Madonna of Loreto
late
32: The Seven Acts of Mercy
plate
33:
The Madonna of
the
Rosary
plate
35: Portrait of a Knight
of Malta; Ira Antonio Martelli
plate
34: The
plate
36: St Jerome Writing
plate
plate
38: The Burial of St Lucy
37: The Beheading of St John
plate
the
Baptist
39: The Resurrection of Lazarus
plate 40:
of St John
Salome with
the
Head
the Baptist
plate
Goliath
plate 42:
The Maryrdom of St Ursula
41: David with
the
Head
of
Rome:
Before the
Madonna
1603 1606
dei Palafrenieri
had been acquired by Scipione
Borghese, however, disaster overtook Caravaggio.
The
early
months of
1606 had been very disturbed. Paul V, infuriated by Venetian attacks

the clergy,
had clumsily issued an
tension throughout Europe.

tion of the
Pope was
On
28
on
interdict against the city, causing
May
the anniversary of the corona-
celebrated, with processions designed to assert the
power and glory of the papacy, and spectacular firework displays
at the
Castel Sant'Angelo. But the festivities were disrupted by outbreaks of

violence,
and
at the
when 'someone
On
the
hit a
Ripa Grande
same evening,
in the
Via
Bolognese captain
who
'perform a
service',
amongst the
blow deprived him of
armed men
that winter
the Castel Sant'Angelo, sat
boats,
life'.
67
della Scrofa, near a tennis court close to
the Palazzo Firenze, a group of

a
a fight broke out
man, who then with
on stone near
with another
gathered. Petronio Toppa,
had served
Marzio), both of them wearing swords.
papal fortress of
to the ball game, waiting to
soldier, a
Paolo (though Paolo then wandered off to
at the
one-eyed Bolognese called
whore
visit a
few days
in the
earlier
Campo
Caravaggio
had rowed with Ranuccio Tomassoni, 68 whose arrogant family dominated the neighbourhood. Caravaggio and his supporters were looking for
trouble,
and Toppa was hanging around to second the painter
in a fight
with Ranuccio. As Caravaggio and his friends walked past Tomassoni's

house, just around the corner, in the Piazza di San Lorenzo in Lucina,
Ranuccio, seeing them, armed himself to confront them. Violence flared

up,
and two
sides formed.
Petronio Toppa, and an

brother,
With Caravaggio were Onorio Longhi and
unnamed fourth man. With Ranuccio were
Giovan Francesco, and
his
two brothers-in-law, Ignazio and
his
Giovan Federico Giugoli.

It
was Caravaggio's quarrel, and he and Ranuccio fought one-to-one
for a long time; but then, as
who had aimed
Ranuccio withdrew, he
at his thigh or groin,
the stomach. Ranuccio lay bleeding
fell,
and Caravaggio,
caught him higher, and
and
his brother,
fatally, in
Giovan Francesco,
rushed to defend him. Petronio Toppa sprang to the aid of Caravaggio,

preventing
severe
him from
killing
Giovan Francesco, but himself suffering
wounds. Caravaggio, too, was badly wounded
in the head, while
Longhi, unusually, played only a minor part. Ranuccio was taken back to
309
Caravaggio A Life
he died, and was buried in the
his house, where, having confessed,
Pantheon on the following morning. Toppa, badly hacked and cut about,
was taken to the shop of a barber-surgeon, near the Torre dei Conti,
where he was treated for his wounds
his left
arm had been
so deeply
cut that seven pieces of bone were removed from the wound, while he
had received eight

another in his
police,
stabs in the thigh, a serious
left heel.
His bloody
and he alone ended
that Caravaggio too was
in prison, in the
set
fled.
He
in the shin,
di
Nona.
prized his works'),
he had begun, his
where so
about to organise his

later
or
flight;
maybe he had
wrote that 'he had to hide

all virtuosi,
by
Roman
years,
Longhi took refuge
The Tomassoni and
in his native city,
his wounds, but by the following
the safety of the Alban Hills.
hopeful: 'Caravaggio has left
needed time to recover from
Wednesday he too had
The
Rome
you with
Nothing happened
for a
as
Rome,
May, wrote to the Duke,
31
...
for
many
ever
have heard that he has gone in
the direction of Florence, and that perhaps he will

will satisfy
left
long-persecuted Este agent thought
had gone to Florence, and, on
where he
earlier
Giugoli brothers went to Parma, a city ruled
their protectors, the Farnese. Caravaggio
that he
who
or possibly to the Palazzo Colonna, here ending, as
Milan, a destination perhaps dangerous to Caravaggio because of

crimes.
yet
was known
It
talk over
of Marchese Giustiniani, the protector of

69
and
had perhaps hidden with Del
gone to the Palazzo Giustiniani (Sandrart

in the palace
Tor
wounded, and there was
famous a painter might have
Monte, who may have
wound
drew the attention of the
state
pictures as
come
you want/
70
month. Then, on 28 June, the
charge of the enquiries, Angelo Turco, put
all
Modena,
to
official in
those involved, Caravaggio,
Onorio Longhi, Giovan Francesco Tomassoni, Ignazio and Giovan

Federico Giugoli,
in
contempt of court. In the following month
Petronio Toppa, from the Tor di Nona, sought to rally his friends around
him, and two gave evidence on his behalf. The magistrate was looking for
the fourth
unnamed man, who had been on Caravaggio s
his first witness, Francesco Pioveni,
Lucca,
Paolo
who had
side,
served with
and asked
Toppa
in
Rome and Venice, if he knew another Bolognese corporal,

Aldato an acquaintance which Pioveni firmly denied. He
added, equally firmly, that he had not been there
310
when Toppa had been
Rome:
wounded:
'I
know
1603 1606
absolutely nothing at
all
about
Michelangelo Caravaggio the painter took part

Francesco from Lucca next gave evidence.
brawl except that
this
.'
7I
He
described how, on the
day of the murder, he had been passing the Palazzo Firenze, and had
seen Toppa, with another Bolognese soldier, perhaps called Paolo,
had only one
Toppa asked
eye.
he had to 'perform a
service';
with the one-eyed soldier.
him
his friend to wait for
not
whether
clear
as
m a hurry, and left
Francesco, however, was
It is
who
moment,
this
Bolognese soldier
returned to play a role as the fourth man. Francesco seemed anxious to
away from him, but he may well have been
steer attention
perhaps Francesco wished to protect him, while

anxious to divert suspicion from himself.
stressing that he
known
who
same time was
at the
whom
he had always
of unblemished reputation and repute,
would have done nothing unworthy of an honourable
seems
likely that Paolo, or
The
brawl caused a
circulated, while
newspaper gave
soldier...' It
Francesco himself, was the fourth man. 72
stir in
Rome, and
a flurry
of newspaper reports
ambassadors hurried to write colourful accounts to the
Urbino and Modena.
courts of Florence,
a brief description:
to the palace of the
the
soldier,
and
concluded his evidence by
had not seen anyone with Toppa,
honourable
as 'an
He
a friend,
Grand Duke,
'
...
On
the day of the brawl a
on account of
a game,
and near
row broke out between the son of
former Colonel, Lucantonio Tomassoni, and Michelangelo da
Caravaggio, famous painter, and Tomassoni was killed by a blow delivered when, as he withdrew, he
fell
to the
ground
.'
73
Three days
report added that 'Michelangelo da Caravaggio, a painter of

these days,
.
They
said to have been injured, but
is
it is
not known where he
is
claim that the cause of the fight was a bet of ten scudi on a
game, which the dead
man won from
the painter
representatives
from Modena, Pellegrino Bertacchi,
row had
up over
much
later a
some fame
flared
later,
game of
tennis, for a
,'
also
wrong
74
any game or
bet,
Writing some time
the
thought that the
call,
wrote that the two young men had begun
other with their tennis rackets. But Fabio Masetti
One of
75
and
Bellori,
hitting each
made no mention of
and believed that Caravaggio had been provoked.

after the event, Baglione presented the event harshly,
with Ranuccio flatteringly presented as the distinguished victim of a
jn
Caravaggio A Life
And
cowardly and vicious Caravaggio:
finally
he confronted Ranuccio
Tomassoni, a very polite young man, over some disagreement about a
They argued and ended up
tennis match.
Caravaggio s
fatal blow, unlike
fighting.'
His description of
those given by the newspaper accounts,
strongly suggests a guilty intent: 'Ranuccio
to the
fell
ground
after
Michelangelo had wounded him in the thigh and then killed him.' 76 At
the time of the fight Baglione was caporione of .Castello,
Francesco Tomassoni was
caporione
of
Campo
when Giovan
may
Marzio, and he
have been friends with the Tomassoni family. Mancini,
well
who was more
favourably disposed to Caravaggio, gave a less damaging account, and

hints at
some kind of
game, but,
voked:
like
feud; he
makes no mention of any bet or tennis
Fabio Masetti, suggests that Caravaggio had been pro-
'Finally, as a result
of certain events he almost
lost his
life,
and
in
defending himself Caravaggio killed his foe with the help of his friend
Onorio Longhi and was forced
The
lives
to leave
Rome/ 77
of Ranuccio, Onorio Longhi and Caravaggio had long been
interwoven (in
1599
Longhi had been suspected of fighting with
Tomassoni, and had sworn not to attack him), and

the fight was the climax of
some long-running
chilling detail
one newspaper account suggests premeditation: It
in
Ranuccio was owed ten scudi by the

was delaying to pay him off and
den
injuries,
just in case
it
it is
that
from sud-
was needed.' 78 Caravaggio had been constantly pestering the
money throughout
more probable
who had
said
who, indignant with him,
in order to protect himself
the previous months, but none the less
murder Tomassoni and then
unlikely that he was planning to
far
painter,
is
[Caravaggio] had set aside six hundred scudi for himself
Este agent for
is
later events hint that
conflict.
flee. It
that he was simply looking for a fight; clearly Toppa,
moment
asked his friend Francesco to wait a
for him, expected
shortly to be free to wander round the streets and brothels.
He
did not
expect the 'service' to take long, or to be very serious. In the following
month, on
11
July,
Mario Tomassoni asked the court
brother, Giovan Francesco,
who had
fled
Rome,
for time to bring his
to testify
on
his
own
behalf 'on account of a peace or truce which was broken and a duel had
with Michelangelo da Caravaggio
Giovan Francesco,
tried
312
79
Later, in
and condemned
December of
that year,
for contumacia (not turning

'
up
Rome:
at the trial),
And
1603 1606
reappeared in Rome, and pleaded for grace from the Pope:
the speaker, having seen his brother thrown
down
and
criminally,
having seen that the truce had been broken, and since Caravaggio had hit
him on
the head and
wounded him, and would have
had
killed him,
Capt. Petronio not intervened, and then Capt. Petronio, defending

Caravaggio,
wounded him
on
...
his knees he begs, since his brother
dead, to be freed of prosecutions and
trials
His plea was
.'
and the magistrate decreed: 'Given what we have heard
command given
spoken with the pope, and the

he did observe his
in
from the
exile
accord with the petition
suggests that Caravaggio, like

attack Ranuccio,
and
it is
.'
8o
and papal
Longhi
successful,
and having
us by Farinacci, and since

state,
we grant the grace
The emphasis on
broken truce
had been ordered not
in 1599,
to
possible that the mysterious attack in October
when Caravaggio claimed
1605,
city
said,
is
to have fallen
on
his
own
sword, was
all
part of this conflict, and that Caravaggio had not then wanted to involve
the law, preferring to bide his time, waiting for vengeance.
Only nine days
after
Ranuccios death arrangements were made to
appoint a guardian, the respectable lawyer Cesare Pontono, for his

daughter, Plautilla. Lavinia, the child's mother, was unwilling to undertake this,
on account of her youth, and because she wished to
married again; Ranuccios mother, on account of her

unwilling. Lavinia was left very
little
money and
April 1607, her family were arranging a
Fabbio Romanino de Sanctis.
(who was undoubtedly
The
legitimate)
dowry
age,
was equally
within a few months, in
for her second marriage to
of Ranuccios daughter
rejection
and the haste of
Lavinia's
second
marriage suggest a bad relationship between husband and wife.

possible that,
somehow, Lavinia had been
insulted,
impugned, and the presence of her two brothers
may
suggest that
likely that in
somehow
their family
some way disputes
over
fighting between Longhi, Caravaggio
Melandroni
get
women
or her honour
at the side
honour was
It is
of Ranuccio
at stake. It
lay at the root
and Ranuccio, and perhaps
Caravaggio s model andTomassonis whore
was
seems
of the
Fillide
involved
as well.
At
first it
seemed
be too severe.
On
16
as
though the consequences of
this
brawl might not
June the Palafrenieri hastened to rid themselves of
J13
gg
their
Madonna, painted by
Lifi
a homicide. It was
bought by Cardinal
Scipione Borghese (not given to him, as Baglione thought) and the
None
Palafrenieri were pleased with their profit.
the less the Este agent
wrote hopefully, on 23 September: 'Caravaggio having committed the
homicide
returning,
told you about
and then
Pagliano with the intention of soon
get back the 32 scudi
I shall
summer of
hope, well into the
at
is
the following
year,,
8l
.
He
continued to
that Caravaggio
would
be forgiven, because the homicide was not premeditated, and Caravaggio
had been wounded. But
his
optimism
end of Caravaggios
at the
life
at
is
odds with other evidence, for
newspaper referred to
imposed on Caravaggio. This was
a death sentence,
a banda
and
it
capitale
has been
suggested that this explains the suggestion of constant fear that haunted
Caravaggios
final years;
82
it
possible that, whereas Longhi and the
is
Giugoli were exiled for a few years, Caravaggio, the main perpetrator,
suffered this
much
elevated status
harsher, and, given that this was a brawl, unusually
The
severe sentence.
harshness of the sentence may, too, reflect the
of the Tomassoni, who themselves got off
similar offences. It was a truly terrible sentence, for

in any place, could carry
so,
it
out.
But
it is
it
meant
not try to hide for long, nor did the Pope

in Malta.
serious
The
that anyone,
not entirely clear that
and there remain deep ambiguities over Caravaggios
hood
scot-free for
later try to
status.
this
was
He
did
block his knight-
Este agent clearly did not think that anything very
had happened, was
irritated for the next year that the
hunted
man
did not bother to answer his post, and seems to have been confident that
Caravaggio would simply reappear in Rome, when he would recover his

advance.
It
is
striking,
too,
that
involved (apart
all
from Giovan
Francesco, who, as a relative of the victim, enjoyed a different status)

tried to return to
Rome
at
more or
less
the same time, suggesting that
they had endured the mandatory time of exile

Caravaggio, Mancini
tells us,
on
his desperate flight
from Rome,
'first
reached Zagarolo, where he was secretly housed by the Prince. There he

painted a Magdalene and a Christ going to
by Costa
in
Rome';
Rome
to
sell.
to
83
in another version
Bellori supplies the
he says that the picture was sent
name of
Colonna. Baglione, however, puts him
3H
Emmaus, which was bought
the prince
Don Marzio
in Palestrina, 'where
he painted a
Ro
46.
1606
1603
Caravaggio, Mary Magdalene

(Private collection)
Mary
Magdalene', 84 and Fabio Masetti, as we have seen, in Paliano. All
these were small towns in the
Zagarolo, deep in
wooded
fortress-like Palazzo
refuge,
Don
and
it
Marzio,
is
hills,
and
Hills, in
entirely
Colonna
Caravaggio
territory:
high
dominated by the immense,
Colonna, must have seemed
likely that
Don
Alban
first
a true
and remote
stopped here.
The son of
Francesco Colonna, was a close friend of Del Monte.
$15
Caravaggio A Life
But
possible that he also lingered at Paliano and Palestrina, both
it is
ruled over by another branch of "the Colonna family, with
whom
Caravaggio had long been associated; Cardinal Ascanio Colonna was
Bishop of Palestrina, while a nephew of Costanza Colonna, Filippo, was

Prince of Paliano. 85 The two branches of the family were on good terms,
and the Colonna continued to watch over Caravaggio.
These were desperate months

the paintings which
Magdalene
at
a stark
is
Emmaus (Col.
Christ,
who
for Caravaggio, .sick
Mancini describes
image of
exile,
of anguish and
Plate 30) a tender portrayal
gently renews
hope
and banished, and
are intensely personal.

guilt,
The Mary
the Milan Supper
of confidence
in a redemptive
and brings
in the despairing disciples,
comfort to the poor. 86 Caravaggio had killed a man, and come close to
death himself, and the
His Magdalene
contrition.
of
first instinct
is
a Catholic
the sinner
who
was to make an act of
spent
many years
penitence; she conveys the sense of desolation and
in solitary
abandonment
that
is
part of the mystical experience, and the divine light creates a dazzling
darkness.
And
in the Supper at
ing sense of the
meek
Emmaus
in spirit for
there
whom
showy naturalism of the London
Supper
is
a truer humility, a touch-
Christ came;
at
it
has none of the
Emmaus painted
for Ciriaco
Mattei, and the brilliant colours have yielded to very thinly painted
browns and
greys, so that the figures
seem to emerge only
momentarily from the dark shadows. This

revelation
of the divine to the despairing
Christian meal of extreme simplicity.

the end of a weary day:
evening, and the day
Christ, with the
through
bread:
is
far spent'
power
this world.
And
is
Abide with
The
sight'
the slow
disciples, sharing
an early
an elegiac painting, suggesting
us, said the disciples, for
(Luke 24:
29).
Night
hope
falls,
in the
it is
24:
toward
but the risen
dark journey
disciples recognise Christ in the breaking
(Luke
and
Emmaus,
the true
to forgive sins, brings
their eyes were opened,
out of their
It is
tentatively
of the
and they knew him: and he vanished
31).
Caravaggio conveys the swiftness of their vision through light and

dark.
Where
the
London
Christ shines in miraculous light, this
frailer,
bearded Christ seems to merge into the shadows, almost to vanish before
our
eyes.
He
is
seen from a different viewpoint from the foreground
disciple, heightening
316
His
unreality.
sacramental gravity touches the
Rome:
peasant meal, with
its
1603 1606
broken bread, and single
glass
the unlikely carpet transforms the inns table into an
of wine, while
altar.
The
rack of
lamb, with overtones of the lamb of God, sets dead flesh against the
promise of the Resurrection.
The
with his jutting-out
disciple,
deepening of mood, and

forgiving Christ.
The
picture has
some
awkward
startlingly
drawn body and arm of the right-hand
passages, particularly the oddly

ear,
at this
but none the
moment
less it represents a
Caravaggio
emblem of
old woman, an
the need for a
felt
the
evokes, for the first time, the sadness that hangs over
sudden
meek
in spirit,
many of
his late
tragic works.
As Caravaggio braved the dangerous road
money he had got from
to Naples, perhaps with the
selling the Supper at
ence remained powerful in
Rome. In
Emmaus
autumn
the
to Costa, his pres-
the much-persecuted
Baglione was shamefully attacked by a young painter, Carlo Bodello,
who, protected by an armoured breastplate, had tried to
Mass
at
him
after
the foot of the steps by the Trinita dei Monti; Baglione
had refused to allow Carlo, who was
minor, and not yet a
of the Accademia, to vote for a new Principal.

that Saraceni
someone from
their
my enemies,'
my enemy
are
Now
member
Baglione believed
and Borgianni were encouraging Bodello to oppose him,
hoping to replace him
is
kill
as Principal
own
party
of the Accademia
who would support
San Luca with
di
their interests;
'They
complained Baglione, 'and partisans of Caravaggio, who
and once they had
me, they would have taken the
killed
news to Caravaggio, who would have rewarded them

unlikely that Caravaggio was employing hit
the cause of naturalistic painting in
men
Rome, but
Rome
in
it
s?
.
is
It
seems
to support
possible that his
supporters were trying to remove those hostile to his return.
sum he had
Laerzio Cherubini, anxious to recoup the large

the Death of
picture
the Virgin,
took advantage of Caravaggio's celebrity to put the
on the market
anxious to buy
200 scudi.
88
it,
paid for
in
February of the following
and wrote to
But Rubens, back
year.
his brother saying that
in
Rome
Chiesa Nuova, hastened to recommend
he had offered
to paint the high altar
it
Duke's agent, Giovanni Magno, wrote to
Mancini was
to the
tell
the
picture appealed to connoisseurs of painting: \
of the
Duke of Mantua. The

Duke how
.
3*7
greatly this
for the painter
is
Caravaggio A Life
the
most famous modern
artist in
be the best that he has done

secularised, acclaimed
.'
by the
Rome, and
this picture
is
believed to
Rejected by churchmen, the picture was
art world, and,
Magno
wrote modestly,
he was impressed by the testimony of others, while not understanding

'certain artificialities
acquired,
Magno
which place
this picture in
such high esteem'. Once
exhibited the picture for a week, for, despite
almost nobody had seen
it,
although
having been rejected by the church. 89
318
it
its
fame,
was in 'no way discredited for
CHAPTER TWELVE
Naples
At the end
/
territory in the
JL
of September
Alban
By October, almost
Hills.
under Colonna protection, he was
modern and
was
1606, Caravaggio
vigorously cosmopolitan
city,
III,
Sicilies,
Colonna
certainly
still
Naples was
Rome;
it
very different from
Two
was the capital of the Kingdom of the
domains of the Spanish King Philip
in Naples.
in
part of the vast
and ruled over by
a series
of
Spanish viceroys. Tumultuous and grand, with an exploding population

three times the size
of
Rome
(by 1606
it
numbered around
300,000),
its
port had links throughout the western Mediterranean, where trade and
commerce flourished
in seas
made
safer
by the victory
at
Lepanto.
The
beauty of the bay, celebrated since antiquity, was proverbial, and from
the shores there rose, as in a vast theatre, tiers of buildings, churches,
palaces, monasteries, encircled
to the very visible

ful fortresses,
its
Sant'Elmo,
hewn out of
inated the
hill
Everything was subject
very centre ensured
galleys,
The
the rock in the shape of a six-pointed
visible
from every
It
quarter.
of power-
and Spanish
security.
its
overlooking the ancient centre.
Spanish power, and was
new
city walls.
A strong military presence
harbour teeming with Spanish
infantry garrisoned in
the
by the
power of Spain.
Castel
star,
dom-
was an emblem of
By the
shore, close to
residence of the Viceroy, stood the vast Castel
Nuovo. In 1606
Conde
di Benevente, a
the Viceroy was Juan Alonso Pimentel Herrera,
sophisticated art collector, but arrogantly unconcerned for the people.
Businessmen and merchants prospered

ensuring the
city's
greatness,
and
mats, traders and merchants from

streets
in this flourishing trading centre,
foreigners, soldiers, courtiers, diploall
over Europe gathered there.
Whole
were occupied by French, Spaniards, Tuscans; Genoese and
Florentine traders were prominent.
wealth of palazzi and ecclesiastical buildings
the marvels of Europe.

in the ramparts,
It
retained
its
immensely long,
made
the city one of
ancient Greek grid plan, and, with-
straight avenues,
319
most famous and
Lif.
hem
,:
-
îm
SaJSatnif tutor*
'JLuct\x
G/aJu sues i-a
Stt
9.
<.
C.
<-
Grv&ze^v&a
to:
M Wryz&o.
a T>i^z Js& Me
.
W^Wm^
*&J?r rival*.
-
Gran* JPkH&it,
If.
îM^^^''-
j.a.JL~mr 0X**t
G.S.-U IU<
,'.>.
f&*mttA*M&*
it*
S.Sei-erirto.
.3tanaJtier*o
'tfcuria
'o.
*W'car,
ZT-jP.-"-C^t Cuf'lUBlJL
lanz/Zert'xz*
tfi
Jir^jA
BurfU>
U.
'-.
r.
<M*r* dtl
>
..
^-Litei** At>&*c
A,yfU.
(r&ou-zsa'it
._<.
a-
8&T*e*ry60.
:s'U-i
fashionable
its
among them
centre. It
board of
the
new Via Toledo,
thrust dramatically across
was forbidden to build outside the
streets
was the
site
of a
frenetic building
had been forced by the Viceroys to move to the

fiefs,
walls,
and they vied with one another
and the chequer-
boom. The
city
from
in the ostentation
feudal lords
their ancestral
of
their
new
palaces.
Grandiose and massively rusticated portals, crowned by heraldic
shields,
and imposing
facades, with heavily barred
windows, proclaimed
the mighty status of the ancient families, while the saturation of the city
centre was intensified by the palaces
ranking functionaries of the Spanish
who had
settled there.
The
nously high, often four to
320
of the new
state,
and the great Spanish
families
and buildings rose
vertigi-
area was small,

six storeys.
nobility, the high-
As Giulio Cesare Capaccio,
for
N
J-2J'
Hauf>t-StaJt
rffc
4.-j
Asj mjuA P. Ccrro.

ftfZ/ljBervAt J-f-6*
Tt-altarttJcAt JKsi//s
l r/n&Lr?l\j &**~,
/ 2, ~ JProi'tnt. tsn
1+4-- Sfsrtet
iryA,
>
en
JF/cr*.
StAlo/jer. una
w&i
ILrtz Bis/Stitmr/
uvlcAe tArf tr^TTLuntrrfilcAJF /Sin

Ifi:-Hertz ojM&ZhtcA;
/7-J .Jtt*rgprafi7z
Gra/Zsi
o\;-
& C/m/i
4-t$-I'rfyIc*rrrn cdri-
DtcScadr tvr/2s/i
Lot ilM&jjis&UuAtM
fjJtLrr JCirc/un a&r
JPoroccfu*
9.Tnnun$jR{rcAFu
<">';<
U Jfm*j\Troruj.'ttj/t
IZjFnueJÛrrA? Z
BJCoSj lAjuruj&nsrfJnmLX:*u. C&jtv

^CirmeJreaner
'J&trcAtn, "itHeyjtart
e nirnacie cfrMmcn
tori JOjDarU A&rfert
tS/nueler
tffrnBtar-ca.
XxttrxtJert axdrmaltfi
47.
View of Naples
(print)
many
years secretary
buildings
the world',
are
of the
city's
immensely high,
administration,
in a
commented, 'The
way unknown
in
creating a dark urban grandeur that was
any other Italian
city.
Adding
to the hectic pressure
were the religious orders, the Oratorians,
Jesuits,
city's
any other part of

indeed unlike
on space and land
Theatines, Dominicans
and Benedictines, some of them immensely wealthy, and an astonishing
number of
as the
churches, populous monasteries, and private oratories, as well
grandiose cathedral, rose within
its
walls.
J21
Caravaggio A Life
The
palaces and the religious buildings took
up so much space
that
the rest of the population were packed into crowded dwelling quarters,
and
a vital, noisy
and violent
life
took place
the cosmopolitan crowds, the noise, struck
in the streets.
all
The
density,
observers. Capaccio wrote:
see in every street, every alley, at every corner, so
many people who
jostle
me and
on me and
tread
have difficulty in getting away from them.
go into
churches, of which there are so many, and
find
them
of people; yet they
full
not to mention
all
those
who
are all there outside,

are at work, at
home
or in the offices and other buildings; one sees the

streets,
not
just
one or
ten,
but
all
of them,
people on foot, on horseback, in carriages.
The
nobility, richly dressed in the
Spanish fashion, led
idleness, indulging a passion for luxury
lives
and display and
full
of
of extreme
a love
of
fine
horses and carriages, duelling and music. But this wealth and idle luxury were brutally juxtaposed with extreme and degrading poverty.
Around
the enchanted seclusion of the stately rows of houses and palaces, with
their scented gardens
and
loggias, filled
with light and
air
sound of fountains, there pressed the dark mass of the people,

soldiers, the landless.
These continuously flooded
in
and the
bandits,
from the provinces,
where, impoverished, and often starving, they sank to the bottom of

society, to
palaces
form
a barefoot underclass, called the lazzaroni.
and monasteries, whose heavy, excluding
feverish activity
of the
streets,
walls
Around
the
dominated the
they lived out of doors, in dank grottoes,
courtyards and foul-smelling porticoes. Ever in search of
new
space, they
created a warren of poor dwellings, and a labyrinth of impenetrable

alleys
around the
large marketplace,
where executions took
place,
and the
top of the Via Toledo where the Spanish infantry was quartered, and
where vendettas and
killings
were
common. The mob were
feared,
and
Capaccio, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, wrote of them:
322
Naples
Nowhere
world
in the
and undisciplined, the

confusion of so
there anything so obtrusive
is
of the mixture and
result
many
races
and mercenary folk of
miserable, beggarly
kind such
as to
undermine
the wisest constitution of the best of republics, the
dregs of humanity,
all
the tumult
who
have been at the bottom of
and uprisings
and cannot
in the city
be restrained otherwise than by the gallows.
In Naples, anarchy, which in
Rome
was
just contained, threatened,
tumult and uprisings were feared with good cause.
had been
The
and 1590s
1580s
period of great unrest; a revolt of 1585 had been put
with extreme and theatrical brutality, and
myth; the Dominican
Tommaso
its
and
down
horrors lived on in popular
Campanella, whose popular insurrec-
had been betrayed by the people themselves, languished
tion of 1599
in
the darkness of prison, in the terrible Fossa di Sant'Elmo.
In courtly poetry, however, Naples remained an earthly Paradise, a
land of richness and
where Bacchus and Ceres seemed
fertility,
cast their radiance. In his Portrait or Model of

of
most noble
the
oned
in
city
4
of Naples, the
the Greatness,
still
to
and Marvels
poet Giovanni Battista del Tufo, impris-
Milan, looked back with nostalgia to
and markets piled high with
Delights
fruits
and
fish, its
its
pleasures, to
welcoming
its
quays
inns, its splen-
did palaces and orderly hospitals. But in reality the years 1603 1606 witnessed the worst famine for forty years. The
the people,
first
Conde de Benevente drained
by rationing bread, then by
a tax
on
fruit,
prison Campanella harshly bewailed famine, as the greatest

realm.
Amid
sprang up to
these afflictions hospices, hospitals

assist the
devotion, a passion for
new
to the suffering poor,
of the
of the
confraternities
poor and there was an intense wave of popular

relics,
pilgrimages and miraculous images.
churches were built to the
hope
and
and from
evil
Madonna, who alone seemed
and the
cults
Many
to hold out
of the Madonna of the Rosary,
Madonna of Mercy, of the Madonna of Purgatory,
all
flourished.
In this turbulent city Caravaggio's path was almost certainly smoothed
by the powerful patronage of the Colonna,

links with
both Spain and Naples.
When
he
who had
always had close
finally left
3^3
Naples
in July
Caravaggio A Life
he
1610,
from the residence
left
Marchesa
and
di Caravaggio,
it is
Chiaia of Costanza Colonna, the
at
Colonna had
a powerful
had connections
Colonna, on whose Latin
clear that the
Caravaggio had taken refuge, were
estates
watching over him.
still
Don
Neapolitan presence.
The
Maurizio Colonna
furthermore the fourth Prince of Stigliano, Luigi
there;
Carafa Colonna, was a nephew of Constanzas, and his immense and

grandiose Palazzo Colonna, which
where Caravaggios Martyrdom
bears the
still
of St Ursula
now
Colonna arms (and
hangs), marks the begin-
ning of the Via Toledo. Here Caravaggio was perhaps sheltered on his
arrival in
Naples. Luigi Carafa
Gonzaga, while
family affairs to his able wife, Isabella
and scholarly man, enjoyed the pleasures of
and philosophy, holding
literature
villa,
he, a gentle
left
academy
a literary
the Palazzo Cellamare, only a short walk,
from
Chiaia,
town
his
palace.
Here Tasso had
himself an admirer of Marino,

son. 5 It
may
knew of
who
down
stayed,
suburban
the lovely Via
and the prince was
addressed an epithalamium to his
have been through Marino, as well as the Marchesa, that he
Caravaggio,
who had
always acted as a magnet to literary men,
and perhaps Caravaggio brought with him,

Magdalene that he
artists
in his
had painted
were to copy in Naples.
in the
as a gift to the
Colonna, the
Alban Hills and which so many
Shielded by such powerful support, Caravaggio was feted by the
Neapolitan art world. Naples was an

painters
and
ished in the
sculptors,
city,
and
profiting
artistic capital
dealers in paintings
from
its
and
and very many
antiquities, flour-
links with other Italian cities
and
with northern Europe. Artists from Rome, amongst them the Cavaliere
d'Arpino and his brother Bernardino, had already been attracted
and
in the
busy workshop of Belisario Corenzio there flourished an
gant and pleasing decorative fresco

chants brought
Dutch and Flemish
extremely popular, and
style.
The
pictures to Naples,
many Flemish
Naples from 1604, and were
which became
painters settled there.
around the
active dealers.
Roman Trinita
in a parish called the Carita.
Piazza Carita, and around
324
it
dei
An
ele-
ships of Flemish mer-
them were Louis Fins on and Abraham Vinck, who shared
that
there,
artistic
Among
a studio in
colony similar to
Monti and Via Margutta
flourished
At the top of the Via Toledo

spread a web of narrow
vicoli,
lay the
or
alleys,
Naples
where prostitutes and soldiers gathered and where there were many
taverns.
The most
celebrated of these, at the top of the Via Sanfelice,
was the Osteria del Cerriglio. In
this parish lived the Sicilian
Loise
Rodriguez, from Messina, and Wensel Cobergher and Loise Croys, both
Flemish
Near
artists.
the Santo Spirito the sculptor Pietro Bernini, the
of Gian Lorenzo, had
father
Santafede, then the
most celebrated of the Neapolitan
also a passionate collector
d'Errico.
Near
and close by
his studio,
and student of
lived Fabrizio
painters,
the colony of Flemish artists were the
who was
and Teodoro
antiquities,
two houses of
Sebastiano Sellitto, painter and gilder, and his son, Carlo Sellitto, one
close to the Palazzo Gravina, near the road that led to the
monastery of
In 1607 Sellitto opened his
own
workshop, and was soon successful, gaining a reputation not only
as a
Donnalbina, the other in the same
area.
and
religious artist, but also for genre, portrait
still
life.
The young
Filippo Napoletano, later to win the protection of Cardinal Del Monte,
was part of
this
The most
Caracciolo,
workshop.
distinguished of the Neapolitan
was on the threshold o
his
Giovanni Battista
artists,
Unusually for
career.
Neapolitan painter he was passionately interested in drawing, studying
both the
model and ancient
life
from books and
that he could
sculptures,
ten children, was to live for almost
Amongst
awaited.
Roman
He
this
group of
He,
prints.
all
artists
was already famous
and absorbing everything
too, with his large family
his life in the parish
of the
of
Carita.
Caravaggios presence was eagerly
in Naples,
and some had seen
his
works. 'Caravaggio came to Naples,' wrote the eighteenth-
century
biographer Bernardo de Dominici, 'where he was received
artists'
with great acclaim by both painters and lovers of painting, and he paint-
ed
many works
whom
there.'
It
may be
that Caravaggio was
artists
he knew; Caracciolos art suggests that he had already studied
Caravaggios great public works in Rome, and he

Caravaggio himself.
Naples,
probably stopped
became
Caracciolo or
his
may
have already met
Louis Finson, too, on the road from Bruges to

at
Rome, and looked
Caravaggio which were causing so great a

later
welcomed by
close
Sellitto,
friends.
It
stir.
at
the
works of
Certainly he and Vinck
was perhaps from the studio of
in the parish
of the
Carita, that Caravaggio
325
Caravaggio A Life
launched himself in Naples, and both painters were to
powerful
under
his
spell.
Wealthy Neapolitans,
a
fall
work by so
too, appreciated the
glamour and prestige that
celebrated an artist could bestow
upon them. The
Neapolitan nobility were uncultivated, possessing none of the sophisticated
skills
of Vincenzo Giustiniani or Ciriaco Mattei, but with the
Neapolitan love of ostentation went a passion for the
so great/ wrote
it
Alps.
and
from Rome. In that time the renown of Caravaggio had grown
novelties
that
latest fashions
De
Dominici, 'and to such heights had his fame
not only echoed throughout
So
dilettanti
Rome, or
competed
risen,
but had also spread over the
Italy,
for his works,
and there was no
elsewhere, of fine paintings which did not wish the
gallery in
adornment
of a work by Caravaggio; to such a degree had he conquered the souls
of connoisseurs, and of
with few
practitioners, with his
lights, finishing in
new manner of
shadow, so that the contours are lost
Bellori confirms this enthusiastic reception: Afterwards he
darks
.
went to
Naples, where he immediately found employment, since his style and

reputation were already
known
there/
10
In a sense Caravaggio lived
between two worlds; he was a bandit, condemned to death and
in exile;
but he was also a Spanish subject, and protected by some of the most
powerful noble families in
revelatory
difficult
power of
his art
Italy.
His
arrival
was triumphant, and to the
was added the fascination of
and extravagant temperament. His
art
his notoriously
responded immediately
to the brutal city of Naples with a new, harsh darkness.

appear, southern Italians, with browned,
throats,
New
models
weather-beaten skins, goitrous
and inward-turned expressions of
fatalistic suffering.
There
is
sense of the Neapolitan crowd, urgent and feverish, and evocative of the
turbulence of Caravaggio s
own
At once he was launched

missions, receiving a
been
in
life.
into a series of increasingly lucrative
payment of 200 ducats on 6 October, when he had
Naples for scarcely a month, for a
Madonna, with
com-
large altarpiece
showing the
the child in her arms, surrounded by angels. Beneath, in
the centre, were to be St

right St Nicholas,
Dominic and St
and to the
opened an account
326
at
left
Francis embracing, with to the
St Vito.
On
the
same day Caravaggio
the Banco di Sant'Eligio and deposited his
N
payment
bank
there.
On
October he cashed
25
Banco
for 150 ducats at the
di Santa
in a
Maria
money
order from this
del Popolo, presumably
of the painting." The patron was the wealthy
to cover the expenses
Ragusan grain merchant Niccolo Radolovich, and

which no trace remains, was to be delivered
in
his
altarpiece,
of
December; Radolovich
aspired to rise into the nobility, and his patronage of so famous a painter
would have added considerable glory to the family name.

However, while Caravaggio was
ioned altarpiece, he
Madonna
as the
won
altar
The Monte
still
working on
more
this slightly old fash-
prestigious commission, for a
or The Seven Acts of Mercy (Col. Plate
della Misericordia
high
a yet
of the new church of the Pio Monte
della Misericordia
32),
intended
della Misericordia.
was a charitable institution which had
been founded in August 1601 by seven young noblemen,
who met
every
Friday at the Hospital for Incurables (the pox-ridden) and ministered to

the sick, providing them, at their
own
expense, with food and sweet-
meats. To the Catholic, faith without works was dead, and the Incurables
was the most famous charitable organisation
in Naples,
where the rich
sought sanctification through the salvation of others, and where true

charity lay in mortifying the senses,
and stimulating compassion, by
mingling, as Christ had done, with dirt and disease. Del Tufo wrote in
of the gentleness and consideration with which charity was
praise
who
administered, by those
'serve those
of
poor people, miserable and

and perilous and
afflicted,
buried in great torments,
illnesses,
without feeling reluctance, and without giving any sign of dis-
taste'.
12
The
known
rules,
and
ulcers,
as the
all
Pio
the seven acts of mercy,
Monte
della Misericordia.
in 1605 they received
an apostolic
and to
letter
erect a church,
committee drew up
of recognition from
the Pope, Paul V, which accorded various privileges to the high
new
fatal
project flourished, and in 1602 they decided to establish an
institution to practise
later
full
altar.
The
church, built close to the Cathedral, was ready by 16 September 1606,
and, probably
altarpiece
m October or November, the governors commissioned the
from Caravaggio.
On
9 January the following year, the altar-
piece having been completed with astonishing speed, Caravaggio received
370 ducats, to complete a payment of 400 ducats.
made through Tiberio
del Pezzo,
and the Banco
The payment was
di Santa
3^7
Maria
del
Caravaggio A Life
Popolo, in the Largo San Gaetano.'
It
was
sum than
a considerably larger
that for the Radolovich altarpiece.
The Monte
della Misericordia
was characteristic of the very many
Counter-Reformation Naples:
charitable institutions that flourished in
redeem Christian
there were others to
and to bury the dead.
slaves
Its
founders were, however, distinguished both by their noble birth, and by
between twenty and
their youth, for all were
who
passion was dominant: Cesare Sersale,
Monte, having
In some, religious
thirty.
played a central role in the
lived chastely with his wife, turned his
back on the world
Andrea Astorgio, the Baron of
and, in 1608, entered the Theatine Order.
Rocchetta, an important figure in the cultural
life
of Naples, was
also
deeply involved with the Theatines, and corresponded with Sant' Andrea
Avellino.
key
But Giovanno Battista Manso, the Marchese
figure,
sionately interested in literature,
the fine arts.
He
and with some true understanding of
was a friend and patron of Tasso and Marino, and
abreast of the latest developments in the

ters.
In
di Villa, another
was a sophisticated gentleman amateur, skilled in arms, pas-
1611,
Roman
world of
literary
Tiberio del Pezzo, through
academy,
whom the
Accademia
the
degli
member of Manso s Academy, and he
The
let-
statutes
Oziosi.
payment to Caravaggio was made,
was not one of the original founders, but became a deputy
deputies,
and
with Luigi Carafa Colonna, he was to found the most
famous Neapolitan
later a
art
too had
and
in 1606,
Roman
contacts.
of the Monte prescribed that there should be seven
one responsible for management and patrimony, and
six for
separate charitable duties, listed as tending the sick, burying the dead,
freeing those in prison, redeeming slaves, providing for the shamefaced
poor (with food, drink, and clothes) and welcoming the pilgrim. These
young men, ambitious,

an
artist
who would
possibilities offered
ardent,
some highly
were looking for
bring lustre to their cause, and they seized
by Caravaggio's unexpected presence.
been supported by those most closely

del Pezzo, or perhaps by
tion for Caravaggio
cultivated,
s art.
in
touch with
Manso, aware of Marino'
Or
Rome
s
upon
He may
by Tiberio
immense admira-
perhaps the Carafa Colonna connection was
again of value, and an Ascanio Carafa was one of the committee
drew up the institutions
328
the
have
rules.
who
N
In his altarpiece Caravaggio united the theme of
Our Lady of Mercy,
with the Seven Acts of Mercy. His picture, however, does not show the
by the deputies (no prisoners
carried out
acts
nor does
redeemed),
Caravaggio
suggest
it
slaves
young noblemen themselves;
the
rough Neapolitan
sets the scene in a
nor
are freed,
excluding the
street,
world of the wealthy, and returning directly to the Gospel of St Matthew.
Here Matthew describes

Judgement,
may
shall 'inherit the
world: For
me
gave
me:
was
of mercy through which man,
At
kingdom prepared
you from the foundation of the
for
sick,
25:
was a stranger, and ye
and ye
me meat: I was thirsty, and ye

took me in: Naked, and ye clothed
346).
visited
me:
first sight, as
was
in prison,
Matthew does not
and ye came unto me'
include burying the dead, but this
in themedieval period.
the worshipper enters, Caravaggio's altarpiece seems
draw into the space of the church
all
the crowded confusion of the
world outside, in the dark and narrow Via dei Tribunali,

centre
Last
be saved. Christ in his glory proclaims that the blessed
had become part of the tradition
to
at the
was an hungred, and ye gave
drink:
(Matthew
six acts
of Naples and
frenetic whirl
of
in the
shadow of the
cathedral.
its
He
shows the
and the brutal contrasts between extreme
activity,
poverty and luxury, of a Neapolitan crossroads, with
deep shadows,
at the very
woman
noise (both the
buildings,
its tall
giving suck,
and the torch-
bearing deacon, in crimson hat, seem to utter harsh and despairing cries)
and overcrowding; there

legs,
of movement and
is
a confusing tangle
gesture. In the
of gesticulating hands and
foreground crippled and naked
beggars huddle together in the dark doorway of an inn, at the feet of the
exotic
young bravo, with feathered
hat, elegant gloves,
colourful velvet cloak and sleeves. Behind

er,
solid,
with pudgy hands, and a
suggesting a
model
that Caravaggio
whose innkeepers were legendary.
whom is
fleshy,
them stands
a bulky innkeep-
double-chinned
had found
He
and dazzlingly
face, strongly
in the taverns
of Naples,
welcomes two pilgrims, one of
only glimpsed, his ear and baton just
visible.
To
the right a pall-
bearer awkwardly struggles to carry a dead body, and an old man,
through the bars of an iron
This
startling
moment
is
grille,
at first
so harshly suffering yet strong
is
sucks at the breast of a young
woman.
absorbed into the naturalistic context,

the woman's face, that of a Neapolitan
329
aravaggio
working woman, while her
skirt,
hung out
chin, evokes the sheets
Lif.
tucked
like a
bib under the old man's
to dry across Neapolitan alleys,
moving
gently in the breeze.
This
the dark side of Naples, where naked beggars huddled in
is
doorways, whose prisons were feared and where the dead lay unburied in
Woven
the streets.
Acts.
The
of Neapolitan
into this evocation
Seven
are the
life
innkeeper welcomes the stranger; the. bravo cuts his cloak in
two, thus clothing the naked, and ministering to the sick. Behind him,
workman
the rough, bearded

street,
slakes his thirst in the heat
while on the right the dead are buried, and the
No
oners and feeds the hungry.

angels hand, with
heavily
upon
the
Caravaggio
one looks up
human world
gives
of
the
filial piety,
(5: 4).
An
woman
as
milk.
Roman
Maximus,
in his
charity,
Of
14
Caravaggio renders the
image of Christian
charity,
more
Corinthians,
earthly
lit,
is
saints,
and most
an example
and described by the
the Piety
life as
In our
Roman
of a Daughter toward her Father
it
abideth
Roman
is
faith,
as
an intensely
in
St
Pauls
human
woman
entire paint-
Letter
to
the
hope, charity, these three; but the
where the soul
13: 13).
The
old
man becomes
is
(nascentes
confined by the chains of the

morimur)
is
a cry that
echoed
seventeenth-century poetry, and Campanella
had written passionately of the
The
soul's desire to soar
above
'the
dark
bars of the prison establish the
mood, and
of the corpse follow
swiftly, the
travellers the feet
candle flickering, suggesting a
330
legend
becomes an emblem of the
our death'
much
prison of this world'.
by suckling him with her
reborn, and the scene suggests the metaphor of
is
a prison,
birth
behind the central
alive
charity* (1 Corinthians
is
desolately through
him
celebrated passage
And now
of these
again an infant, and
body.
brightly
which was more often shown by
infants;
suggesting that
greatest
of the
lives
old man, Cimon, in prison awaiting execution, was offered no
suckling two or
ing,
Most
meaning
universal
giving suck to an old man. This
food, but his daughter, Pero, kept
own
and the
beneath.
contemporary scene
this
known
author, Valerius
visits pris-
joy,
overtones of the Last Judgement, seems to weigh
its
to biblical heroes, and to the classical world.

is
woman
hope or
in
through a web of allusions to popular legends of the
prominent,
and dust of the
human
life
that
is
brutish and short.
Napl
In the centre, the young
bravo,
so boldly slashing his velvet cloak, has
Roman
overtones of St Martin, a
soldier
with a shivering beggar. His sad head
is
who
shared his military cloak
sharply juxtaposed with that of
more worn,
the pilgrim beside him, a haunting, strange figure, older, and
shaded by the wide pilgrim's
his eyes heavily
emblematic
sense that
figure, a
man
is
and
to
pilgrim, too,
is
an
Tor our
through darkness
of the world beyond; Gaspare de Loarte,

defined the pilgrimage as an exercise in
Pilgrims (1575),
charity,
The
a stranger in this world, journeying
to the greater glories

Advice
hat.
poignant evocation of the quest for salvation, of the
hope
faith,
of the
a perpetual pilgrimage
life itself is
in his
spirit'.
Christ himself was often described as a pilgrim, and he was too the
of the Acts of Mercy. In
recipient
Caravaggio's
of
image
through almsgiving the
shadowy pilgrim
theme that
patristic literature the
God
re-created
is
recurs,
and
surely Christ himself, suggesting the
is
divine in the everyday world that will slowly, as in Matthew's parable,
become known
to us.
To
St Martin the presence of Christ in the poor
was revealed in a dream,
for,
on the night
dreamed that Christ appeared to him, clad
after his act
in the piece
had given to the beggar; he heard Christ say to the

still
catechumen, gave
me
this to cover me.'
giving water gushes
down
labourer, for this
is
Samson, who,
with this jawbone
as a
called
there
on God.
'But
.'
(Judges
15:
19)
to give
ass,
after slaying a
life-
to the
life
thousand Philistines
terrible thirst in the desert,
Samson was
his thirst likened to the sufferings
his spirit
of Christ on the
to eternal
cross,
jaw,
came
a prefiguration
moment he triumphs over death, and rises, as

life. The picture's extraordinary blend of
climactic
of cloak that he
hollow place that was in the
clave an
he
angels, 'Martin, while
came water thereout; and when he had drunk,
and he revived
charity,
Behind the pilgrim,
the jawbone of an
weapon, suffered a
God
15
of
and
and
again,
of Christ,
and
at this
Christ was to do,

the real and the
mythical recalls the lavish decoration of the Neapolitan streets on

the eve of the festival of St John,
when they were
richly
adorned with
written verses, sculptures, and paintings, of both classical and sacred

subjects,
Samson.
of Hercules, Orpheus, Judith and Holofernes, and the deeds of

16
In the upper half of Caravaggio's painting, the
Madonna and Child
Caravaggio A Life
look
down
tenderly
on the scene below. The
the celestial group casts a
against the bars; but in the street
of the presence of the

Madonna
divine.
below there
The
and
is
for
wing thrusts
no amazed recognition
painting was originally

the
known
as the
suggests a
title
Madonna, who protected mankind beneath her ample
cloak; she also suggests,
as
Madonna
who drew
cult
and human meet,
wall,
(Our Lady of Mercy), and
delta Misericordia
type of medieval
divine
shadow on the prison
del Purgatorio,
was strong in Naples.
down
she looks
souls
the darkness, the
-into
from Purgatory, and whose
seems that Caravaggio added the
It
of the patrons. She
at a late stage, at the request
is
Madonna
central to their con-
ception of charity, for the Catholic hoped for salvation through faith
and good works, and through the Church and the intercession of the
Madonna and
saints.
In Caravaggios painting the hope of salvation
remains distant, and he suggests

itself, in
of
his
fear, flight,
the sudden threat of death
scenes so furiously rendered that they evoke the recent dramas
own
life,
and perhaps
his
own need
for salvation.
At the same time
the picture's hectic clamour perfectly conveys contemporary spirituality,

for the sense that
good works were
was deeply part of Oratorian

tion, to
of the
spirituality, as
come down low and touch
street.
This was Caravaggios
and he undoubtedly intended

stage. It
is
a declaration
of
his
urgent, that salvation was pressing,
it
the very centre of the suffering

first
him upon
naturalistic style,
the Neapolitan
and young painters
were to be converted to his cause, as they had been in Rome.

that he was given
advice by
of the deputies.
literary
Cimon and
episode of
ekphrasis,
a description
Cimon, her
a
some
of
It
Pero.
was perhaps
Manso who
passage in Valerius
very old, and
Our
eyes are halted, stilled
in a painting; they are seized
and
gives
new
figures, they
life
by wonder
suggested the
at the sight
with admiration at
see bodies
which act and
perhaps inspired to pit himself against
332
be
and the most
Maximus
breast, as
this image,
to an antique scene; in these
seem to
may
is
whom destiny had thrown
dungeon, nourished him by giving him her
infant.
a poet,
It
an
a painting; Pero, he writes, 'filled with love, for
who was
father,
Manso, himself
The
life
major Neapolitan commission,
to launch
new
was the need for mortifica-
into
though to an
of
this action
which renews
mute and unfeeling
breathe.'' 7
this evocation
Caravaggio was
of the naturalism
Nap
of ancient painting, and the drops of milk caught
a tour deforce, like Zeuxis' grapes,
It
seems
likely
that,
the
at
of
Cimon's beard
in
are
naturalistic art.
same time
The Seven Acts of Mercy,
as
Caravaggio was working on another large altarpiece, The Madonna of

Rosary (Col. Plate 33).
Naples
it,
whom
nor for
as
it
1607, but
in Naples;
an altarpiece. There
are,
Colonna commission, perhaps

in Naples.
The
instructing St
at his
Dominic
is
it
market
in
entirely certain that
a large painting,
was
it
and was intend-
however, strong arguments in favour of a
Dominican church
for an altarpiece for a
a rosary altarpiece,
(his forehead
and
it
shows the Madonna
emblazoned with
a white star, for,
baptism, his godmother saw a star descend on his brow) to dis-
Rosary to the
tribute the
cloak,
painting
it is
is
art
known who commissioned
not
it is
was painted, nor
moment
painted at this
ed
This ambitious work was on the
autumn of
in the
the
and
faithful.
The
invites the spectator to worship.
bead represented a mystery
form of meditative
sheltered by the saints
The
Rosary, of which each
of the Virgin or of Christ, was a
in the life
prayer, a
is
patron
way of deepening
through pondering
faith
the vivid reality of the Gospel. Attacked by Luther, devotion to the
Rosary had begun to

century,
and
it
revive in Italy in the
exploded
as the
second half of the sixteenth
century drew to a close.
It
gained
new
through being associated with the Christian defeat of the Turks

Battle
of Lepanto
in 1571,
to the
Juan hung
Naples.
Madonna of
his
Amid
at the
with the belief that the Virgin herself had
caused favourable winds; Filippo Neri held that
meek
life
the Rosary that
it
was the prayers of the
had brought
triumphant armour before
victory,
and
Don
of the Virgin in
a statue
the fervour of these years, the Feast of the Rosary was
established in 1573,
and there was
a spate
of books and writings dedicat-
ed to the Rosary, two of the most influential, by Gaspare de Loarte and

Luis de Granada, appearing in
Rome
in that year.
began to incorporate the heroes of Lepanto, and

was a Colonna, a member of the family of
Marcantonio Colonna, who appears

the
column
(colonna) that
Marzio Colonna, who,

the
Alban
Hills,
in
it
Rosary altarpieces
seems
the great hero
likely that
it
of Lepanto,
Caravaggios altarpiece, before
was his heraldic device. 18
One
candidate
is
Don
Bellori believed, had protected Caravaggio in
and whose mother, Donna Orinzia, had established
533
Caravaggio A Life
confraternity of the Rosary at Zagorolo in 1575.
Caravaggio
Antonio was
Naples.
to
Marcantonio, and had himself fought
Chapel of the Most Holy Rosary

too was to be buried.
The
Or
who
Colonna, father of Luigi Carafa ^Colonna,
perhaps welcomed
descendant of the great
Lepanto, and was buried in the
at
San Domenico, Naples, where Luigi
in
shows
portrait
man
older than Luigi, but,
with his slightly old-fashioned Spanish dress, this
may be
commemo-
of Antonio. The picture may have been commissioned for
rative portrait
this chapel in
may be Antonio
it
San Domenico, or possibly
for another
Dominican church
in Naples.
Del Tufo celebrated the
Dominican
painting,
valour.
role
of the glorious Colonna
The
and they confront the viewer
of
wound on
a ghastly
a parallel
with
Black Friars are an overwhelming presence in the
On
the right
friar,
with his
like a military unit.
stands St Peter Martyr, a thirteenth-century

attribute
in the unceasing
and Caravaggios picture suggests
fight against heresy,
Dominican
his head. Killed
by a
heretic,
he points
to the Virgin, inviting the spectator to defend her cult against heresy. The
cult
was particularly associated with the Dominicans, and Capaccio
describes the celebrations in
honour of the Virgin of the Rosary
at the
church of San Domenico, which brought 'the odour of sanctity, consolation,
and refuge to
young and
es
the world'.
women and
old,
of Mary and of
most
all
Jesus,
girls,
Throughout the
artisans
and from the
lowly, fell ardent tears
of devotion.
he continues,
and gentlemen, sang the
eyes
19
city,
of great nobles, and of the
At the church of Santa Maria
an impoverished part of Naples, where misery was long
della Sanita, in
and deeply rooted,
more popular
cult flourished,
image of the Virgin worked miracles.

wrote eloquently, 'The Rosary
afflicted, strength to the
is
20
and here
The Dominican
medicine to the
ill,
a venerated
Luis de Granada
happiness to the
weak, remedy to sinners, pleasure to the
help to the living, prayer to the dead, and a universal comfort to

church. She
heart of
earth
is
is
God
prais-
the royal door, through which

.
she
is
we
enter,
just,
all
the
and go to the
the ladder, such as Jacob saw, through
whom the
joined to the sky, and which angels ascend and descend, taking
our prayers to
God
Z1
.
Caravaggios work seems entirely orthodox, with the Virgin
334
as
media-
Naples
tor,
uniting high and low. For Rosary confraternities were hierarchical
organisations, intended to bind together rich

al activity
of
reciting the rosary,
whose
and poor
cult offered
in the devotion-
hope
to the poor.
Caravaggio included the aristocratic patron, and suggests a brotherhood
which transcends
social barriers.
Neapolitan church, and in 1607

ble that
it
it
But the picture was not installed in a

was put on the
perhaps, although entirely orthodox,
many Rosary
it
many contemporary
in
less,
group of Neapolitan
of
lazzaroni, their
and
at the
harmony
that
same time
is
so pro-
dusty feet thrust towards the specta-
gestures
not devotionally idealised,
are
civic
where heaven and earth meet, there kneels a
whose fevered and urgent
poor
possi-
is
was painted, and
renderings. It includes an aristocratic
patron, but none the
tor,
it
lacked the celebratory quality of
altarpieces connected with Lepanto,
failed to create the reassuring sense
nounced
art market. It
had been rejected by the church for which
as
had
a disturbing quality.
These
they are in the works of contem-
porary Neapolitan painters, and they perhaps seemed threatening in a

brutal
and despairing
And
for
this quality
may
mob
where the
was
feared.
have struck the congregation of San Domenico,
which the picture was perhaps intended, with particular
San Domenico was an
Later,
when
more popular form of
the aristocratic
was
such an
fitting
women who
prayed
reciting the
at
may
piece, for there
this
elite.
Rosary was introduced,
women of the
people,
The new popular
Dominican church of Santa Maria
seems unlikely that
its
22
and
also have disliked a picture that gave too
great an urgency to the world of the poor.
centre at the
For
San Domenico complained that
only for the lower classes, for
congregation
elite
force.
aristocratic church, in the city's ancient centre,
with royal tombs, and frequented by a cultivated
sacristy lined
this
city
cult
had
della Sanita,
and
church was the intended destination of the
seems no reason why they would have rejected
its
it
altar-
it.
The
church was later to commission a vast altarpiece of the Circumcision from

Caravaggio.
It is
the picture
on the market
some of
The
but The
possible that
as
Don
Maurizio,
soon
as
if
he was the patron, put
Caravaggio
left
Naples to solve
his dire financial problems.
events surrounding The Madonna of

Seven Acts of Mercy
the
Rosary remain mysterious,
was a success, treasured by the confraternity,
335
Caravaggio A Life
and with
it
Caravaggio's fame in Naples grew, and patrons of increasing-
ly elevated stature,
connected with the vice-regal court
seek the lustre of a
work from
commission for
a painting
his hand.
of The
circles,
began to
Almost immediately he won the

(Col. Plate 34), for
the chapel constructed within the courtyard of the monastery of San
Domenico, which had been donated to the de Franchis family by

Ferdinando Gonzaga, Prince of Molfetta,
who had
Colonna Carafa.
Bellori in his
done
Naples, and
at
mentioned
It is
it is
Franchis or di Franco.
Bellori
The
first
who
by
gives the
of paintings
list
name of
the patrons, de
de Franchis were an important family, from
the upper bourgeoisie, and a street in the
Domenico, where
familial links with the
their family palazzo was,
the area around San
city, in
was named
them. Their
after
high standing had been established by Vincenzo de Franchis, who, before

his death in 1601,
had been Vice-Chancellor of the kingdom. Lorenzo,
one of Vincenzo s three sons, became an

the Pio
Monte
official at the
Confraternity of
della Misericordia in 1607, and, a witness to the success
of
Caravaggio s altarpiece there, he perhaps recommended Caravaggio to his

brother,
Tommaso
de Franchis. Tommaso, court chancellor until 1642,
was the most important family member of

1607 he
made
a series
this generation
On
of payments to Caravaggio.
11
and
May
in
May of
Caravaggio
was paid 100 ducats, to complete a payment of 250 ducats, for a painting
which he had not yet
delivered,
of Christ, already nearing
and which was presumably The
completion.
received a further payment,
25
Flagellation
Later in the month, on 28 May, he
of 40 ducats, probably
also for The
Flagellation,
but just possibly for another painting.

The Flagellation of Christ was a prestigious
commission, and for
it
Caravaggio created a dark and tragic work. Christ's scourging, ordered by

Pontius Pilate, governor of Judaea, before he delivered
fied, is starkly
this
one o the prisoners, the crowd
man, but Barabbas."
therefore took Jesus,
Now Barabbas
High Renaissance
by Sebastiano del Piombo,
inspired
many
later versions,
336
was
and scourged him' (John
scenes most celebrated

Christ
to be cruci-
described in the four Gospels; John describes how, after
Pilate has offered to release
'"Not
him
in
in
a robber.
18:
40 and
rendering, The
San Pietro
in
cries out,
Then
19:
Pilate
1).
The
Flagellation
of
Montono, Rome,
which the emphasis
is
on
idealised
N
figures, in
twisting
complex and
difficult poses,
caught in dramatic action, and
and turning through complex
of space. Caravaggio
layers
rethought Sebastianos composition, and his massive

suggest an abstract idea of violence, but with
pulling Christ's hair, jerking
him
workmen no
awkward movements one
into place against the column, the other
steadying a foot against his legs while tightening the bonds
on
longer
their job. Against their harsh brutality
he
sets a
concentrate
powerful Christ,
painted with the heroic monumentality of classical sculpture, which
emphasises the moving vulnerability of the intensely naturalistic
This naturalism, and the complex and tender beauty of
yet
Christ's
on the mystery of the incarnation, of
expression, encouraged meditation
God made man, and
flesh.
condemned by man. Christ was brought lower
than Barabbas, the robber, and in Caravaggio's picture Sebastianos
ele-
gant Renaissance building, suggestive of Pilate's judgement
has
yielded to a
is
murky Neapolitan dungeon, where
tortured as a
common
made himself of no
and was made
vant,
as a
reputation,
of men:
And
a ser-
being found in fashion
man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the
emphasised
this humility,
Christ, 'the true Samson',
is
written: 'But [Christ]
and took upon him the form of
in the likeness
death of the cross' (Philippians
ther
had
criminal. St Paul
hall,
Christ, pitifully isolated,
2:
78).
Contemporary devotional
tracts
and Luis de Granada,
stressing the strength
24
wrote,
yet
bound by man,
Tor what
of
fur-
is
from the majesty of God, than the baseness of these beatings? This
the
punishment of
slaves
and robbers
,'
25
In the early stages of this
painting Caravaggio included, to the right of Christ, the portrait of a
kneeling man, gazing upward with passionate devotion. Almost certainly
Tommaso
de Franchis, he was perhaps intended to be shown
templating the Flagellation, and participating in
may
its
sorrows.
The
as
con-
picture
suggest the concerns of the flagellant communities which were
prevalent in Naples. Carlo
Borromeo had
meaning to the practice of
flagellation, stressing that
the scourge the worshipper
may
earlier tried to restore a
deep
through the use of
partake of the sufferings of Christ and
atone for the sins of the world. Flagellation was practised in darkness,
with a single
light,
which shone on an image of the crucified Christ.
De
Franchis probably, asked Caravaggio to change the composition, but,
337
gg
although the spectator
quality
is
Lif.
removed from within the
picture,
it
retains a
of passionate and intense meditation on the body of Christ.
shaft of light
from the
left
floods across Christ's body, revealing
a startling, visionary brightness.
The
picture has an ascetic,
Borromean
and increased Caravaggios fame, although de Dominici
quality,
with
it
later
complained that the body of Christ was ignoble.
With
this
of great
series
The
Neapolitan art world.

church of the
tre
Lombard
altarpieces Caravaggio transformed the
response to his art was immediate, and the
nation,
Sam' Anna
of Caravaggesque painting, for which,
dei Lombardi,
became
a cen-
Caravaggio was himself
later,
to paint three great works. Here, in 1608, Carlo Sellitto began a cycle of
paintings already influenced by Caravaggio s use of light and dark, and

Battistello Caracciolo
was commissioned to paint frescoes (destroyed)
for another chapel in the
even though they

a revelation,
may
and he
same church. To these
have
known some of
his
artists
Roman
Caravaggios
of Neapolitan painting.
altered the course
art,
works, was truly
De
Dominici suggests the excitement with which Caravaggios works were

greeted:
In
every
ing, the truth
way the new manner of
of those nudes, the resounding
tions, stunned,
Flagellation.
a series
16
lights
without many
reflec-
not only the dilettantes, but most of the practitioners'.
Caracciolo, he continues,
ate convert,
that terrible style of shadow-
of copies of
his studies,
many of Caravaggios
copying
Flemish
abandoned
artists, too,
his
and became
a passion-
works, amongst them The
were enthralled, and Louis Finson began
work which helped
to spread his
fame through-
out Europe; he shared a studio with Abraham Vinck, and they were particularly close to Caravaggio.
'has all the style
him',
scholar Peiresc later wrote that Finson
of Michel Angelo da Caravaggio and has learned from
and Giacomo
Vinck 'was
The
di Castro, a disciple
a very close friend
of Caracciolo, wrote
of Caravaggio'.
later that
27
Caravaggio was enjoying immense success in Naples, but suddenly,

its
at
very height, he left for Malta, arriving there early in July 1607. This
was an extraordinary and puzzling move; Malta,
a small fortress island,
offered none of the opportunities or pleasures of Naples, and
of Caravaggios
stature
year Caravaggios fame
338
had ventured
in
artist
months of
this
Rome. In April
the
there. In the early
had continued to grow
no
Napl
Death of
had been exhibited to the Accademia
the Virgin
most famous Roman
the
homage. In
May
and when he comes back

as 2
shall
see
and to pay
it
that homicide was not premeditat-
not
fail
talk
is
of
his forgiveness,
to get the money', and, as late
June he was complaining that Caravaggio had not answered any of
his letters asking for a
exiled
doubt
if I
repayment of
his advance,
concluding
for in
hood
redeeming him from
as a first step to
and on
the
of
15
Rosary
was
left in
will
he
not
Rome, and maybe he was
encouraged to go to Malta by his noble protectors,
Madonna
'while
shall succeed, but as soon as he returns
him off V 8 Caravaggio was longed
the
it
expecting Caravaggio's
still
and he too was seriously wounded, there
ed,
is
had flocked to
on 27 May, 'because
return, writing,
let
painters
and June the Este agent was
San Luca, and
di
exile
who saw
a knight-
and banditry. His
Naples, probably with Finson and Vinck,
September 1607 the Mantuan agent Ottavio Gentili wrote to
Duke Vincenzo
Gonzaga, who had bought the Death
of the Virgin,
'I
have also seen some good things by Michelangelo da Caravaggio that he

has painted here and which are for
ture
by name.)
little
later in the
Pourbus, the court painter

at the collection
ther works
sale.'
(He does not mention
month, on
25 September, Frans
Mantua, who was then
at
the pic-
in
Naples to look
of the Prince of Conca, wrote to the Duke that two
by Caravaggio were
available in Naples:
fur-
1 have seen two
exceptionally beautiful paintings by Michelangelo da Caravaggio; one
of a Rosary and was made
want for
it
not
less
as
an altarpiece:
it is
than 400 ducats; the other
is
18
is
palmi high and they
a gallery painting, with
half-length figures of Judith and Holofernes.' 29 Pourbus s letter undoubtedly refers to The Madonna of
the
Rosary
and these
that the picture was painted in Naples.
Finson and Vinck
finally
took
it
No
letters strongly suggest
buyer was forthcoming, and
back to Antwerp, where
it
was
later pre-
sented by a group of art lovers, amongst them Rubens and Jan Breughel,
to the
Dominican church of St
Paul.
339
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Caravaggio
At
May
the end of
but by 26
JL
Malta
1607 Caravaggio was working in Naples,
he was established on the small Mediterranean
July,
of Malta, enjoying the hospitality of the Knights of the
island
Order of St John. The

'in
in
George Sandys describes Malta
traveller
as lying
the Lybian sea, right betweene the Tripolis of Barbarie and the South-
east angle
one,
of
an hundred fourscore and ten miles from the
Sicilia: distant
and threescore from the
other'.
was famous
It
as the
home of
an
ancient Christianity, the island of Melita, whose barbarous people had
shown no
kindness to the shipwrecked Apostle Paul (Acts 28: 12);
little
now, through the lustrous presence of the Knights,
who had moved
from Rhodes
of Christian Europe,
in 1530,
shone
it
as the glorious shield
enshrining the values of Christian chivalry.

Turks, for from Malta
it
was but a step to
It
there
was a bulwark against the
Sicily,
and thence to
Italy
and
southern Europe. The Knights, members of the most illustrious families
of
aristocratic
who took
Europe, were warriors
the monastic vows of
poverty, chastity
and obedience, and dedicated themselves to the defence
of the Catholic
faith against the infidel
and weak. Francesco Sansovino,

knighthood,
in his
and to the protection of the
popular handbook on orders of
Delle Origine de Cavalieri, wrote: 'Every brother
religion, for the Catholic faith, observes justice,
and comforts them
Defends widows, and
The
and the
fights for
defends the oppressed,
Applies himself to moral and theological
wards.'
virtue.
late sixteenth century,
religious militancy
ill
when
Ottoman Empire
the
of Spain was
period in the Knights' history. In
1565, in
at its height,
threatened,
was a glorious
the Great Siege of Malta, they
had, against terrible odds, and suffering appalling losses, fought off a
massive Turkish onslaught
made by
the
most powerful Turkish
sovereign,
Suleiman the Magnificent. The Siege was marked by individual

heroism and macabre
acts
decapitated knights on
340
of
cruelty.
wooden
The
feats
of
Turks floated the bodies of
crucifixes in the
Grand Harbour, and
Malta
gg
Matteo Perez
48.
d'Aleccio,
The Investment of Fort St Michael

(Valletta,
Jean de
La Valette
Parisot, the
Grand Masters
Palace)
Grand Master, who became an almost
leg-
endary hero, responded by firing Turkish heads from the guns of Fort St
Angelo. In the massacre at Fort St
largest
number from
Italy)
and
Elmo
120 knights were killed (the
their deaths were hailed as
Their heroic endurance made the Siege celebrated

fare,
and Sansovino wrote, 'worthy of being inscribed
eternal glory
of God, and of St John, and
martyrdoms.
in the annals
also
of war-
in the annals to the
of these
illustrious
knights'.
With
these heroic feats the
lost since the exile
Order regained some of the
from Rhodes, and
its
lustre
it
had
glory was increased by the dis-
tinguished role the Maltese galleys played at the Battle of Lepanto in

1571,
although
its
losses were heavy,
and the
general, Pietro Giustiniani,
died in battle.
In the succeeding years the Knights were at the peak of their fame,
acknowledged
as the
exemplars of Christian chivalry throughout Europe.
The dream of becoming
Knight of Malta obsessed many young
341
Caravaggio A Life
noblemen, most vigorously around the turn of the century, when an
and
unusual number
dream
that Caravaggio
the majority Italian
may
took the
habit.
many years. His
have cherished for
It
was a
birth
had
taken place amid the dangers and triumphs of Lepanto, in the shadow
of the family of the great hero of Lepanto, Marcantonio Colonna, and

his very
name, Michelangelo, had a victorious
air.
The
of Christian
ideals
knighthood, of a glorious war against the powers of darkness, were a

powerful
call;
and Caravaggio, so obsessed with
many
slighted, aspired, as
European
quick to
status, so
feel
painters did, to inclusion within the flower of
aristocracy. Bellori believed that Caravaggio
went to Malta to
receive the Cross; Caravaggio, he wrote, 'was eager to receive the Cross
Malta, which
and
He
virtue.
is
usually given per grazia to
honoured men
decided to go to that island
.';
of
for their merit
while Sandrart
felt
he
was driven there by envy of the superior status of the Cavaliere d'Arpino.
new
After the Great Siege the Knights built the
named
of the
for the hero
Siege,
of
capital
Valletta,
which was almost complete when
Caravaggio arrived there. Valletta was an unassailable fortified stronghold,
on the rocky promontory of Mount
island a year or
two
all
at the
Southend.
if
others:
than Caravaggio, described
not
great,
mounted
aloft,
absolutely finished
above
later
The
walls
but
and no where
of the
rest
beautiful, built like an ideal city
plan,
and
entirely
of
do ioyne
sea/
streets
'now almost
The
and strong
to the upright rocke, as

It
was also elegant and
Small gardens
streets.
on the
by land, but
assailable
on an
ancient
and fountains
side streets descended
steep steps to the sea, while horses and mule-drawn
wider
as
the Italian Renaissance
symmetrical.
enriched the neat chequerboard of
it
exactly contrived,
faire,
of one peece, and beaten upon by the
grid
Sciberras; Sandys,
chairs
running lengthways. Within the ramparts was a
churches and palaces, which rose from the shore,
tier
by
by
crowded the
tier,
city
of
creating a
play of light and shade against the soft and glowing stone buildings.
The young
the
knights lived in the Auberges belonging to each nation, for
most part two-storey
buildings, with flat roofs,
on which they passed
the summer evenings, and long, severe facades, where the trophies and
escutcheons carved on their heavily rusticated porticoes proclaimed their

national warrior pride.
342
The Auberges and
palaces were not separated
Caravaggio
49.
(from G. Bosio,
di
Francesco dell'Antella,
DeU'Istoria della Sacra religione
San Gio.Gierosol.no
from the population,

ly air, in the
as they
di
far
had been
narrow and crowded
temptations
that
beset
the
in
Valletta
ma
Rome,
Militia
1630)
Rhodes, but
streets
hundred noble warriors
from monastic and Sandys
et III
lacomo Bosio,
luxury goods, from the East and from

the five or six
Malta
in
of
Italy,
rose,
Valletta,
competed
settled there.
with a world-
where traders
for the
in
custom of
The atmosphere was
gives a lively description
of the many
sword-bearing youth of Europe:. 'The
Malteses', he writes:
... are
litle lesse
tawnie than the Moores, especially
those of the country,
who go
halfe clad,
and
are
indeed a miserable people: but the Citizens are

altogether Frenchified: the Great Maister, and maior
part of Knights being French men.
343
The women
Caravaggio A Life
weare long blacke
their faces (for
otherwise),
stoles,
it is
who
wherewith they couer
a great reproch to be seene
converse not with men, and are
guarded according to the manner of

jealous are better secured,
curtizans (for the
But the
Italy.
by the number of allowed
most part Grecians) who
sit
playing in their doores on instruments; and with

the art of their eyes inueagle these continent by vow,
but contrary inpractise,

violated by
And
violence was endemic, for as the Knights grew
danger lessened,
increased
were onely
as if chastitie
6
manage
more numerous, and
haughty arrogance and worldly aspirations
their
(Gibbon was to
say,
'The knights neglected to
but were
live,
prepared to die in the service of Christ'), and the years around the turn
of the century were marred by brawling and by incidents such

in 1581 against the
Grand Master
and disorderly women.
At
of loose
the centre of this small, cosmopolitan, but confined and heavily male
was the opulent court of the Grand Master, Alof de Wignacourt.
city
Wignacourt, a French noble from Picardy, had arrived

ately after the
tells
us that he arrived
of
on
1565.
The Orders
2 June 1566,
company of many other of
'a
against the Infidel,
blood
that year,
in defence
tering military career.
of the Holy
He
historian,
strike again,
Faith.
and zealous
spirits left their
Bosio,
in
He
to fight
homes' to shed
took the habit
in
August of
Hospitaller of France, and embarked
was made Captain of the City of
played a dominant role in the ceremonial entry to that
Grand
Giacomo
the leading aristocrats of that nation who,
had 'with most generous
becoming Grand
election as
Malta immedi-
most noble young Frenchman,
inspired by rumours that the Turks might
their
in
Great Siege, inflamed by a dream of glory created by the
already legendary events
the
as a revolt
for attempting to clear Valletta
on
a glit-
Valletta,
city;
and,
and
on
his
Master in 1601, flags bearing his arms adorned the
Palazzo Magistrale, and he pledged himself to 'bring back the Order to
former splendour and
greatness'.
On
Caravaggio s
stocky, balding man, with a rough warriors
344
face,
arrival
and
its
Wignacourt, a
a large
and pro-
nounced wart to the
right
Caravaggio
in
of
sixty, at
was
his nose,
Sandys wrote of him: 'This
man
the Knights) yet
number of
is
For
young gentlemen.'
gallant
Roman
about the age of
albeit a Frier (as the rest
he an absolute Soueraigne, and
rank of Prince of the Holy
the height of his fame;
a Pickard borne,
is
and hath governed eight yeares
sixtie,
Malta
10
is
In 1607 Wignacourt received the
Empire, to which the
style
scenes of the legendary events of the Siege of Malta, by

d'Aleccio, an artist
es
block-
large,
Matteo Perez
the grisly details of slaughter and martyr-
these were propaganda works which kept the glory
Here Wignacourt held
of the Order ever
a splendid court, a display
and power, and surrounded himself with pages, over the
number from
ing their
of Serene
reached Malta after fleeing some obscure
Rome. Packed with
great wealth in
11
who had
11
before the eye.
around courtyard gardens, and frescoed with crowded
like building, built
dom,
by
bravely attended
Highness was attached. The Palace of the Grand Master was a
troubles in
of
On
eight to sixteen.
ransom money, and
he
his death
of
rich-
years increas-
200
left
slaves,
sumptuously furnished palace
achieved while at the same time spending lavishly on the houses and
furnishings of the Knights.
The
flower of European aristocracy was so zealous to enter the Order
that the
Grand Master was courted by
the
driven to lament the excessive pressure put
most noble
families,
on him by Cardinals and
princes for the granting of special favours.
12
Among
his vast
who may
well have played
great
network of
men
already
some
role in
correspondents, which stretched throughout Europe, were

closely linked to Caravaggio,
and was
supporting his quest for a knighthood and in encouraging his welcome
by those
closest
to Wignacourt.
The
Giustiniani
name
recurs,
for
Marc'Aurelio Giustiniani, a cousin of Cardinal Benedetto, and brother
of Orazio Giustiniani, a Knight of Malta, was on the island

wishing to offer the Order property at Venosa, in the
Naples, for the founding of a
command by
the Italian division.
Cardinal had himself written to Wignacourt to ensure a
and
And
in
in
August Wignacourt
replied, assuring
in July 1607,
Kingdom of
him
that
all
warm
The
reception,
had gone
well.' 3
an extraordinary way the name of the powerful Colonna family
appears yet again, and Caravaggio
s life
became enmeshed with
Fabrizio Sforza Colonna.' 4
345
that of
Caravaggio A Life
One of
the six sons of Costanza Colonna, Marchesa di Caravaggio,
Fabrizio had led a dramatic
of fortune, enjoying
sals
of unexplained crimes and extreme
life
a strange status
between prisoner and
and watched over and protected by the most powerful men

life
that has
of the law
many
in 1602
He
with that of Caravaggio.
parallels
but the Pope,
who
rever-
celebrity,
had
of the Order. The
on the papal
ing his
trial,
fate
galleys at Civitavecchia in 1602, to
Malta he was imprisoned,
Roman
fallen foul
of Venice with
exile,
his arrival
celebre;
be put in prison await-
newspaper'
in 1603
5
,
and once
exiled at
he was allowed to share the
Cardinal Ascanio
uncle,
his
a cause
jus-
with some freedom, for four years. Yet
albeit
despite imprisonment and
Priory
of Fabrizio became
was reported in the
did not want to try one of so exalt-
ed a lineage in Rome, had sent him to Malta, entrusting him to the

tice
in Italy
Colonna, the
Marchesa's brother. In 1605 Wignacourt wrote to Costanza Colonna,

assuring her that that he was doing
all
whose cause had
and most prestigious names
rallied the greatest
he could to help her son, around

in Italy.
In 1606 the Inquisition decided to release him, as his crimes remained
unproven, and his imprisonment had been long. While welcoming this
decision, the
Pope demanded
island, putting
remarked,
the
himself
'in this
Hospitaller
of
at the service
more
years
on the
religion. Passing, as dal
Pozzo
that he should stay three
way from prison to commandV 6 he became General of

galleys
until
Wignacourt hastened to write
1608,
to the
post
Marchesa
of great importance.
on
di Caravaggio,
30 June
1606, to express his great pleasure at Colonna's release, assuring her
deeply he esteemed her sons
many
qualities,
how
and how passionately he
desired to serve the Marchesa herself; he wrote in a similar vein to
Cardinals Montalto and Arrigone and to Francesco Borghese, stressing
how
al
hard he had toiled in Colonna's cause.
of the
galleys,
Colonna went
winter at Marseille, where a

left
with
five galleys,
galley slaves,
and again
at
galley slaves,
Malta on
new
first
On his
first
to Barcelona then spent the entire
galley
was being
fitted out,
and, according to dal Pozzo,
donated by the most Christian King'.
12 July 1607,
346
his
and
finally
good number of
'a
He
paused
Naples, where he embarked with 'another
donated by
voyage as gener-
at
Genoa,
good number of
most Catholic Majesty' and returned
disembarking on the following
day.'
to
Caravaggio
Almost
commanded by
18
Immediately on
Greek
and on the same day he began to
July,
on the
also arrived
galleys.
Giacomo Marcheses house
was talking to the knight
business the above-mentioned Fra
Giacomo turned
leys a painter
to us
who
A few
Battista
and said to
[sic].
At
Mont'alto about his

talking to the
same Fra
that time the
There has come here on the
us:
(described
name
19
few days
matter, except that 'in the house
Greek painter who came
later,
Roman) himself appeared
as
Inquisitor, Leonetto Corbario, saying that he
He
misunderstanding.
July,
before
the
knew nothing about
of Fra Giacomo
fifteen days
ago on the
di
Marchese
galleys'.
is
at
him.
Yes that
said to
want to do
one here in
He
would
Malta
him
as
he was fond of saying jokes
that if he
give her to
staying
like a
man who
this I said jokingly.
slaves
who he
without mentioning
known, feted
was,
and
in the
a conspicuous feature
slaves
all this
left
most
of the
life
in fun.'
trial
was
the island. Caravaggio was

elevated society, attended
(Sandys estimated that there were 1500 on the
who formed
we
my
He replied:
denied any knowledge of a bigamous painter, and the
clearly already well
times
keeps a wife in Sicily and another
dropped, for the painter was said to have
by
at
as a
who had
wanted to marry one of
him
the
At the end of
had, he says, been jesting with a Sicilian,
been invited to his house 'and
in the house, I
gal-
on 26
September Fra Giacomo Marchese brushed aside the whole episode
laughed
and
'.
keeps two wives, one in Mussumeli, and one here in
Malta: he did not mention his
Caravaggio
Gio
fra
Giacomo Marchese was
painter Michel Angelo Caravaccio
Sicilian Knight, Fra
the Greek painter was accused of bigamy before a
described the gathering at Fra

I
house of a
painter, at the
of Malta,
was entertained,
of the Inquisition; Paolo Cassar, a witness against him,
tribunal
while
He
of the Inquisition.
Giacomo Marchese, both of whom had

on 22
14 July, Caravaggio
to experience the aristocratic pleasures
yet also to witness the vigilance
company of
on
his arrival,
at the highest level,
mix with the Knights,
later,
of the Order,
Fabrizio Sforza Colonna, his path smoothed by the old
was made welcome
days
Malta
certainly Caravaggio arrived with these galleys
feudal connection.
in the
in
island),
of the Christian Knights,
carrying out menial tasks, or awaiting lavish ransom.

It
seems that almost
at
once Caravaggio moved in the innermost court
347
Caravaggio A Life
and the
circles,
early biographies strongly
imply that his
works were portraits of Wignacourt. Baglione

went to Malta, 'where he was invited to pay
Master and to make

to the
his portrait',
20
Grand Master Wignacourt,
and
tells
first
Maltese
us that Caravaggio
his respects to the
was introduced
Bellori that 'he
He
a French gentleman.
Grand
painted
him
standing dressed in armour, and seated without armour, in the habit of
Grand Master;
works, the
the
first is in
Portrait of
the
21
these
Alof de Wignacourt, survives (Plate 50); perhaps at the
same time Caravaggio painted,

er,
Armory of Malta/ Only one of
for
Wignacourt s
close friend
and advis-
Ippolito Malaspina, the St Jerome in the Cathedral at Valletta (which
bears the Malaspina arms), and, probably early in 1608, the

Antonio Martelli.
thy,
With
Portrait of Ira
these works Caravaggio, with extraordinary
They
conveys the military and spiritual ideals of the Knights.
deeply melancholy pictures, created for ageing men, whose

dedicated to Christian knighthood.
They seem
empaare
had been
lives
to look back to past
grandeur, to that 'former splendour and greatness' which Wignacourt
had pledged himself to
restore,
and
create the sense
echoes of the splendour of Renaissance
of
a heroic age
by
art.
Ippolito Malaspina and Antonio Martelli were celebrated in the

corridors of power in Malta; they belonged to the inner circle of
Wignacourt's advisers and
and both were heroes of the Siege
officials,
and of Lepanto. Malaspina, famed
for his valour,
had
trious military career, stretching back to the 1550s.
Genoese Admiral, Gio Andrea Doria,
in
a long
and
illus-
cousin of the
1570 he had been elected
Captain of the galley SantAnna and had fought with honour
at
Lepanto,
arranging for the washing of the decks with vinegar and with perfumes
when
the Knights had been stricken with fever. In 1598 he
of the
Italian
Wignacourt
in
became head
Langue, and played a key role in the election of

1601.
The two men
were
close,
and Malaspina, who
became Prior of Hungary, and Bailiff/Prior of Naples, continued

rise.
ily
In 1603 he was
made commander of
the papal
fleet,
and, temporar-
setting aside the posts he held for the Order, he spent the next
years at the papal court in
where
it is
known of
possible he
his fame.
22
348
Rome,
knew
He
to
living in a palace in the Piazza
two
Navona,
Caravaggio, and certain that he would have
was, moreover, related by marriage to one of
Caravaggio
Malta
in
Roman patrons, Ottavio Costa, who had a portrait of him

Roman collection (in November 1606, Wignacourt had called one
Caravaggio s
in his
Alessandro Costa to Malta as a page), and by blood to Caravaggios
Genoese patrons, the Doria,
of which he was intensely
a relationship
proud. In 1606 Malaspina was in north
Italy, living at his
ancestral estate
Fosdinova in Lunigiana; but the Grand Master was growing increasingly

anxious for his return to Malta, and on 21
November
new
Fabrizio Sforza Colonna, then in Marseille where a

built,
him
exhorting
opportunity, 'for
we
1606 he wrote to
are greatly desirous
of
was being
galley
to bring Malaspina to Malta at the
possible
first
At the beginning of
this'.
February 1607, Wignacourt was growing increasingly impatient for
Malaspinas
great
again writing to Fabrizio Sforza, and expressing his
arrival,
hope of once more seeing
his friend in Malta. It
Malaspina travelled with Caravaggio on one of the
galleys
by Fabrizio Sforza Colonna, Malaspina embarking

was not
far
Wignacourt s
from Fosdinova, and Caravaggio

letters suggest that
journey. Malaspina,
possible that
is
at
Genoa, which
Naples. Certainly
at
he intended Colonna to
who perhaps knew
commanded
facilitate his
Rome, may
the artist in
well have
facilitated his visit to Malta.
When
Malaspina went to Rome, he
left
the Priory of
Hungary
to a
distinguished Florentine Knight, Fra Antonio Martelli. Martelli, too,
had had
a
a long
prominent
praised
him
di Castello,
and
role
brilliant military career.
the Siege of 1565,
for his valour, rewarding
Tor he
is
Born
when
him with
one of the people who
in 1534, he
had played
Grand Master had
the
commandery of
the
in this siege has
Citta
conducted
himself with the greatest distinction'. 23 Having recovered from a severe
wound
at
Messina, Martelli then returned to Tuscany, where, himself a
member of
vice
a celebrated Florentine family, he spent
of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando
years
of the new century he was again
in Malta,
the Orders governing council, as Prior of
Messina
With
many years
de'
in the ser-
Medici. In the early
holding high office in
Hungary
in 1603,
and Prior of
in 1606.
the portrait of the
tary splendour
Grand Master, Caravaggio evoked
the mili-
and power of the Order of St John. The Grand Master,
holding the baton of
office,
is
accompanied by one of
349
his pages,
perhaps
Caravaggio A L
50.
Caravaggio,
(Paris,
35o
Portrait of
Louvre)
Alof de Wignacourt
Mai
Nicholas de Paris Boissy,
The
who became Grand
Prior of France in 1657. 24
of Renaissance
portrait type itself suggests the heroic portraits
warriors by Titian and Veronese, and the magnificent armour, probably
made
for Wignacourt, carried a symbolic weight. Sansovino, in his hand-
book
to knighthood, described
all
the
how
armour plating which covered
the
body represented the Church, which had
And
walled around, by the defence of the knight.
to be enclosed,
as the
helmet
is
and
on the
highest part of the body, so this defence has to be carried out by the
most sublime
souls
live well,
is
soul
'so the
defend and keep the people'.
The
must be
raised up,
and on high, to
spurs are to encourage the people to
while the hilt of the sword symbolises the world, for the knight
dedicated to the defence of the just and honest throughout the
world. 25 Within this
armour Wignacourt's pose
his features only slightly idealised (the
wart
is
forthright, threatening,
is
concealed), and his manly
gaze fixed on the far distance, conveying the vision of the military
mander.
The
com-
crusading and chivalric ethos contrasts sharply with the
atmosphere of pentitence and humility that

but both were part of the Hospitaller
to military service, also served the
fills
Malaspina s
ideal, for the knight,
poor and the
sick,
and
St Jerome,
committed
in
Malta the
knights ministered in the large hospital built next to the harbours edge
in Valletta.
Malaspina's
to him,
is
St Jerome Writing
(Col. Plate 36), his Cardinal's hat restored
a courtly penitent,
brooding on death, with sunburned flesh
and heavily veined hands. Perhaps Ippolito Malaspina,
from playing
Roman
a powerful role in the
world of
just
returned
affairs,
wished a
devotional image that should suggest retreat and contemplation and a
renewed dedication to the
spiritual ideals
led a glittering military career (and
scarred and rugged warrior's face
it
of the knights; he had not only
is
tempting to believe that the
may be
a portrait),
but had been
commissioner for the poor, orphans, and widows, from the

until
October
1609.
26
late 1590s
In contrast the portrait of Fra Antonio Martelli
(Col. Plate 35) movingly conveys the intense sadness of a dying ethos
and the
frailty
brooding
plicity, in
eyes,
of the
is
flesh: Martelli, ageing,
deeply melancholic.
the habit of a miles
He
conventualis,
is
with sagging neck and
shown with extreme sim-
adorned only with the great
J?
Caravaggio A Life
eight-pointed
which shines with
star,
brilliance against the darkness
of
through the twin might of the sword and the rosary he
his dress, while
defends the world. This unadorned work suggests the humility that
inspired the Hospitallers, and instilled in the
the weak. Formally

the pose creates
its
it
most noble
a desire to serve
looks back to Titian, and the austere grandeur of
symbolic and dramatic power. These three works
together convey the spiritual ideals of the Knights, of Christian warfare,

penitence,
and humility, and share
Wignacourt, Bellori
a deeply elegiac quality.
was so well pleased with
tells us,
that he rewarded Caravaggio with the Cross

easily
ly
won. In
this
complex and
period rules for entry into the Order were particular-
and
stringent,
elevated rank, the Italians
for entry as a
Knight of
demanded two hundred
Justice, the
years
who had performed
four lines; Knights of Grace,
all
his portraits
of Malta, which was not
most
of nobility
in
outstanding service
to the Order, could be admitted without such proofs, but only four
at a time.
Each knight had, moreover, to pay
sum of money)
and,
on nomination
And, writes Sansovino, 'whosoever
'Caravans', or military expeditions.
has
consummated
crimes'
By
27
marriage,
was forbidden
a passaggio (a substantial
to the Order, to perform their
or
committed homicide, or
similar
entry.
the end of 1607, by which time his portrait had probably already
been completed, Wignacourt began a strenuous campaign for the

reception of Caravaggio.
1606, a letter
liness
from Paul
He must
have been encouraged to receive, in
V expressing concern over the increasing world-
of the knights, and emphasising that virtue was more important
than ancestry. 28
On 29
two impassioned
December Wignacourt opened
letters to his
his
campaign with
ambassadors to the Holy See
in
Rome,
ardently pleading Caravaggio's cause. In a letter to Francesco Lomellini
he recalled how, in the past, the privilege of conferring a knighthood

'without the necessity of proofs' had been repealed, but that he would
now
like,
'one single time', to avail himself of this lost privilege. For he
passionately desires so to
honour
oured qualities and habits and
and whom,
in order
the habit of the
'a
most virtuous person, of most hon-
whom we
keep
as
our particular servant
not to lose him, we wish to console by giving him
Grand
352
Master'.
And
he wishes
'that
it
will
not prevent
Caravaggio
Malta
in
him, that he has, in a brawl, committed a homicide' and to ensure that

the knight should enjoy the privileges of food
salary.
29
He
underlined the fervour of his wish, and added that the
Commendatore, Francesco delTAntella,
On
same day he wrote
the
and lodging and of a
and enthusiastic
vein, to
a very similar letter, in the
Giacomo
and enrolling the support of
will also write in his support.
Bosio,
his brother,
Ambassador
same warm
to the
Holy
See,
Giovanno Ottone Bosio, Vice-
chancellor of the Order in Malta, as well as that of dell'Antella.
Caravaggio
is
not mentioned by name, but the
him, and subsequent events support
ly refer to
The Grand Master
ardent.
he saw
once
at
how
him, and
how
rare
clearly
letters
this.
almost certain-
Wignacourt's tone
great a prestige Caravaggio could bestow
an opportunity he
splendour of European courts.
He
now had
was,
little
petitioned Pope Paul
passionately anxious
writes
service
wishes to honour
who
merit and
1608,
Wignacourt
time on behalf not only of
Grand
knight. 'The
Master', he
some persons who have shown
and that of the Hospital and does not have
way of doing so
suitable
one time
'for
as a brawl,
virtue
and
have a desire and devotion to dedicate themselves to his
moment any more

him,
this
unnamed
Caravaggio, but of another

'.
moment. By 7 February
himself,
upon
to emulate the artistic
it is clear,
not to lose him, and the quarrel with Tomassoni (referred to

not a duel) seemed of
is
admired Caravaggio, and undoubtedly
.'
.
He
begs the Pope to give
adorn with the habit of a
only', the authority to
Magistral Knight 'two persons favoured by
at the present
him and
to be
nominated by
him; despite the fact that one of the two had once committed homicide
in a
brawl
The
.'
petition was quickly granted,
Wignacourt the power to
receive the
of Magistral Knights, 'even

brawl'. 31 Neither
if
and on
15
two men
February the Pope gave
as brothers
of the Grade
one of them committed murder during a
of the prospective knights
the second was almost certainly the
is
Conte de
mate son of the Due du Barry, had extreme
mentioned by name, but

Brie,
who,
as the illegiti-
difficulty in entering the
Order. 32 Illegitimacy was a far more serious bar than homicide, and the
Conte de
the
Brie's aspirations,
though supported by Cardinal Borghese and
Grand Duke of Tuscany, caused
outrage;
so
$53
enraged were the
Caravaggio A Life
Germans
Vertot
at the suggestion that
tells us,
they 'tear
down
he should enter their Auberge
Grand Master and
the arms. of the
de
that,
the
order from off the gate of their inn, and leave only those of the emperor'. 33
But Caravaggio was supported not only by the Grand Master, but
by the courtiers and men of
them were
letters
who
gathered around him.
the Florentine Francesco dell' Amelia, born in 1567,
already been received into the
Order by September
1595,
Among
who had
and Giovanni
Ottone Bosio, the brother of Giacomo Bosio, the Orders Ambassador

to the papal court, and himself, while Caravaggio was in Malta, Vice-
Chancellor of the Order.
DeLTAntella was particularly close to Wignacourt, acting

tary for
many
San Giacomo
years,
in
and
Campo
survive even the death
in 1611
as his secre-
was rewarded with the commandery of
Corbolini in Florence. Their relationship was to
of Wignacourt's nephew, Cavalier Henrico de
Lancry de Bains, by the sword of delTAntella; delTAntella sent

friends to apologise, offering to
island),
one
withdraw from the Convent
but Wignacourt insisted that he
else the
afresh to the Palace,

Secretary'.
34
and the modesty of
his
the
'knowing better than any-
stay,
wrong, that his nephew had done
isfied with the respect,
(i.e.
in
provoking him, and
and wished that he would continue
sat-
him
delTAntella, he called
in the office
of
DelTAntella was a friend of the brothers, Giovanni Ottone
and Giacomo Bosio, who

Viceroy of Calabria
at the
in 1581
had murdered the brother of the
Vatican Palace, but so great was their diplo-
matic power that they had been pardoned by the Pope. Giovanni Ottone
Bosio was the father of the antiquarian Antonio Bosio, scholar and
archaeologist of Early Christianity,
the Oratorians.
who had been
He shared their interest in early
in close contact
Christianity
and Giacomo were poets, historians and men of
letters,
with
and both he
exchanging
ele-
gant madrigals with one another on Maltese topics, and mixing with
scholars
and antiquarians
a history
in
Rome. Giacomo was commissioned
of the Order by Wignacourt, and
his Historia
He
to write
della Sacra religione
book with
di
S Giovanni Gerosolimitano appeared in 1594.
drawing of Valletta drawn from nature by delTAntella, which he
describes as 'done by the
hand of the most
teous Cavalier Fra Francesco delTAntella,
354
illustrated this
virtuous, valorous
now
and cour-
Secretary of the
most
Caravaggio
Grand Master, and courteously
illustrious
house, as a precious jewel,
These men were

fare,
and perhaps
most dear
courtiers
and
Malta
in
given to me;
keep
the arts
virtuosi, skilled in
in
it
and
in war-
which
Sleeping Cupid,
was in Florence by 1609 and remains in the Palazzo
Pitti.
DelTAntella
took back to Florence an oval portrait of Wignacourt (untraced) by
Caravaggio, which he kept in the
mandery of St Jacopo
whom
Master to
in
Campo
manor of
the grounds of the
Corbolini in
memory of
com-
Grand
the
he was so deeply indebted.
Caravaggio was not admitted to the Order for some months after
and
it
has been suggested that he was absent from the island. But
likely, as
and
a
my
support Caravaggio was to paint
in gratitude for his
for delFAntella an unusual mythological subject, the
also
to me' (Plate 4g). i5
he was received into the Order on 14 July 1608
day
after his probable arrival
twelve-month
novitiate.
Caravaggio to enjoy
all
he
was
fulfilling the
Wignacourt
Italy.
had
that
and
a year
is,
requirement of
specifically
the privileges of the novitiate,
lived in the Italian Auberge, near the city gate,
St Catherine of
this,
more
wished
and he presumably
close to the church
of
Here each knight had a set of austere rooms, but
also enjoyed the greater opulence
of the public rooms. Novitiates served
hard though it is to imagine Caravaggio tenderly feed and performed their devotions in the Oratory of St John.
in the hospital
ing the sick
And
so, finally, in the
the Order.
The
Bull
summer of
1608, Caravaggio
of reception makes
it
very clear that this was done
through a special papal authorisation, and that

tic
was received into
it
was a reward for
genius and for the splendour that this brought to Malta.
Wignacourt
artis-
Thus
declared:
Whereas
it
behooves the leaders and rulers of
commonweals
to prove their benevolence
by
advancing men, not only on account of their noble

birth but also
whatever
it
on account of
may be
And
their art
and science
whereas the Honourable
Michael Angelo, a native of the town Carraca
Lombardy
.
in
called Caravaggio in the vernacular,
having landed in this city and burning with zeal for
355
Caravaggio A Life
communicated
the Order, has recently
to us his
fervent wish to beâdorned with the habit

insignia
of our Knightly Order
wish to gratify the desire of

that our Island Malta,
and
we
Therefore,
this excellent painter, so
and our Order may
at last
glory in this adopted disciple and citizen with no

pride than the island of
less
Kos
jurisdiction) extols her Apelles;
compare him to more recent
may not
and
that,
should we
of our
[artists]
age,
we
afterwards be envious of the artistic
excellence
art,
(also within our
of some other man, outstanding
whose name and brush
in his
are equally important. 36
Caravaggio was admitted as a Knight of Ubidienza (obedience), sug-
had some claim to
gesting that he
nobility, for this
was
the noble class of Knights of Giustizia (although the
a subdivision
of
Grand Master had
asked to make him a knight without the need for proofs). Such Knights
did not take the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience, although they
did swear to lead a
life
of Christian perfection, and to carry out
social
works. They were, however, free to follow a profession. At the investiture
ceremony the novice dedicated himself to the Virgin and to St John the
Baptist, kissed the white linen Cross,
and received the habit
words: 'Receive the yoke of the Lord, for
which you
it is
sweet and
your soul. We promise you no
will find rest for
to these
light,
under
delicacies,
but
only bread and water, and a modest habit of no price/ 37
Probably before he was admitted to the Order Caravaggio had begun

to
work on the
largest
Beheading of St John
and most celebrated of
his
Maltese works, The
(Col. Plate 37), for the Oratory of the
the Baptist
Co-
Cathedral of St John in Valletta, which was almost certainly finished by
29 August, the feast day of the decollation of St John.
was painted
likely that this
money which was

tells
us that
In
usually
as his passaggio, i& in lieu
demanded from
the church of
fight against the Turks,
356
extremely
large
sum of
prospective knights; Bellori
S Giovanni he was ordered
beheading of St John. Sandrart s account
man-of-war to
It is
of the
'He
to paint the
generously outfitted a
and he painted the Beheading of
Caravaggio
St John the Baptist in the church at Malta'
may have been
Malta
in
also suggests that the
work
part payment of a passaggio. The Oratory of St John, ded-
icated to the Order's patron saint, was built 'for administering the sacra-
ments, instructing novices, and carrying out other religious ceremonies
and good works' (Plate
40
52).
Criminal
place highly charged with emotion,
were also held here, and, a
trials
was used
it
as a place
of
devotions by the Order's novices. Built between 1602 and 1605,
and
the right of the cathedral,
in
1608
was
it
to
plain rectangular
windows opening on
construction, with a flat roof, and
private
it lies
to the cemetery
where the victims of the Siege had been buried. 4 Caravaggio probably
'
painted The Beheading, a vast work which
The
the entire east end,
in situ.
story of Herod's beheading of St John at the frivolous request of
Salome
wrote
told with extreme simplicity in
is
(14:
10 11):
And
head was brought

it
fills
he
Matthew and Mark; Matthew
and beheaded John
sent,
in the prison.
And
his
and given to the damsel: and she brought
in a charger,
to her mother.' Caravaggio's painting has a biblical starkness; he sets
the scene in a bleak prison yard, paring the cast
down
isolated in the vast darkness that surrounds them,
execution of John, the
and precursor of
its
first
many
it
its
essentials,
and showing the
Christian martyr, the Order's patron saint
many of whom had
martyrs, so
heads during the Siege, in an act of cruel butchery. In

setting
to
would have been overwhelmingly
its
lost their
original austere
illusionistic, for, as the
entered the sacristy, there was nothing between
him and
this
novice
group of
life-size figures, firmly set in a stage like architectural space, their action
caught and frozen, and the bold geometric basis of the composition so
clear
and so strong.
moment of
He must
have
felt
himself a witness
at a
mesmeric
high drama, as the blood pours from St John's neck, and
as
the rope, swinging and twisting against the wall, suggests where, a
moment
before, he
was bound.
'almost as if he had not killed

his side, seizing the saint
the jailer instructs

It is
is
him
to
by
The
executioner, as Bellori stressed,
him with
his sword, takes his knife
his hair in order to cut off his head',
lift
and
the head onto the waiting charger.
an ignoble scene. John does not kneel, as
brought low, on the ground, and his body
rificial
from
42
is
is
customary
in art,
but
trussed like that of a sac-
lamb, his hands tied behind his back, his red cloak suggesting
357
Caravaggio A Life
blood, and a rope snaking across the floor. Action
earthbound, downward-looking,
group,
utterly
is
arrested,
is
and the
and
gesture
still,
expression muted. Caravaggio emphasises the reality of John's death in a
gloomy
prison, unattended by angels; the threat of the prison, the terror
of torture and punishment,

justice
who
was meted out.
Its ignobility
received instruction before
of Christian
chivalry, yet
it is
and one profoundly rooted

mortification,
and
are powerful
must have
and who
it
a meditation
this
was a place where
young knights
startled
aspired to the glorious feats
on the
in Christianity,
reality
which
of martyrdom,
stresses humility
and the poor and broken materials from which the
Catholic hopes to re-create union with God. Each figure
of individual
full
and
is
utterly real,
seems also invested with a universal
character, but
meaning, symbolising mans tragic
fate,
while the geometric clarity of the
composition conveys a sense of preordained order.
It is
daringly asym-
metric but also perfectly balanced, with a semicircle of figures set against
the rectangles of
window and
the figures themselves built

onal.
gate,
Johns imprisonment, and
Christ's
own
with
up around
its
heavy Maltese quoins, and
a formal play
vertical
and diag-
marked the beginning of
his silencing,
mission; he was
of
forerunner of Christ and of the
Eucharist, and his head a preflguration of the Eucharistic sacrifice.
blood pours from
head of extreme beauty,
directly over the altar,
suggesting, to the participant in the Mass, the blood
commented on
In a famous passage, Bellori

technique:
In
this
work Caravaggio put
working with such intensity that he

through the
halftones.'
43
let
In the blood,
all
for
'fra'
ture,
the bravura of the
of a
artist's
the force of his brush to use,
still
show
warm, which flows from
which almost certainly stands
(frater or brother) 'Michelangelo' (da Caravaggio).
at the very centre
and
of Christ.
the priming of the canvas
John's neck, Caravaggio has written/ michel
Here
This signa-
painting before which young Knights
received the sacrament, conveyed his pride in being received into the
Order, in achieving the passionately desired knighthood. Wignacourt
was
full
of admiration, and,
Bellori tells us,
As
honor of the Cross, the Grand Master put

Caravaggio's neck and
made him
a gift
of two
a reward, besides the
a gold
slaves,
chain around
along with other
signs of esteem and appreciation for his work.' Caravaggio, given the
358
Mai
form of
his signature,
the picture was
had presumably already received the Cross before
completed, probably in time for the feast of the
Beheading of the Baptist on 29 August 1608.

In these
of
months Caravaggio enjoyed
cosmopolitan
the pleasures and rich life-style
where he was
society,
ideally placed to receive
com-
missions from the aristocracy of Europe, and where he was sought after
and celebrated, and, perhaps because of
his powerful supporters, he
seems to have been released from performing his caravans, or periods of

military service. Bellori touchingly describes Caravaggio
happy
prosperity: 'Caravaggio was very
Cross and for the praise received for his painting.
He
dignity and abundance/

a St Jerome,
and
pleasure in his
honored with the
to have been
He
lived in
Malta
in
painted other works for the Grand Master,
Magdalene, for the
Italian chapel in the cathedral
of
St John (both untraced).
He was
galleys
well placed to
make other
contacts and, at the end of July, six
appeared in Malta, with their general, Filippo Gondi di Giogny,
and bringing Francois, Prince of Lorraine, to the
island, to
make
the
acquaintance of the Grand Master and of the Convent. Their arrival was
greeted with a display of opulence and ceremony, a cortege of nobles
accompanied them to the

and an exchange of
the knights,
rich gifts.
gifts
way,
at the Palace, chains
stayed for six days, and
Caravaggios Beheading
of St John,
and that through
paint the Annunciation
in splendour,
was made, the general bestowing on almost
and the entourage
They
where they were lodged
palace,
of gold and other
may be
saw
that they
which was almost certainly well under
this contact
(now
it
all
in the
Caravaggio was commissioned to
museum
at
Nancy) which Henry
II
of
Lorraine gave to the newly founded primatial church in Nancy, perhaps
soon
after his accession to the throne in 1608;
Margherita Gonzaga,
sister
Henry
II
was married to
of Cardinal Ferdinando Gonzaga, later so
important in the campaign to win a papal pardon for Caravaggio. 44
This period of
stability
and new contacts was to be
all
too short.
Suddenly, Bellori continues, 'because of his tormented nature, he lost his

prosperity and the support of the
Grand Master.
On
account of an
ill-
considered quarrel with a noble knight, he was jailed and reduced to a

state
of misery and
fear.
In order to free himself he was exposed to grave
359
- A L
Castel Sant'Angelo, Malta
51.
(photo: Marquis Anthony Cassar de Sayn)
danger, but he
managed
unrecognised to
Bellori
account
Sicily,
is
to scale the prison walls at night
some
sort
doubtless modelled on that of Baglione,
made
though the
details
46
There seems
remain vague.
It
rank was an all-consuming
issue,
painter.
Susmno,
local gossip, put
the Cross
on
down
di
Giustizia,
reason to doubt
likely that the
city,
where
touchy
aristocratic
and honour caused many deaths, had
whose account may preserve
to Caravaggio's arrogance: 'Michelangelo with
his chest did
360
wrote
haughty Knight of Justice to an upstart
his Sicilian biographer,

it
little
seems
Caravaggio, so quick to feel offence, in a violent
been provoked by the taunts of
who
Knight of Grace but, 'follow-
of disagreement with the Cavaliere
Michelangelo was put into prison.

this story,
flee
with such speed that no one could catch him.' 45
(inaccurately) that Caravaggio was
ing
and to
not abandon his natural belligerence but
let
Caravaggio
Malta
in
himself be blinded by the madness of thinking himself to be a noble-
man born
... he became so daring that one day he had the courage to
compete with some other swordsmen and to affront the Cavaliere of

Giustizia.' 47 If a
statutes
knight came to blows with his brother, according to the
of the Order he was imprisoned and deprived of
his habit. So,
of the Fiscal Procurator, Caravaggio was
cast into the
at the instance
underground
cell at
eleven feet deep,
the Castel Sant'Angelo, a deep, bell-shaped hole,
and hewn out of the
solid rock,
would seem impossible, and which bears the sad

knights
who had been
Angelo'. But
somehow
apparently scaling the

is
yet
more
from which escape
inscriptions
of many
forgotten there, 'thrust into this well of Saint

the painter
awesome
extraordinary,
made
managed
a dramatic, story-book escape,
of the
walls
castle
with a rope, and, what
of the Grand Harbour,
to sail out
avoiding the sentries at St Elmo, and over the sea to Syracuse.

In this secret flight, Caravaggio breached a rule of the Order, Statute
13,
which decreed that any Knight departing from Malta without written
permission should be deprived of his habit.
The
authorities hastened to
take action over this unlicensed flight, and,
on
October
nal
commission was
appear,
set up, to search for Caravaggio, to
and to find out how he had pulled off
The commission
presented
its
Council Meeting held on 27 November. Here

Caravaggio had contravened Statute
habit.
Only
a few days
on
later,
13,
summon him
to
this extraordinary feat.
month and
report a
1608, a crimi-
it
a half later, at a
was decided
that, as
he should be deprived of his
December,
solemn Public Assembly
was held in the new Oratory to deprive Caravaggio of his habit. Here,
as
Edward Sammut has so
evocatively written, 'rank
upon rank of hoary
old warriors, veterans of a hundred fights, some perhaps
still
with the
sound and fury of the Dardanelles, possibly the Armada, perhaps even
of Lepanto,
'Bearers
still
echoing in their
ears',
were ranged on either
side,
of proud and mighty names; the Grand Marshal, the Grand
Hospitalier, the Priors of St Giles,
the Castellan of
Emposta
defrock Caravaggio.
Illustrious
.'
of Champagne, of
All,
The Master of
Rome and Venice,
with awesome majesty, gathered to

the Hospital and delegate for the
Grand Master, Fra Don Hieronymous de Guevara, solemnly
repeated the charge, that Caravaggio had fled without licence, adding
j6i
Caravaggio A Life
C. von Osterhausen, The Oratory of
52.
(Valletta,
that he
had used
commission.
a rope
The Lord
St John
Malta)
a detail
perhaps unearthed by the criminal
Shield Bearer himself described
looked for Caravaggio through the public places of the

then, with theatrical drama, Caravaggio was 'personally
twice, thrice
nor
as yet
and
a fourth time' in a
doth he appear'.
in the
words of the Statute, was 'deprived of

like a rotten
and
fetid
limb from
48
truly tragic irony, Caravaggio's habit
niously removed from a stool before his
accompaniment
summoned
and
once,
loud voice, but 'did not yet appear
and expelled and thrust forth
our Order and Community'.
With
district,
A unanimous vote to deprive him of his habit
was passed, and Caravaggio,

his habit,
how he had
own
would have been ceremo-
Beheading of St John, a
gloomy
to the criminal trials held in the Oratory, where his
362
Caravaggio
proud signature
it
in
Malta
took on a new menace;
in blood, directly over the stool,
won
was only four months since Caravaggio had
the right to sign
himself Tra\
This highly coloured sequence of events

point
is
many problems. At no
the crime which caused his imprisonment mentioned,
commission's report has been

a list
leaves
lost;
and the
nor does Caravaggio's name appear
of crimes committed by Knights
in that year. 49 It
is,
inconceivable that Caravaggio could have escaped, unaided,
from Castel
Sant'Angelo, or have so easily found a boat and safe conduct to take
may be
to Sicily. It
that Caravaggio
Fabrizio Sforza, perhaps of the

later,
him
had powerful support, perhaps of
Grand Master himself (who,
a little
was so quick to forgive delTAntella for killing his nephew), and
is
even possible that he was never in the prison.
in
one of the Orders
describes leaving
galleys, for the seas
Malta
in a 'Phalucco
twice so big as a wherry, yet
and arriving
[it]
in Sicily the next
in
almost
also,
He
perhaps
left
it
Malta
were stormy, although Sandys
of Naples, rowed by
will for a space
five,
and not
keepe way with a
gaily',
morning. 50
Caravaggio s status was to remain deeply ambiguous. His progress
around
Sicily
was partly triumphal, and partly a
Rome and of the

his trial in
He
Knights of Malta.
Malta took
place, he
He
flight, in fear
both of
did not try to hide there, and as
was mixing with scholars in Syracuse.
never accepted his defrocking and later tried to win back the favour
of the Grand Master, sending him a painting of Judith and Holofernes.
363
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Sicily
His
knighthood stripped,
made
Caravaggio
the short sea
voyage to the nearest Sicilian port, the ancient Greek city of
Syracuse. Like Naples, Sicily was ruled by a Spanish Viceroy;

it,
was truly a country of contrasts.
too,
abundant
in grain, fruit
Greece and Rome,

civilisation.
King Philip
it
island
of paradisial beauty,
and wine, celebrated by the poets of
classical
was intensely evocative of the beauties of an ancient
Yet in the
III
An
century the reign of the Spanish
late sixteenth
brought extreme economic
difficulties,
and the island
was devastated by calamities, by plague, famine and poverty. At the

centre of the Mediterranean,
it
was under constant threat from the
Turks, and from the Barbary pirates

the
North African
who
infested the dangerous seas of
coast. Its natural wealth
of money constantly spent on
was drained by the huge sums
fortifications,
and the people were pressed
into military service.

Sicily
sailed
had played
from
major role in Lepanto, when Spanish
Sicilian ports,
Colonna, was welcomed

Sicily in 1577.
And
as a saviour
in this era
nationalistic Sicilian cities
fleets
had
and the hero of Lepanto, Marcantonio
when he became
the Viceroy of
began the enrichment of the intensely
Syracuse, Messina and Palermo
which
vied with one another in wealth, power and autonomy, with splendid
arrays
of new monuments and grandiose
civic buildings.
Viceregal capital, was transformed by the grandeur of
and the wealth of
religious building,
of churches,
Palermo, the
its
new
streets
oratories, monasteries,
created by the powerful religious Orders, into a triumphant propaganda
statement of absolute Spanish power, fostered by an active ritual

lavish ceremonies
cities,
and processions. But the splendid
where the nobles indulged
masked
the misery
in displays
and slum conditions
in
of
of these
of ostentatious luxury, only
which the people
ing anger that periodically erupted in hunger riots.
ministered to such desolation, and there was a
364
exteriors
life,
lived, creat-
The poor Orders
particularly strong
Capuchin presence
up
here, while
many
and
confraternities
compagnie sprang
to serve the poor.
Caravaggio worked here for nine months, and in a sense his progress
from Syracuse
to
Messina to Palermo was triumphant. Although he had
from Malta, he was welcomed by
fled as a criminal
in a
artists
and men of
winning important and extremely well-paid commissions, feted
letters,
world where he towered over
all
other
His fame had again
artists.
preceded him, and there was intense curiosity about this

people considered the best painter in
He
Italy.
artist,
whom
fascinated the Sicilians,
and collectors were avid to win something from
his hand; they
saw
chance to participate in the most advanced art and were prepared to
honour Caravaggio, to
tolerate his worst excesses,
encourage, an unusual freedom. Caravaggio's

place, again changed.
pitifully
poor
ate fears
and
His great
allow, even to
always so sensitive to
Sicilian altarpieces isolate their
figures in vast areas
of man, and
frailty
style,
and to
at the
same time convey, with
inherit the earth. Despite his well-paid success, Caravaggio
increasingly unbalanced; he was enraged
to decry the gifts
of
he was
tient nature;
by
criticism,
local painters, giving vent to his envious

restless,
unquiet, ever
on the move,
deranged, described as mad. Caravaggio, a
new
and of the meek, who
desolate tenderness, the beauty of humility
became
shadowy,
of darkness; they suggest the desper-
man
yet
shall
behaviour
and swift
and impa-
feared as a
man
with a very odd brain,
as
Del Monte had
is
a sense, clear in all the early accounts, that he lived in extreme fear,
said,
haunted by tumultuous
his fortunes in Malta,
or
it
may be
had long revealed such
anxieties.
may
His
exile,
traits,
but in Sicily there
and the sudden
that Caravaggio,
who went
to
bed
fully dressed 'with his

side'
feared the real
dangers of pursuit, either from Malta, or from the long
Yet
law,
arm of
the
which threatened death.
at the very
his habit in Malta,
friend,
of
have disturbed his psychological balance;
dagger (from which he was never separated) at his
Roman
reversal
time that Caravaggio was ceremoniously deprived of
he was warmly welcomed in Syracuse, where his old
Mario Minniti, was pursuing
the ancient Ortygia,
a highly successful career. Syracuse,
and one of the most splendid Greek
cities in Sicily,
has a large, sheltered harbour, and an island, a narrow spit of land which
365
Caravaggio A Life
on
reaches out into the Ionian sea,
of Frederick
fortress
its
furthermost point the massive
was the harbour closest to
It
II.
and
Sicily,
Caravaggio s most obvious destination. The Spanish presence was strong,
and the
city
had
recently increased
neyed there shortly
of Turks and
its
after Caravaggio,
who
fortifications; Sandys,
jour-
reminds us of the constant threat
Pirates:
The
City
itselfe is
strongly walled (than which
heretofore there was nothing
removed on both
wheron
it
sides
more goodly), not
from the
sea:
farre
the point
doth stand being but narrow towards the
West, and so maketh by land a difficult approch:
without which are the ruines of the old City
The
garrison consists of two hundred Spaniards,
and three hundred townes-men: besides certain
horsemen of the countrey adioyning, who

turnes,
and
are nightly sent forth to scoure
guard the seacoasts.
The
hid under long blacke
On
and
stoles,
and
their
women
all
not unlike the
the limestone plateau to the north of the city are the vast quarries
from which the ancient
city
was
built,
hacked from the rock, creating a
subterranean world of caves, canyons, and

evocative
of
by
buildings of the City are
ancient, the inhabitants grave,
Malteses.
serve
of a remote
Christianity,
past.
The
artificial
classical past
grottoes intensely
blends with the early days
and Syracuse was surrounded by catacombs, almost
extensive as those
of
Rome
as
itself.
Here, on his return from Rome, where Caravaggios excesses had

driven
him
to take refuge in marriage
friend of Caravaggios youth,
departure from
Rome
and
in a quiet
life,
Mario Minniti. Minnitis
had
settled the
life,
since his
probably around 1604, had continued to be
full
of
drama, yet crowned with success. Attracted to his native country by a

desire to display his 'happy, pleasurable
had immediately been
366
forced, Tor a
and
soft style
of
painting', he
homicide casually committed', to
seek refuge in the Carmelite monastery, and there painted an Assumption

of the Virgin}
man, but
He
pleaded in vain for pardon from the
finally his
intervened
on
many
virtues
won
over the
and Minniti was
his behalf,
of the dead
relatives
Leaving his wife with
freed.
his family, the artist travelled to Messina, where, in the course

visits, his
Sicily.
He
career
and fortune flourished, and
his
who
city's authorities,
of many
fame spread throughout
ran a busy studio, instructing twelve students, keen to work
with such a master, and he employed them to sketch in his compositions,
and often to bring them to completion, while he added only the

touches.
More
conventionally successful than Caravaggio, he had
of an elegant
a respectable painter enjoying the pleasures
of
his status.
He wore
close-fitting
and showy
clothes,
indifference towards his

a painter,
and eating
and proud
in
summer he
rest
of the year
and
went to Messina to enjoy the fresh climate, spending the

in his native Syracuse. In
life
final
become
sharp contrast Caravaggio lived with increasing
way of
dressing
life,
more
like a
swordsman than
of wood or an old portrait
his meals off a slab
canvas.
Minniti extended
all
possible kindness to Caravaggio, imploring the
Senate of the city to employ
him
in
some
way, 'so that he could have the
chance to enjoy his friend for some time and be able to evaluate the
greatness of Michelangelo'. 4 Caravaggio's fame as a naturalistic painter
had already reached
Sicily,
and he was
Mirabella, a distinguished archaeologist,
also
welcomed by Vincenzo
who wore
a high Spanish ruff
and elegant moustache, conveying the modish refinement of

and confident
(Naples,
courtier. In his Dichiarazione
1613),
dapper
pianta deWantiche Siracuse
Mirabella recorded the catacombs and stone quarries
around Syracuse.
ed
delta
He
artificial grotto,
describes going with the painter to visit a celebrat-
then believed to be a prison constructed by the tyrant
of Syracuse, Dionysius. The grotto was constructed
such a way that
in
every sound echoed, and the whispered secrets of the prisoners could be
heard from a hole above ground.
'I
remember', wrote Mirabella, 'when
took Michelangelo da Caravaggio, that unique painter of our times, to

see that prison.
He, considering
its
strength, inspired
genius as an imitator of natural things, said:

Tyrant, in order to
make
horn to hear
things,
Do
by
you not
his
see
unique
how
the
took no other model than
367
Caravaggio A Life
And
nature had herself
made
prison like an
This had not been noticed before, and caused
stir
The
ear.
quarry
to achieve the
called the
is still
vividly suggests Caravaggio
same
result.
so he
Ear of Dionysius.
made
The
this
a great
incident
immense fame, and the wonder which
his
astonishing naturalism aroused; Mirabella presents Caravaggio as one

imitator of nature
commenting on
another, and
it
seems
likely that the
painter intended this, and wittily and provocatively seized the opportunity to vaunt his declared
Caravaggios
city's
patron
arrival
saint,
dependence on nature alone.
was timely, for the church of Santa Lucia, the
which
lay outside the city walls,
was being restored,
and the Senate, encouraged by Minniti, commissioned him to paint the

altarpiece,
probably with the intention of
feast day, only
two months
off,
on
13
its
being ready for the saints
December. 6 Through the
Lucy, Syracuse expressed an intense national pride.
Her
cult
statue
of St
adorned
the ramparts, and for the cathedral the silversmith Pietro Rizzo had
created a large silver reliquary statue of the saint, a display of glittering
wealth and religious fervour which the Senate judged 'the most beautiful
work
in Italy'. St Lucy,
Diocletian's persecution
catacomb (inaccessible
martyred around 304, during the Emperor
of the Christians, had been buried
its
way
to Venice, where
and the Syracusans were anxious to claim the
authenticity of the local burial

It is for this
site.
reason that Caravaggio painted The Burial of
St
Plate 38), a subject rare in art, rather than her martyrdom.
known
how
the
time) under the church of Santa Lucia;
at this
but her miraculously preserved body had found

a rival cult was set up,
in
Lucy (Col.
The
source for the story of St Lucy was The Golden Legend, which
besttells
St Lucy, in gratitude for the miraculous healing of her mother at
the shrine of St Agatha (the patron saint of Catania), had bestowed her
wealth, intended as her dowry,
upon
the poor.
Her betrothed denounced
her as a Christian, but Lucy refused to recant, offering her chastity to

Christ. In fury the magistrate ordered her to be dragged oft to a brothel,
but nothing could move
men, and
she
was
fell,
her, neither
oxen nor witchcraft, nor a thousand
m the end she was pierced by a knife in the throat. Here, where
she received the last
built. It
is
rites,
was buried, and the church of St Lucy
a story that sets virgin frailty
368
and purity against brute
icily
power, and a belief in salvation through Christ against imperial law, and
it
was on these contrasts that Caravaggio built his composition.
The
massive gravediggers frame the body of the saint, whose piteousness
touches the heart, and whose hand seems to reach out, in a gesture of
on the
supplication, to the spectator;
and Church,
a military officer in Renaissance armour,
century bishop,
a triangle,
who
blesses the body. Lucy's
man
with the head of the young
vertical at the pictures
of the mourners
is
and the
expression,
of State
right stand the powers
and
a sixteenth-
body forms the base of
in red at its apex, a strong
emotional centre. Around
this
group the anguish
conveyed through the eloquence of hands and of

vast arches
of the shadowy background
recall the
catacombs or the stone quarries around Syracuse. Caravaggio, whose

imaginative response to place, and to the needs of his patrons, was so
intense, created a
work which movingly
a small early Christian
Christ brought hope and to

picture swiftly
But despite
Susinno
leave the
suggests, in this ancient setting,
whom Lucy
had given her
unquiet nature of Michelangelo',
this swift success, 'the
relates,
'which loved to wander the earth, soon after led
home of
his friend Minniti.
mountains, had a harbour that made
He
it
him
to
then went to Messina', where
hemmed
in
by
a key city in the Mediterranean;
boasted wide straight streets and elegant buildings. Sandys conveys the
intense Spanish Presence:

it,
The
riches.
became popular, and was many times copied.
he probably arrived in the winter of 16089. Messina,
it
whom
community, the poor and the meek to
'Upon
the west side, and high
stands a strong Citadell, which
commandeth
by a garrison of Spaniards. South-west of

higher
hill.
And on
walls.
both publicke and
(there was
on the top of
The
private.'
Citie
8
Its
is
garnished with beautiful
ruling class was mercantile
flourishing colony of Genoese merchants) and
governed by a body of
city Senate,
a fortresse
manned
the top of another towards the South, the Castle of
Gonsage: both without the

buildings,
it
mounted above
the whole Citie,
six
it
was
annually elected magistrates, called the
which was responsible for important
civic
commissions.
Messina, with a population of around 100,000 inhabitants, offered more

opportunities than Syracuse, for
it
had
a strong local school
of painting
and there were many connoisseurs and collectors eager to display
369
their
c aravaggio
A Lif,
View of Messina
rv
(print)
knowledge. In the fifteenth century Antonello da Messina had established a glorious tradition
been there
of painting, and Polidoro da Caravaggio had
in 1528, leaving
admired by local
artists.
behind an
In this period, Susinno
flourished as Catalano l'Antico,
Catalano,
who had
Adoration of
Cumandeo, and
the
tells
Shepherds
us 'such painters
others, very famous'. 9
painted in a sweet and graceful style reminiscent of
Federico Barocci, had died only recently, possibly in 1605.

satisfied a lively
demand
for devotional art, for the writings
He
railed against lascivious art, pleading for images
saints
produced by
artists 'of
the soul, awakening virtue'.
was
active there,
but
far
10
good
An
conscience, which should
and to work for patrons who had close
from
rich
this
ties
may
have
of Jerusalem,
with the Knights.
Messina Caravaggio won
Geoese merchant, Giovanni
370
compose
important Priory of Maltese Knights
from discouraging Caravaggio,
arrival in
Iconologia,
of the Virgin and
attracted him, for he continued to call himself a Knight
Perhaps soon after his
perhaps
of Paleotti
were well known, and the Messinese Placido Samperi, in his
had
deeply
Battista
de'
commission
Lazzari,
for
Sic
intended for a high-altar chapel in the church of the
Resurrection of Lazarus
Padri Crociferi ('Cross-bearing Fathers'), hospitallers dedicated to the care
of the
Lazzari had
sick.
name
with his
fra'
Madonna
St John; but by 10 June 1609 Caravaggio had delivered
saint,
a Resurrection of Lazarus
militis
ordered a conventional work, a
first
(CoL
Plate 39), painted 'by Michelangelo Caravaggio
GerosolimitanusV Lazzari was in contact with a Knight of St John,
Orazio
Torriglia, in Messina,
and Caravaggio may have used such
contacts, perhaps keeping his expulsion hidden, or in complicity with the
highest echelons of the Knights themselves.
seems that the Lazzari
It
family appreciated the extraordinary opportunity which Caravaggio s unex-
pected presence afforded, and Caravaggio himself
new
subject, again a play
may have thought of the
He
on the patrons name.
sum of
1000 scudi, and, unusually, given free rein
fantasy'.
Moreover, when Caravaggio asked for a
in,
they gave
as a great
Knight of St John, receiving the extremely
celebrity, respected as a
work
was treated
him
the best room.
'to fulfil his creative
the hospital to
Here he worked
in secret, and,
room
workmen whom he employed
according to Susinno, forced the
lavish
to hold a corpse already in an advanced state
as
models
of decomposition, from
which he painted the body of Lazarus. But when the picture was unveiled,
Susinno continues, although
from Messinese
edge of
and indulge
art,
'astonished',
it
observations'
critics,
it
also attracted
who wished
some
'small
to display their knowl-
in the pleasurable debates
of the connoisseur.
Caravaggio, enraged by such provincial pretentiousness, cut the painting
more
to shreds with his dagger, but then offered to paint another, 'even
beautiful'.
The
story has the ring of truth, and the picture
second version of Caravaggio's
The
Lazarus story
central to that gospel,
between
light
arrived Lazarus
upon
And
Resurrection of Lazarus.
told only in the gospel of St John, and
which
the
is
it
is
so deeply pervaded by the great conflict
and dark. Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary
Magdalene, lay dying
there,
is
may be
had
at Bethany.
'lain in
The
sisters sent to Jesus,
the grave four days already'.
but when he
They hastened
with a crowd of the Jews, and Jesus, ordering the stone that lay
it
to be removed, cried, with a loud voice, 'Lazarus,
come
forth.
he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave
clothes' (John
11V
43-44). In patristic literature Lazarus was a great
37i
Caravaggio A Life
sinner,
and the stone, raised by the gravediggers, was the weight of
To
that prevented union with Christ.
Ambrose
St
Christ's great cry,
echoed by many seventeenth-century preachers, was a
'Come
forth. You
sins, this
who
come
passion of the guilty,
born/ wrote St Augustine, 'he

a great criminal that
him
Jesus'
rise
who
is
forth, confess
born already
by that four
signified
is
in a state
filth
'When
and
man
is
... It
is
of death
days' death
of your
burial.'
To
And
crushed under the heavy burden of a habit of sinning!
loud voice he
quickened by hidden grace within; and
is
riseth.'
He
'confessing, yet guilty
quits 'the old refuges
still'.'
And
it
transparently,
hand opens to
is
of darkness' with pain,
frail,
painted swiftly and
with death, and only the palm of his right
stiff
still
after that
with extreme difficulty that
is
Caravaggio's Lazarus awakes; his body, the flesh
of Christ. His outflung arms suggest the
receive the light
and Lazarus' story looked forward to the Passion and
Resurrection of Christ; but

Caravaggio's Lazarus seems
struggle between light
The
lz
penitence:
groans and weeping suggested 'With what difficulty does one
lies
yet he does rise: he
Cross,
call to
darkness and in the
fester in spiritual
sin
still
and
also suggests the Last Judgement,
it
in conflict, caught in terror, in a
cosmic
and dark.
picture has a hectic, apocalyptic quality, which accorded well
with the religious fervour of Messina, a
city
of drought, famine, earth-
quake, of processions of penitents, where the poor were dependent on

charity even for burial,
ple.
and where,
on the Cross, Lazarus' story was

whose
to rebirth in Christ,
sacrifice
same time, the desperate longing
tormented
state
peo-
a call to penitence
and
was repeated in the Eucharist. At the
for grace, the terror
of the dreams that
of Messina with
its
my
intensely personal, conveying the
to
spirit 'was
more disturbed than
the sea
raging currents that sometimes rise and sometimes
entered the church of the
some holy water
seem
which Susinno's biography suggests. Susinno records
how, one day, Caravaggio, whose
all
terrified the
disturb the sleep of death, and the sense of dissolution that the
flickering paint surface creates,
fall',
comet had
In the church of the Cross-bearing Fathers, whose worship was
directed to death
may
in 1607, a
wash away
sins are mortal.'' 4
372
Madonna
venial sin.
del Pilero.
'I
Here he was offered
don't need
it,
he replied, since
The
to
was a success, and the
Resurrection of Lazarus
Senate hastened
city
commission Caravaggio, again for the high price of iooo
scudi, to
paint the high altar for the church of Capuchin monastery of Santa
Maria La Concezione,
a relatively
modest building, with small
turrets
framing a plain facade, and which lay in the countryside outside the
city,
The Capuchins had a strong

was much loved by the people,
near the small hamlet of Borgo San Leone.
presence in Messina, and their church
drawn, as Placido Samperi wrote, to that holy place by the odour of

virtue, to celebrate the great religious festivals
describes the delights of the site

ty
of the
Samperi
year;
and buildings, remarkable
for the 'beau-
of the gardens, and for the abundance of water, for the healthy
and for the alms of many, and many thousands of

Messinese citizens
who
loved that place'.
Caravaggio's Adoration of
Shepherds (Plate 54),
the
by
15
its
high
many
early
painted for
has none of the radiance and pastoral charm of so
altar,
air,
scudi, given
seventeenth-century nativities, in which music-playing shepherds bear
gifts
doves, or a basket
draws back a
natural light.
of eggs
veil to reveal
His
nativity
is
and
which the Virgin tenderly
in
Christ in a breathtaking blaze of superutterly bleak
and
and
desolate, with the ox
the ass huddled together in the cold shadows. The Virgin, piteously small
and
frail, sits,
in
deep melancholy, on the ground, and the shepherds,
meagrely clad and worn, look with sad gentleness, touched with wonder,
poor working
at the
has laid
gentle
down
fall
of
family, the
woman
his carpenters tools.

light,
untended, and the old
Only the
suggest the divinity of
frailest
man who
of haloes, and the
Mary and
Joseph.
It is
Capuchin Nativity, painted for the poorest of the poor Orders, and
invites
meditation on the humility of the
virtue
of poverty, the road to
cially
had
salvation.
dear to the Franciscans, with
originated,
Queen of Heaven, and on
The
whom
the traditional Christmas crib
and the thirteenth-century Franciscan
of Christ stresses the
poverty of the
Holy
the
Nativity was a scene espe-
Meditations on
the Life
Family, 'the heavenly pearl' for
which the worshipper must exchange everything. Jesus 'chose what was
most tormenting,
especially for a child, to be the
son of a Mother
could not swaddle him but with the most wretched clothes,
had any
rags to
wrap him
in,
and who had to place him
373
in a
who
who
hardly
manger
Caravaagio A L
S..
.,..;
^SjKL:
tH
fmS
%
W
^,
1 f^*
1
\ 1^^
"^fl
1^.
wl^Â
ifc'-^
Is
54.
Caravaggio, Zfo Adoration of

(Messina,
374
Museo
Regionale)
the
*
i,
Shepherds
BS~'
who work
he had been born for the poor and for those

preachers emphasised the grief of Jesus'
hard.'
16
Capuchin
and Mary's shadowed
life,
face
looks forward to the harsh path of unrelieved suffering that leads to the
Cross. In a
who had
sermon of the celebrated Capuchin preacher Mattia da
visited
Messina
in 1583, Christ speaks
night, in midwinter, 'so that

I
am
mother
The
I
.
for see in
born, with no shelter, no bed, no

.''
his bleak birth, at
should not lose time, but,
should begin to suffer for you
help
of
how
fire,
as
soon
great a need
Salo,
mid-
as born,
of human
my
with no nurse to aid
shepherds see
God become man,
a mystery repeated in the cele-
bration of
Mass
before the altar; 'Let us enter into the mystery of the
Eucharist
with
fervour
and ardent
Charity,'
beseeched St John
Chrysostom, who wrote so movingly of the poverty of Mary, the wife

of
'The Kings adore
a carpenter.
this
same body lying
but you do not look in the manger, but
woman who
in the
at the altar;
manger
you do not
holds him in her arms, but the standing priest
see a
.'
.
l8
Caravaggio also painted a St Jerome writing (untraced) for the same

church. The Adoration of
that
it
the
Shepherds
was
much
was 'considered by the connoisseurs
Susinno was more
at ease
with
this
admired, and Samperi wrote
as
something extraordinary'. 19
work, which lacks bold shadows, than
with the darker, sketchier Lazarus; he believed that Caravaggio had been
influenced by the 'sweet touch' of the much-loved local
l'Antico.
But
at
odds with
Caravaggio's anger
when
and more
convincing,
is
Catalano
artist,
account of
his
the people of Messina praised Catalano,
probably recently dead, and

a vivacious
this,
who had been
a very different kind
who was
of
artist
and happy man, who dressed nobly, studied the theory of
and was pious and loving to everyone. Caravaggio was more
at
art,
home
with the stormier Filippo Paladino, a Florentine painter whose early

2
adventures resemble his own. Arraigned in Florence for armed assault
and condemned to the

and ended up
a wealthy
respond to the
for the
and successful
had won
his
artist in Sicily,
of Caravaggio; he painted a
freedom
at
first
to
St Francis receiving the Stigmata
also contributed a large canvas, a Raising of
Paladino was very good
in Malta,
one of the
Capuchin monastery of Santa Maria Concezione,
Mario Minniti
Nairn.
art
galleys, Paladini
to
the
which
Widow
of
painting martyrdoms, and his fiery
375
Caravaggio A Life
nature delighted in painting executioners,
admired by Caravaggio, who, in
'his
and
fires
His
tortures.
art
was
usual satirical manner', preferred his
works to those of Catalano, commenting
sarcastically: 'This
one
a true
is
picture while the other canvases look like mere playing cards.'
Caravaggio was sought after in Messina, and Susinno mentions 'many

other beautiful pictures by Caravaggio, which
of
brevity'.
The
must admit
noble collector Nicolo di Giacomo recorded
commissioned, probably
in the spring
of
for the sake
how he had
from the
1609, four scenes
Passion of Christ, one of which, a Christ carrying the Cross (untraced),
with the sorrowing Virgin, and two executioners, was certainly finished,
and
di
Giacomo thought
whether the other

ever painted.
like the
three,
it
which Caravaggio was to
Nicolo di Giacomo was
of
artistic
'according to the ideas of

'as
not entirely
clear
deliver in August, were
clearly a true enthusiast, prepared,
much
as
is
genius.
The
subjects are to be treated
the painter' (capriccio
fitting for this painter
remarks suggest Caravaggio's

after,
It is
Lazzari family, to give Caravaggio free reign, and willing to tol-
erate the vagaries
paid
succeeded wonderfully.
frail
famous, he was none the
del pittore)
who
and he
is
has a crazy brain'.
to be
21
His
psychological state. Well paid, sought
less,
dered his wealth in adventures and
writes Susinno, the artist

revelries.
who
squan-
Indeed, soon afterwards, at
the height of this success, he inexplicably left for Palermo.
According to Susinno, Caravaggio
left
Messina
after a quarrel
with a
school teacher. Caravaggio often followed the teacher to the arsenal,
where galleys were
built, to
watch his pupils playing
'Michele went to
observe the positions of those playful boys and to form his inventions.
But the teacher became suspicious and wanted to know why he was
always around.
That question so disturbed
so irate and furious, that he
His
wounded
the painter, and he
the poor
'inventions' (jantasie) were probably artistic,
that Susinno
accusing
meant sexual
fantasies,
him of homosexual
perilous in Sicily,
man on
and
became
the head.'
22
very unlikely
it is
but the teacher seems to have been
interest,
an accusation that was extremely
where, in 1608, the chief hangman,
who had
executed
homosexuals, was executed for the same offence.
And so,
probably travelling by
in that city he also left excellent
376
sea, the 'fugitive arrived in
works of
art'.
25
Palermo
Palermo, and
lay
on
a plain
down
spreading
to the sea,
hemmed
by mountains, and
in
been celebrated since antiquity; Fazello, in De Rebus

seems not a
thus: It
a declaration
activity,
real
described
Siculis,
it
massive fortifications and harbour
capital, its
of Spanish strength, and
of spacious
beauty had
landscape but a painted form of outstanding
was the viceregal
beauty.' It
its
streets, palaces,
in these years
of fevered building
and monasteries,
one of the grandest and most modern
cities in
it
was becoming
Europe, where both the
Spanish and local aristocracy delighted in lavish displays of wealth and

power. In the early years of the seventeenth century Vincenzo di
how
Giovanni wrote proudly
'the riches
many
the abundance and nobility of so
ornamented
carriages
marquesses,
dukes
and horses, and
and
princes'.
of the people ennoble the
24
many
finally so
There was
May 1609, Cardinal

whom Caravaggio had
made
a family with
triumphal entry into Palermo
masked extreme
buildings,
poverty, for
as
Palermo was
which ploughed through
richly
barons, counts,
particularly
Genoese presence, and on n
member of
many
knights, with so
city,
strong
Giannettino Doria,
lasting connections,
Archbishop. Yet splendour
a parasitical city,
earlier houses,
creating startling contrasts between their beauty
and the new
aggravated poverty,
and the miserable huts
up behind them. The mendicant Orders ministered
that sprang
to
the poor, with the help of confraternities and the compagnie, associated
with the monasteries, which practised the spiritual exercises, and were
devoted to acts of
many
In these years
small buildings,
charity.
known
compagnie were intent

as Oratories,
Oratory of St Lawrence, then
San Francesco
know of
in
gular space
scenes
d'Assisi, that
Palermo.
whose
from the
poor
and
Adoration of
the
where they met, and
in the possession
it
was for the
of the Compagnia
Caravaggio painted the only work we
The Oratory of
lives
of St Francis and St Lawrence. Both
di
now
St Lawrence was a simple rectan-
walls were originally decorated with canvases
patterns of humility and charity
was roasted on
on the decoration of the
showing
saints
were
St Lawrence, a third-century deacon,
of the church to the
a gridiron for giving the treasures
these scenes culminated in Caravaggio's altarpiece, the

Shepherds with Saints Lawrence and Francis
frame the nativity (Plate
55),
where the two
saints
and an angel bears a scroll with the words
377
c:
55.
aravap?io
A Lif,
the
Shepherds
with Saints Lawrence and Francis
(formerly Palermo, Oratorio di San Lorenzo)
Gloria in excelsis Deo,
words chanted
the Adoration at Messina, and
378
in the Gloria Patri. Less austere than
more conventionally symmetrical
in
com-
more
position, his painting conveys a
lyrical
Franciscan spirituality. St
Francis had re-created the crib at Greccio with a real ox and
painting recalls the tender description in the Meditations on
'The
ass,
and the
the Life
of Christ
ox and the ass knelt with their mouths above the manger and
breathed on the Infant as though they possessed reason and

the child was so poorly
wrapped
Lady of the World
the
He
that
knew
needed to be warmed
stayed, her face turned constantly
that
Thus
toward the
Manger, her eyes fixed affectionately on her sweet Son/ 25 In one

version of St Francis's
stable,
and the writer concludes: 'The
manger,
joy/
26
the saint was said to have been born in a
life
full
This
of
God
of
overcome with tenderness and
sighs,
Nativity
saint
stood before the
filled
with wondrous
perhaps Caravaggios most conventionally pious
is
work, sweetly devout and unchallenging, looking back to the
Lombard works of Moretto and Savoldo
that he
had known
lyrical
in his youth.
Caravaggios stay in Palermo was short, and he was certainly once
more
in
Naples by 24 October 1609. His wanderings
in Sicily are full
of
contradiction, in part the triumphal progress of an international celebrity,
admired and
and
richly rewarded,
fugitive, fearing capture
in part the anguished flight
and possible death, sleeping with
of a
his dagger
beside him; he was feared for his increasingly strange behaviour, and was
constantly described
Nor
is it
clear
whom
as
he had not been in
he feared, whether the
of Malta; he continued to
call
Rome as mad and crazy.

Roman law, or the Knights
himself a Knight, and his months in
Messina, where their presence was strong, does not suggest that he was
hiding from the Knights. Mancini
simply omits Sicily from his

that he left
Palermo
in fear
'In
and
these years,
of Caravaggio, but Baglione was
life
knew nothing of
clear
Palermo he painted some works. But
since his enemies were chasing him, he decided to return to Naples/ 27
This theme was
later elaborated
by
who
Bellori,
wrote, 'misfortune did
not abandon Michele, and fear hunted him from place to place ... he
no longer
felt safe in Sicily,
and so he departed the island and
to Naples, where he thought he
would
pardon allowing him to return to Rome'.

since Caravaggio
exile, after
had been
exiled,
and
stay until he got

28
It
this
was
now
sailed
back
word of
his
almost three years
was the customary term of
which, he might well expect a pardon. Great nobles had been
379
Caravaggio A Life
active
on
his behalf,
some of
his
and
in
Palermo he may have renewed contact with
noble patrons, such
~as
the
Doria (and perhaps the
Archbishop, a Doria,
who
moment
had been instrumental
as Caravaggio,
arrived in Palermo
in
at
almost the same
winning the commis-
sion for the Oratory of St Lawrence) and the Giustiniani family,
had
close links with Palermo.
of a journey back to
And
This
city
may
his
life
well have been the first stage
Rome
in 1608, just before he left, the
compared
to
of
that
his
Capuchin Vincenzo Donesana
great
Caravaggio. Polidoro, too, had languished in
when
it
enough money to
'is
in his
return, he
bed
on the contrary
ing, inventing a
if
compatriot Polidoro
Sicily,
was sacked by papal troops. But, Vasari
murdered
who
was robbed by
having fled
tells us,
his serving
having saved
boy and
in Messina. Caravaggio, however, wrote
still alive,
da
Rome
brutally
Donesana,
and has brought a very great deal to paint-
path and a style that other painters will have to imitate,
they want to be perfect. For his divine ability in painting ... he has
been made a Knight by the Grand Master of the Order
380
at
Malta/ 29
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Naples and Death
Caravaggio
returned to Naples
summer of
in the late
of hope that he was
1609, perhaps fleeing his enemies, or full
about to be pardoned, to be freed from the oppressive condition of banditry and exile.
Those who had
fled
Rome
Onorio Longhi, and the brothers Giugoli, were

return.
He
was welcomed by both
artists
he stayed in the Palazzo Cellamare
Marchesa
business.
di Caravaggio,
now
The Spanish Viceregent,
and patrons
at Chiaia,
fifty-five,
the
and
with Caravaggio,
also contemplating a
in Naples,
where
with his old protector, the
Naples on family
briefly in
Conde de
Benavente, the Church,
noble Neapolitan families, great aristocrats from beyond Naples,
among
them the Genoese Marcantonio Doria and the papal nephew, Scipione
Borghese,
all
hastened to acquire works from him, for he was the most
celebrated painter in
At the Riviera
a refuge
Italy.
di Chiaia, to the west
of Naples, Caravaggio had found
of paradisial beauty. Chiaia was an antoscratic

spreading gardens,
villas, set in
among
and
cedars, figs
to spread along the shore to Posillipo. Capaccio, in
retreat,
where
had begun
vines,
II Forastiero,
writes:
can scarce believe that a more beautiful bay could ever greet mortal eyes.
The
trees create gardens that in every season
green with orange

full
trees,
and with cedars of
of the habitations of great princes, an
have flowers, and they are
infinite grace
infinite
And
all is
number of gentlemen,
and of fishermen who come from that town/ The Palazzo Cellamare,
1
where once Tasso had stayed, lay
at the foot
of the Via Chiaia only a
few minutes' walk from the Colonna town palace.

like,
sixteenth-century palace, dominating
its
walls,
was a
vast,
fountains,
and
and offering views of both Naples and Posilippo.
opulent and
lovely, offering
block-
surroundings, and set in
immense terraced gardens, decorated with marble

coed
It
It
fres-
was
those aristocratic pleasures of which del
Tufo had sung:
581
Caravaggio A Life
Oh
Chiaia, blessed shore:
and oh, what gardens
Are to be seen in those confines:
And oh
such
As would
strolls,
and ah such glorious
restore the
dead to
life
sports,
2
.
But Caravaggios enemies were in pursuit, and on 24 October 1609 he

was so badly wounded in the Osteria del Cerriglio that a newspaper
sent
word of
Rome: 'There has come from Naples
his death to
news that Caravaggio the famous painter has been

say disfigured.'
The
is
while others
Osteria del Cerriglio was the most famous tavern in Naples, and
was indeed celebrated throughout Europe.
what
killed,
the
now
It
stood near the start of
the Via Sanfelice, and contained two large rooms, support-
ed by arches, with two entrances, one to the Strada del Cerriglio, the
other to the Vicolo di Santa Maria la Nova, and beyond this a courtyard
with a fountain and terrace.
The
women
rooms above. The tavern was frequented by

Cervantes says that
poets sang of
and the
it
its joys,
cele-
were on offer in the
poets, artists
and
writers,
and
was very popular with the Spanish; Neapolitan
and
it
became synonymous with noble kitchens
of Bacchus
festive rites
adorned with proverbs
walls were
brating the joys of wine and food, and
the poet del Tufo wrote of
the Cerriglio,
Where, on
a balcony,
Every type of tasty morsel

Distinguished people
is
come
brought,
in
through a secret
entrance.
And
here, after distributing charity, the priest feasts
4
.
In this Rabelaisian setting Caravaggio came close to death.
Mancini, hearing the news, wrote in alarm to his brother: 'There
is
rumour that Michelangelo da Caravaggio has been attacked by four men

in
Naples and there
sin,
is
fear that
and deeply disturbing
he has been scarred. If this

.
Let
God
grant that
it
is
is
true
it is
not
true.'
a
5
Caravaggio was so badly wounded in the face during this incident that
382
Naples and Death

6
he was almost unrecognisable.
Mancini wrote
wishes,
On
Christmas Day, two months
'They say that Caravaggio may be near
again:
soon to return to
Rome
later,
he
here,
Caravaggios stay in Naples was to be short, and presumably some of

it
was taken up with convalescence.
July,
when he
left for
None
the
between October and
less,
Rome, he not only produced an astonishing num-
ber of works, but again created a
new
style.
In his Sicilian works the
fig-
ures are isolated in vast areas of darkness, set back in an architectural
and the
space,
mood
often tender, conveying a profound sympathy
is
with the poor and the meek
Naples the
mood
who make up
the Christian community. In
harshens. Three-quarter-length figures, brought close
to the spectator, are set against an abstract
background of unrelieved,
almost glittering blackness. These pictures are no longer tableaux vivants,

as the
Roman works had

new ways of
with their
been, which startle with their immediacy, and
and imagining the
telling a story
characters.
are starker,
more concentrated works,
cal shapes,
with very few colours, and with narrative pared
Their
essentials.
and
invite
They show
still
contemplation, and their theme

executioners and their victims,
submission to the tragic
human
life
that
is
fate
is
a sense
sinner past his guards';
wound with
death and
bound
to the
human
evil.
together in suffering,
of the draining of
faith,
of
deeply Neapolitan. In the Crucifixion of St Andrew
from the prison of
Risen Christ, rising with pain, one foot

8
is
down
inward-turned
of man; they suggest an extreme casualness
(Plate 56) the saint longs for release
her
up around simple geometri-
figures, often strikingly pallid, are
apparently without hope; there
about
built
They
still
this world; the
the tomb, flees like a
St Ursula, confronting her executioner, looks at
appalled fascination, submitting to the bleak fact of
death.
At the
centre
of
pictures, Salome with

with
the
Head
this
the
group of works, and intensely personal,

Head
of John
the Baptist
of Goliath (Col. Plate 41).
perhaps pleas for clemency,
by execution. Bellori
tells
gifts
are
two
(Col. Plate 40) and David
Similar in theme, they were both
from an
artist
who
himself feared death
us that Caravaggio sent a 'half-figure of
Herodias with the head of St John the Baptist in a Basin 9 from Naples
to
Malta to placate Alof de Wignacourt, and the Madrid painting may
383
Caravaggio A Life
well be that work.
common).
may
It
(The confusion between Salome and Herodias was
have been painted in the
the attack at the Cerriglio, for
executioner
Adoration.
is
memory of
model
so flippantly asked
Herod
for the
story,
of the dancing
head of John the
human
1609, before
for the shepherd in the
Here Caravaggio transforms the
meditation on the vanity of
summer of
and the
close to the Sicilian works,
it is
the
late
He
life.
rejecting the well-worn artistic contrast
Messina
girl
who
Baptist, into a grave
ignores any erotic potential,
between a chic and seductive
Salome, and a coarse and brutal executioner, and binds the three figures
together in an arch of melancholy contemplation. There
no sense of
moment
caught and held, but
and
stillness
no
is
grief,
action,
and the
executioner, with bared shoulder, the flesh fraily painted, looks with
sadness at his victim.

in
The
daring asymmetry, the figures so brightly
lit
concentrated darkness, the subtle play of unstable curves, evoke
transience,
and the old woman, whose head seems joined to that of
Salome, no longer offers a piquant contrast with her youth, but rather
suggests the inevitability of death and age, implicit in the circular
composition
The
aimed
itself.
David with
at
the
Head
of Goliath
may
well have been a similar
gift,
Scipione Borghese, a desperate plea that the Cardinal should
pardon him, and should
him from
free
perhaps have been sent to
Rome
to plead Caravaggio
killed the giant Goliath with a stone
and cut off
his head.
clad, 'a youth,
He
is
and
sling,
cause.
10
a fair countenance'
sets his grace against the
David has
(1
Samuel
17:42),
horror of Goliath's head, the

eye, still living,
gazing in anguish in the surrounding blackness. David's gaze
bound
may
unsheathed his sword,
forehead wounded, the neck streaming blood, and one
and the two are
it
shepherd boy, bare-headed and simply
and ruddy, and of
and Caravaggio
the fear of decapitation;
is
tender,
together in a relationship with erotic resonance,
underlined by the phallic sword. In the biblical story David's relationship
with Goliath
is
homoerotic, and the word David means beloved.
It is
an arresting composition, of broad and simple shapes, in which the

diagonals of sword and
hand and the
arm
are halted
by the strong
vertical
giant's head, thrust so close to the spectator,
against the frailty
of David's young arm.
384
of David's
and so heavy
Naples and Death

In the head o Goliath, Bellori
features.
The
picture
and the
these,
is
shows Giorgione
Giorgione's David meditating on
as
the
of
by
life.
head of John the Baptist
is
borne on
is
in part root-
the head of the artist left for dead at the Cerriglio,
recognition;
it is
an
artist
with reason to imagine his
of the
execution, a darkly witty conceit reminiscent
with which Walter Raleigh, waiting his
Just at the stroke,
Set on
my
own
when my
terrible clarity
death, wrote:
veins start
soul an everlasting head
and spread,
."
belongs to a culture in which condemned criminals were exhort-
ed to penitence through pictures of cruelty and violence.
and
it
The head
still
of
suggests, in an age obsessed with salvation, a terrible fear
eternal damnation,
of an
everlasting consciousness
But perhaps most profoundly, and

is
which
triumphantly seductive Salome.
This
wounded beyond
lives,
and the
creative artist.
Caravaggio played on this tradition and his rendering
It also
of
first
melancholy David, in armour, brooding over
love, as the decapitated
a charger held
own
own
Titian dramatically painted himself as victim, subject to the
little later
ed in his
The
head of Goliath
and meditating on the power of the
Goliath's head
cruelty
origin in the art of Giorgione.
to create a relationship between the subject
first
decapitated head,
its
Caravaggio painted his
part of a long tradition of disguised self-
is
which had
portraits,
tells us,
about the power of the
artistic
it is
in this closer to Giorgione,
imagination.
It is
it
an extraordinary
image, a painting that startles and shocks the spectator. David has the
pose and beauty of
classical sculpture,
brought to fresh
caught between light and dark; Goliath, so

the magical
power of the Gorgon, placed before our
reminding us of the
earlier
Medusa, and
its
eyes so that
live,
life
and death, on the power of the
and would have delighted such
Guido
Reni's
a collector as
head of Goliath was a 'new Gorgon'
are
power to ensnare the
artist to
12
we
It is truly a merav-
it.
spectator in a world of dark and tumultuous imaginings.

the idea of
and
and yet so macabre, has
real
astonished and transfixed, turned to stone before

iglia,
artistic life,
It
make
plays
on
the dead
Marino, for
whom
and whose imaginary
385
Caravaggio A Life
Galleria was
and
Jael
power to
The
hung with paintings of
Sisera,
decapitations,
of Salome, Judith,
David, and whose madrigals explore the theme of arts
make
create wonder, to
severed head
is
the dead
live,
and to
petrify the living.
symbol of immortality, and Marino had written
sonnet to Orpheus, whose head continued to sing after he had been torn
to pieces by frenzied Maenads.
These works were
pleas for pardon, for the salvation of his marvel-
lous talent, but Caravaggio was
ed three important works, a
Anna
dei
Lombardi
(all
Naples
(Plate 56)
unusual
in Naples,
of the
Santa Maria della Sanita.

left
in July 1610
paint-
Santa
St Francis, for
and he received
The Conde
commission
for
de Benavente, Viceroy of Naples,
and took with him
in the story
from the Dominican church of
Circumcision
a large Crucifixion of St
which may have been commissioned
moment
and
He
Naples.
after in
untraced), a church which was to be the centre
of Caravaggesque painting
a very large painting
much sought
Resurrection, a St John
at this time. It
of St Andrew's
Andrew
shows an
The
crucifixion.
saint,
having been tied rather than nailed to the cross, in order to prolong his
suffering, preached to the crowds,
dom. The Proconsul of

longed to die
like Christ
who
on the
demand
his free-
to be freed, but
Andrew
were moved to
him
Patras ordered
cross,
and
his
wish was miraculously
granted, for the arms of the executioners were paralysed, and they
could not loosen his bonds. Caravaggio's
moving
is
in the extraordinarily free rendering
sense of an exhausted longing for death.'
Another
late
an intense and
of
frail flesh,
still
and
in its
deep
work, The Martyrdom of St Ursula (Col. Plate 42), was com-
missioned by Marcantonio Doria, and Caravaggio worked on

spring of 1610.
painting,
On
11
May
1610
it
in the
Lanfranco Massa, correspondent and
procurator of the Doria family, wrote to Marcantonio Doria about the

painting and refers to Caravaggio as the 'friend' of Doria, a friendship
that
had presumably been formed during Caravaggio's
few years
and
as a
earlier.
Doria was also interested
it
to
Genoa
by Caracciolo,
patron was important in introducing Caravaggesque painting to
Genoa. Massa had put Caravaggio's painting out
more
visit
in paintings
quickly, but this
on very
thick',
had softened the
in the
and was going to ask Caravaggio's help
386
sun to dry
it
paint, 'because Caravaggio puts

in preventing
Naples and Death
56.
Caravaggio, The Crucifixion of St Andrew

(Cleveland
damage
and,
to the work.
Massa
Museum of
The work had been
greeted with the usual wonder,
reports, an unidentified Signor
astounded, as also are
all
the others
who
Art)
Damiano had
have seen
it'.
387
seen
The
it
'and was
subject seems
Caravaggio A Life
honour of Marcantonio s stepdaughter, who
to have been chosen in
became
The
a nun, Sister Ursula.
Genoa on 27 May,
painting was finally despatched to
good condition,
in very
and arrived there
Santa Maria di Porto Salvo,

like the
other late paintings,
despair.
On
it is
in a felucca hopefully
'in a
named
long box' on 18 June. 14 But
a tragic work, suggesting a personal
the right the artist appears again, peering with appalled
fascination at the executioner. This self-portrait
is.
a quotation
from the
where he had painted himself in a similar pose, but
earlier Taking of Christ,
whereas that conveyed a flamboyant pride in
The
and desperate image.
world he has created, but
artist
is
creativity, this is a
drained
looking, not at the splendour of a
horror of death.
at the
summer of
1610 Caravaggio
was also painting, for Scipione Borghese, a melancholy
In these months of the spring and early
perhaps his
David;
which he used the same model
last picture, for
maybe Scipione had
received the David,
of Caravaggio s return. Caravaggio was
price
constantly in
demand
in Naples;
as for the
and was increasing the
feted, lavishly rewarded,
and
but he was also in danger, perhaps from
Rome the art world

families the Colonna, the
the Maltese, perhaps from the Spanish. But in
longed for his return, and the noblest Italian

Doria, the Gonzaga, Scipione Borghese
summer of
In the
He
were working to that end.
1610 Caravaggio, for so long an exile, left for
boarded the felucca
at Chiaia, leaving
Rome.
from the Palazzo Cellamare,
then the residence of the Marchesa Costanza, in whose household he
had been born
in Caravaggio;
he took with him pictures intended for
Cardinal Scipione Borghese, and others he
pardon was assured, and he
The
travelled with a safe
Ferdinando Gonzaga.
15
Civitavecchia and the
mouth of
fortress
to go
castle,
on
to
left
with the Marchesa. His
conduct from Cardinal
felucca put in at Palo, a tiny port between
the Tiber, where there
is
very
little
but a
and Caravaggio disembarked here, perhaps intending
Rome. But
disaster followed.
The
captain of the fortress
put him in prison, maybe with the intention of checking his credentials,
and ascertaining the
validity
of
his pardon.
Or maybe
it
was simply a
mistake: Bellori says that the captain was waiting for another knight, and
arrested Caravaggio in error.
wait
no
longer,
At
and went on
this
point the felucca, in high
to Port'Ercole, further
seas,
up the
could
coast;
it
Naples and Death

followed
a
new
its
usual itinerary, intending to disembark
cargo and take
its
one.
He
Caravaggio's situation was desperate.
celebrated painter in
marshy
desolate,
bought
amount of money, but then found
prison, with a large
Italy,
way out of
his
himself, the
with mosquitoes, where lawlessness
terrain, infested
from Rome,
to Port'Ercole, away
recover his property, above
all
in pursuit
of the
journey, of ioo kilometres, in the heat of
felucca, desperate to
Rome.
It
was a harsh
midsummer, and Caravaggio
by sea and land, and often on
between Palo and Port'Ercole but a few fishing
foot.
villages,
Very
little
and the
lay
frontier
of San Severo and Santa Marinella.
castles
Port'Ercole, then a small fortress town, under Spanish rule,
of land that
looks out over the
sea.
and with
it
on
lies
almost an island, linked to the mainland only by a
is
narrow causeway.
left at
off
set
the paintings intended for Scipione
Borghese, whose loss jeopardised his welcome in
travelled alone, perhaps
most
alone, destitute, at a tiny frontier post, in a
and bandits threatened. His pictures had gone, and he must have
spit
on
tiny square, with an elegant Renaissance palace,
most of
Here Caravaggio found
his property,
became very
Port'Ercole; he
that the felucca
had gone,
though maybe one picture had been

ill,
from
fever,
and was perhaps com-
forted by the confraternity of San Sebastiano, whose role was to care for
the sick and for travellers. Here, at this small outpost, once
reach of
Rome, he
account
romantic:
is
more within
died, probably in the local infirmary. Baglione's
In desperation he
started out along the beach under
the fierce heat of the July sun, trying to catch sight of the vessel that
his belongings. Finally,
a raging fever;
and
so,
without the aid of
died, as miserably as he
that Caravaggio
had
he came to a place where he was put to bed with
had
must have
lived'/
felt
but
God
it
on finding
or man, in a few days he
does convey the
real despair
his paintings gone,
sense of acute isolation that the place engendered, cut off
and the
from the
world, with the great fortresses spreading up the hillside, and ringed by
mountains, and, on
All
fast.
Rome had
On
arrived
all sides,
the sea.
been waiting for him, and news of
his death spread
28 July the correspondent from Urbino wrote: 'News has
of the death of Michel Angelo Caravaggio, famous painter and
389
Caravaggio A Life
most
and imitation of
excellent in colouring
at Port'Ercole', and, three days later,
da Caravaggio, famous painter,
Rome
from Naples to
is
nature, following his illness
another report ran: 'Michel Angel
dead
at Port'Ercole while travelling
thanks to the grace of his Holiness in revoking
the warrant for murder.' 17 Both reports were clear that Caravaggio had
died at Port'Ercole, and that he had been pardoned by the Pope. His
last
days were a series of misadventures culminating in tragedy, and the early

sources,
and a
series
of
letters
from Deodato
Gentile, the Bishop
Caserta, to Scipione Borghese, suggest their turbulence and despair.
18
of
On
24 July the correspondent of Scipione Borghese had been instructed by

the Cardinal to write to Gentile and get an accurate account of what had
The Bishop
happened.
hurried to reply on 20
Caravaggios death, he wrote, was entirely

swiftly
made
but
at Procida,
.'
and found that
'the
at Port'Hercole, because,
which he was
felucca, in
Captain
inquiries,
travelling,
new
July.
The news of
had
to him, but he
poor Caravaggio did not
die
having arrived at Palo with the
he was there imprisoned by that
Gentile then began to look for the pictures which had
returned to Naples on the felucca, and went to ask Costanza Colonna at
Chiaia what had happened to them. Only three were

St Johns,
let
and
Chiaia,
still at
guard them
a Magdalene. Gentile told her to
well,
two
and not to
anyone see them, for they were already spoken for by Scipione
Borghese, and the problems of Caravaggio s heirs and creditors would
have to be discussed. But a few days later the Bishop found out that the
pictures
had been sequestered by Fra Vincenzo Carafa, the Prior of
Capua, on the grounds that they belonged to the Knights of Malta, of
whom Caravaggio
had been
ministers of the Crown.
The
member, and were now
claim was
folly.
It
finally received the St John
in
Rome, and
the
Conde de
was only
the Baptist
after
that
many
is still
Don
it,
in,
Scipione
that
from the
Pedro Fernandez de Castro,
Benavente, had stepped
and remarked that
delays
in the Galleria
the other two pictures disappear
Viceroy himself,
hands of the
Prior seems unaware that Caravaggio had
been defrocked, though Costanza Colonna knew

his
in the
who had
story.
The
succeeded
asking for a copy of the
picture, and, extremely puzzlingly, writing to the Judge
of Military
affairs at the Tuscan garrison, enclosing an inventory (perhaps
390
Borghese
made by
Naples and Death

the confraternity of San Sebastiano) of Caravaggios effects, and asking
of Caravaggios belongings, particularly
for the return
had returned to Chiaia, and
Johns
it
is
London, and
the
Head
of John
Two
St
extremely surprising, but not
may
impossible, that there should be yet another; he

to the Salome with
a St John.
now
the Baptist
have been referring
in the
National Gallery,
work.
a very late
Caravaggios epitaph was composed by Marzio Milesi, and Marino

wrote a
poem
to him.
His friends were more fortunate, for Onorio
Longhi and Giovanni Franceso Tomassoni were both pardoned, and

returned to
Rome;
Fillide
on the demand of the

her,
Melandroni, briefly exiled from
relatives
of Giulio
Rome
who wished
Strozzi,
to
in 1612
marry
returned to amass considerable wealth. Only three days before his
death
nephew was born
Michelangelo.
acter,
To
in
who
Caravaggio
human
Gigli described
him
He
the
sight.
as his
few years
after his
a magical naturalism,
death Giulio Cesare
contemporaries had viewed him:
was of a fantastic humour, indeed bizarre,
Pallid
of
face,
Thick and
His eyes
and
his hair
curly
lively,
yet deeply
sunk
[he was]
The
name
contemporaries he had been an odd, difficult char-
his
both feared and admired, and the creator of
that ravished
bore
great protopainter,
Marvel of
art,
Wonder of
Though
nature,
later a victim
of misfortune. 24
39*
Notes
ABBREVIATIONS FOR FREQUENTLY CITED SOURCES
G. Baglione, Le
vite de' pittori, scultori, architetti,
Papa Urbano VIII
nel
dal pontificate di Gregorio
XIII
del
ljj2,fino a tempi di
1641 (Rome, 1642)
Baglione/Hibbard, 1988
G.
P.
Bellori, le
(Rome, 1672)
ed architetti moderni
vite de' pittori, scultori
Bellon/Hibbard, 1988
G. Mancini,
Considerazioni sulla Pittura
Salerno, 2 vols
(MS: Rome,
161730): ed. A.
c.
Marucchi and
L.
(Rome, 19567)
Mancini/Hibbard, 1988
M.
Marini, Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
'pictor
Praestantissimus'
(Rome, 1989)
Manni, 1989
S.
Corradmi,
(Rome, 1993)
Caravaggio. Materiali per un processo
Corradini, 1993
INTRODUCTION
1
On
Caravaggio and Mancini see
Giulio Mancini',
2
3
H. Hibbard,
Caravaggio
Bellon/Hibbard, 1988,
S.
Bann, The True
(London, 1983)
'Caravaggio nel Carteggio familiare di
(ed. con. 1988; pp. 343387).
p. 373.
On
Vine:
M. Maccherim,
1997, pp. 71-92.
Prospettiva, 86,
Visual Representation
and Western
Tradition
(Cambridge and
New York,
1989), p. 87.
CHAPTER ONE
1
Padre Guglielmotti, quoted in
(Rome,
2
3
N. Lemaitre,
P.
Colonna, I Colonna
P.
dalle
Origini alllnizio del Secolo
V (Paris,
Saint Pie
Colonna, op.
cit.,
p.
219.
1994), p. 316.
The
long-lasting importance of the
Caravaggio, which recent archival discoveries have confirmed, was
by
4
M.
Calvesi; see
Mancini/Hibbard,
see
M.
Calvesi, 'La
M.
Calvesi, Le Realtd
1988, p. 347. It has
Baglione/Hibbard, 1988,
Most of
M.
to
inferred
Caravaggio (Turin, 1997), passim.
Dossier,
VII, 68, 1992, pp. 1819.
p. 352.
the documentary research
was done by
del
Colonna family
first brilliantly
been suggested that Caravaggio was of noble birth;
Nobilta del Caravaggio', Art
ed,
XIX
1927), p. 235.
Cinotti,
and
on Caravaggio's youth, to which
originally published in
Caravaggio. Ricerche e Scoperte', in
M.
Cinotti
M.
this section
is
indebt-
Cinotti, 'La Giovinezza del
ed., Novitd sul Caravaggio: Saggi e Contributi
393
Lifi
(Milan, 1975), PP183-214.

summary of these, and new material have been published by
the same author, in I Pittori Bergamaschi dal XIII al XIX Secolo, vol. V, II Seicento (Bergamo,
1991), vol.
The
I,
pp. 23356. For the birth of the children, see p. 234.
place and date of Caravaggio's birth have been the subject of considerable discussion.
Michelangelo was certainly born before Giovan
and the date of the wedding suggests a date
The
October.
Battista, as other
either at the
documents make
end of September or
clear,
early in
on 29 September 1571, on the feast dav

Calvesi, and for this see le Realtd del
accepted, and is supported by the epitaph
inspired suggestion that he was born
of the Archangel Michelangelo, was made by M.

Caravaggio, op.
p. 112.
This
Milesi,
who
cit.,
Marzio
written by
months and twenty
when he
He
days.
now
is
cit.,
Roma'
attraverso
suggest late September. M. Cinotti believed that

M. Cinotti, 'La Giovinezza del Caravaggio. Ricerche e
More recently R. Zigliolo, in 'II Caravaggio ... a
pp. 200214).
in S.
Macioce
(ed.), Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio:
Documenti (Rome, 1995), p.
thirty-six years, nine
month and day
died, but the
Caravaggio, in
of
got the year wrong, for Caravaggio was almost thirty-nine
Caravaggio was born in Milan (see

Scoperte', op.
usually
says that Caravaggio died at the age
63,
La
Caravaggio later signed himself as 'Michelangelo da Caravaggio', and, when
of Malta, the
official
le
Opere
made
Knight
document, for which he himself presumably supplied the informa-
he was 'born in the town called Caravaggio
tion, declared that
Vita e
has argued that he was born in Caravaggio.
in
Lombardy'. This seems
conclusive.
Morigi, La Nobiltd
P.
Ibid., p. 268.
10
// Seicento
di
Milano (Milan, 1595), p. 332.
Lombardo, exhibition catalogue, ed. G. Bora
and Pinacoteca Ambrosiana),
M.
logue,
11
12
M.
vol.
I,
p. 85.
and
others, 1973 (Milan, Palazzo Reale
For the Lombard background
Gregori 'Note Storiche sulla Lombardia tra Cinque
Rosci, I Quadroni
Translated by
di
San Carlo
Chorpening
J.
del
Duomo
di
pp. 1946.
I,
Milano (Milan, 1965), p. 102.
Another Look
in
see, in this cata-
e Seicento', vol.
at
Caravaggio and Religion', in Artibus
et
Historiae, 16, 1987, p. 155.

13
As given
in P.
Brown, Power and
Wisconsin, 1988),
14
15
P.
Phan, Message
(Madison,
Persuasion in Late Antiquity: Towards a Christian Empire
p.153.
of the Fathers of the Church
San Carlo Bascape,
as given in
(Wilmington, Del., 1984), pp.
A. Guidetti, San Carlo Borromeo:
123, 7.
la vita nell'iconografia e nei
docu-
menti (Milan, 1984), p. 108.

16
Ibid., p. 106.
17
San Carlo Bascape,

1995), p.
18
M.
as given in E. Brivio, The Life and Miracles of St Carlo Borromeo (Milan,
15.
Cinotti, in I Pittori Bergamaschi, op.
cit.,
p. 235, for
the documents relating to this para-
graph.
19
20
R.
Ziglioli, op.
On
cit.,
in S.
Macioce
(ed.), op.
cit.,
p. 63.
schooling see C. Dempsey, 'Some Observations on the Education of Artists in
Florence and Bologna During the Later 16th Century', Art

21
Quoted
22
R. Klein, H. Zerner
23
NJ, 1996), pp. 167-8.

This contract is published in
Opere
menti
di
in II Seicento Lombardo, op.
San Luigi
cit.,
(eds.), Italian Art
dei Francesi
inediti relativi al
M.
vol.
I,
Bulletin, 52, 1980,
ijoo-1600:
Sources
and Documents (Englewood Cliffs,
Cinotti and G. A. Dell'Acqua,
(Milan, 1971),
p. 146,
E.
Bacceschi and
Cinquecento,
25
iv,
p.
M.
soggiorno lombardo del Caravaggio',
Calvesi,
'Simone Peterzano', I
Caravaggio
e le
sue
Grande
in Storia dellArte, 85, 1995, pp.
Pittori
much
earlier date.
Bergamaschi,
op.
cit.,
IV,
//
476.
E. C. Voelker, Charles Borromeo's Instructiones Fabricae
Michigan, 1977),
//
F2. S. Macioce, 'Considerazioni su docu-
35968, has suggested that Caravaggio was in Milan at a very
24
pp. 55269.
p. 42.
p.
228.
394
et Supellectilis Ecclesiasticae,
1577
(Ann Arbor,
Not
26
G. Albengi,
27
This contract
Grande Borromeo:
//
tra storia e
(Milan, 1984),
Fede
quoted, and discussed, in
is
Garegnano (Turin, 1973), p.
28
29
M.
M.
Gregori,
p. 361.
Da
Gregori, 'Riflessioni sulle ongini della natura morta.
M. Kemp and M. Walker,

London,
G.
Career as an Artist
his
to
Caravaggio' in La
Capitolini), p.19.
Vinci,
(Newhaven, Connecticut, and
Curious Paintinge Carvinge and Buildinge
Tracte Containing the Artes of
Haydocke) (Oxford,
32
al
1989), p. 42.
Lomazzo,
P.
Leonardo
(Rome, Musei
eds; Leonardo on Painting; an Anthology of Writings by Leonardo da
with a Selection of Documents Relating
31
Gli Affreschi della Certosa di
10.
natura morta al tempo di Caravaggio, exhibition catalogue, 1996,
30
p. 112.
ed.,
Book
1598) (Farnborough, 1978),
R. Klein and H. Zerner, op.
cit.,
p. 112,
from G.
Lomazzo,
P.
(tr.
R.
II, p. 3.
Idea del Tempio della Pittura
(Milan, 1590), chapter 29.

33
Translated in
34
G. Comanini,
dArte
35
del
W.
(London,
36
G.
P.
38
For
(Mantua,
della Pittura
Controriforma (Bari, 1962), vol.
For the importance of
p. 45.
1591), in P.
Caravaggio see
icastic art to
Barocchi (ed.),
F.
Trattati
274.
Ill, p.
Quiviger, Caravaggio
1992), p. 24.
Lomazzo,
P.
Fine
Cinquecento fra Manierismo
Ibid., p. 286.
37
Kriegeskorte, Giuseppe Arcimboldo (Cologne, 1993),
// Figino overo del
Morigi, op.
Fracte Containing the Artes
op.
Book
cit.,
III, p.
94.
cit., p. 181.
this possibility see
G. Berra, 'Contribuzione per
la
pesche di Ambrogio Figino', Paragone, 469, 1989, pp. 313.
datazione della natura morta di
The
painting
is
a private col-
lection.
39
For the documents concerning Caravaggio's

Bergamaschi, op.
40
W.
41
This
cit.,
his
property see
M.
Cinotti, in I Pittori
1988, p. 347.
Friedlaender, Caravaggio Studies (Princeton, NJ, 1955), p. 233.

is
the re-reading of this almost indecipherable
Realtd del Caravaggio, op.
42
of
sale
Mancini/Hibbard,
pp. 251-256.
Only
amongst the
Bellori,
document proposed by M.
Calvesi, Le
cit., p. 118.
early sources, says that Caravaggio
went to Venice;
see
H.
Hibbard, Caravaggio (London, 1988) pp. 56.

43
C. Marcora (ed.), Ifunehri per
44
Long
45
Ibid., p. 88.
Lombarda', in
46
This
Muse
is
Cardinale Carlo Borromeo (Milan, 1984), p.
il
from the Memoriah have been published
extracts
II Seicento
Lombardo, op.
printed by G. Berra, op.
cit.,
cit.,
vol.
p.
It
5.
Foscane di diversi nobilissimi ingegni (ed.
I,
in F.
M.
51.
Ferro, 'La Peste nella Cultura
pp. 85124. For this quotation see p. 90.
comes from a
collection
G. Borgogni) (Bergamo,
of poems entitled Le
1594).
CHAPTER TWO
i
Fhe Complete Works of Montaigne
(tr.
D. Frame) (London, 1958),
V (Rome,
A. Zuccari, /
G. Martin, Roma
Sancta (1581) (ed.
Sancta, see F.
McGinness,
Pittori di Sisto
J.
p. 954.
1992), p. 58.
G.
B. Parks)
(Rome,
1969), p. 54.
Right Fhinking and Sacred Oratory in
On
Rome,
Civitas
Counter-Reformation
Rome
(Princeton, NJ, 1995), pp. 16792.
4
5
J.
Delumeau, Rome au XVIe
Agostino, Cardinal Valier,

1975), p.
siecle
II
(Paris, 1975), p. 149.
Dialogo
della
Gioia Cristiana (tr.
and
ed.
A. Cistellini) (Brescia,
Xlll.
G. Bentivoglio, Memorie
D. Beggiao, La
Ibid., p. 106.
e Lettere
Visita pastorale di
(ed. C. Panigada) (Bari, 1934), p. 36.
Clemente VLJF (ijgz1600)
(Rome,
1978), p. 36.
395
A Lif-
9
10
11
G. Bentivoglio, op.
On this
J.
Spon,
Voyage de
(Lyon, 1678),
12
On
cit.,
vol.
Controriforma. Freistoria della Galleria Farnese (Turin, 1994), p. 50.
de Dalmatic, de Grece, et du Levant, fait
I'ltalie,
I,
and 40.
pp. 39
R. Zapperi, Eros
see
Rome,
the cardinals' courts in sixteenth-century
Sixteenth-Century Rome', Journal of Modern

Bentivoglio
13
14
F.
quoted on
is
'II
(Rome,
e Seicento
C. Fanucci,
B.
17
C. Bacci, as quoted in D. Alaleona,
18
L. Ponnelle
Poverty:
65,
no.
1,
1993.
Roma (Rome,
1601), pp. 701.
History (Oxford, 1994), p. 213.
and L. Bordet,
Storia dell'Oratorio Musicale in Italia
St Philip Neri
and
the
Roman
(Milan, 1945),
Society of his
Times
(tr.
R.
p. 26.
F.
Kerr)
1937), p. 129.
19
Ibid., p.
G. Bentivoglio, op.
492.
cit.,
p.
31.
C. K. Pullapilly, Caesar Baronius, Counter-Reformation Historian (Notre
London,
For the
This passage from
in F. Zeri, ed., Storia dell'Arte Italiana, Part 2,
Trattato di Tutte I'Opere Pie dell'Alma Cittd di
20
22
vols.
(Turin, 1981), p. 186.
15
21
1598), p. 191.
16
(London,
l6y6,
et
G. Fragnito, 'Cardinals' Courts in
see
History,
Recupero del Rinascimento',
vol. II: I Cinquecento
Geremek,
16 jj
p. 45.
Albergati, Del Cardinale
L. Spezzaferro,
aux annus
p. 45.
Dame,
Indiana, and
1975), p. 54.
text
of
this see P. Barocchi, Trattati dArte del Cinquecento, fra Manierismo
.ontroritorma
Controrifo
(Bari, 1961), vol. II, pp. 119509.
CHAPTER THREE
1
Caravaggio
is
documented
as
May
being in Caravaggio in
1592.
His
arrival in
Rome
in this
year confirms Mancim's account; Mancini/Hibbard, 1988, p. 47, says that Caravaggio got
to
Rome when
Opere attraverso
The
phrase
against
it,
is
Colonna
Malvasia's.
see C.
Rome
in
For
a discussion
of the 'maniera
DC,
Due
statuina',
the
Cinquecento
P.
Bellori,
Dialoghi
F.
The Lives of Annihale and Agostino
servire alia storia della
The
stay
with
12
For the quotations
The
Romana
396
Z.
p.
121;
as translated
from M. Missinni,
Accadetnia di San Luca (1823), p. 126.
Pucci
is
described
1988), p. 347. Tarquinio
is
in
p. 6.
in this paragraph, see
source for this
Rome,
13491616 (Florence, 1994), p. 61.

Carracci (tr. C. Enggass) (University Park,
is
in
detail
mentioned
manuscript, H. Hibbard, Caravaggio (London, 1988),

11
in
I'historie
p. 361.
Pandolfo
(Mancini/Hibbard,
the
1968), p. 163.
nel seconda si regiona de gli errori de Pittori circa
Haskell, Patrons and Painters (London, 1963),
Memorie per
10
Cardinale Francesco Maria Del Monte
Pennsylvania, and London, 1968),
and the reaction
(New York,
(Camerino, 1564), Folio 87V.

See letter from Baldo Falcucci, the court of Urbino's ambassador
G.
le
1986), pp. 23754.
Gilio da Fabriano,
Vita e
Painting', in The Age of Correggio and
//
La
and Seventeenth Centuries, exhibition catalogue, National
Roskill, Doke's Aretino' and Venetian Art Theory of
Wazbihski,
riflessi di luce
at this date.
Dempsey, 'The Carracci Reform of
Gallery of Art (Washington,
M.
ed., Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio:
p. 352.
Carracci: Emilian Painting of the Sixteenth
Calvesi in 'La "caraffa di fion" e
Macioce,
Documenti (Rome, 1995), p. 237, n. 4 has published a letter which mentions
the presence of Costanza

2
M.
he was about twenty.
nella pittura del Caravaggio', in S.
in
in
Mancini's
manuscript
one of the annotations to that
p. 8.
Mancini/Hibbard,
1988, p. 347.
Mancini's additions to his manuscript;
see, for the variant versions
Notes
of Mancini's manuscripts, and
Marini, 1989,
13
discussion of these extremely confusing incidents,
p. 15.
(London, National Gallery j cannot be the very
The Boy Bitten by a Lizard
tioned by Mancini. For the problem of originals and copies of the Boy
14
15
Macioce, 'Una Nota per
il
p. 352;
The
stay with Antiveduto
include
is
and probably
16
G. Baglione, he
17
G. Mancini,
18
M.
F.
Spike in La
Susinno, Le
M.
Rome
in 1606.
(Rome,
A. Marucchi) (Rome, 1956), vol.
cit.,
left
Filippo Neri e
I'arte,
in
Rome
p. 169,
is
117.
The
date
impossible to estab-
argues for 15945; he argues that Minniti probably did not
Susinno
tells
us that he stayed there ten years, and
mean
Syracuse in 1592, and this would
it is
left
that he stayed in
Malta
more
he arrived
likely that
for
in 1593.
Orlandi's account
published in S. Corradini, 'Nuove
is
Caravaggio in Roma', in
21
p. 245.
exhibition catalogue, 1995
of Lorenzo Siciliano
a considerable time; other authorities have suggested that
20
I,
(1724) (ed. Martinelli) (Florence, i960), p.
in the studio
until 1595 or '96, as
However, he
p. 356.
1642), p. 293.
del Palazzo di Venezia), pp. 5889.
Vite de' Pittori Messinesi
Calvesi, op.
arrive in
keeping with other events in Caravaggio's
in
it is
jama: San
regola e la
of Minniti and Caravaggio's stay

lish.
(ed.), op. cit. pp. 12336.
p. 356.
Caravaggio (Turin, 1990), p. 168, an attribution elaborated less cau-
del
(Rome, Museo Nazionale

19
but
Bellori/Hibbard, 1988,
true.
Considerazioni sulla Pittura (ed.
J.
Macioce
only mentioned in Bellori's notes to Baglione, and he does not
Vite de' Pittori, Scultori et Architetti
Calvesi, Le Realtd
by
in S.
in his official biography;
it
early career
tiously
Mondafrutto',
work men-
early
Peeling a Fruit, see S.
S.
Macioce
(ed.), op.
cit.,
M.
Letter of 21 July 1593; as translated in R. and
e false notizie sulla
presenza del
p. 74.
Wittkower, Born under Saturn (London,
1963), p. 234.
22
Baglione, op.
23
Ibid., p. 357.
24
Ibid., p. 374.
25
Ibid., p. 102.
26
Ibid., p. 102.
27
For the
clear;
292.
cit., p.
of Prospero Orsi,
life
he died in
1633
see Baglione, op.
and Baglione
says that he
cit.,
pp. 299300. His age
was then
75,
which implies
and makes him considerably older than Caravaggio. This more or
1558,
Mancini's account. G. Mancini, op.
cit.,
vol.
I,
p. 252, says that
is
not entirely
a birth date
Orsi was between 50 and 60
161920. But the evidence of Costantino Spata, cited by S. Corradini and
in
c.
in
'The Earliest Account of Caravaggio
in
Rome',
of
with
less tallies
M. Marini
January 1998,
Burlington Magazine,
p. 26,
suggests that Orsi was 2528 years old in 1597.
28
The
early sources disagree
on the date of
this episode; Baglione puts
it
before Caravaggio's
period in Cesari's studio; Mancini, with detail that suggests accuracy, places
says that
it
concluded his stay
for the Prior

Sicily). It is
who
30
The
Sick Bacchus
was
it
however, says that
'a
also says that Caravaggio did
when
is
he says
was confiscated by Scipione Borghese.

still
in Cesari's studio. Baglione,
Sick Bacchus
was amongst
a Basket of Fruit
Galeria (Venice, 1620), ed.

1,
1;
number of
was trying to
live
'portraits
M.
was also confiscated from Cesari.

Pieri (Padua, 1979), p. 199.
Complete Odes and Fpodes
(London,
1983), pp.
397
of himself
by himself, immediately
possible that Cesari could have bought the painting at
date before 1607. The Boy with
G. Marino, La
Seville (but in his notes
Bacchus with different bunches of grapes' (Hibbard/Baglione, 1988,
almost certainly the
Horace, Odes, Book
it
was painted while Caravaggio was
after leaving Cesari. It
31
and
paintings
p. 361.
in the mirror' that Caravaggio painted while he
32
it later,
many
the Prior was during Caravaggio's stay.
in Cesari's stock in 1607,
implies that
p. 352)
Mancini
of the hospital, who took them home to
not clear
29
That
there.
6970.
some
later
Caravaggio A Life
33
34
35
Philostratus the Elder, Imagines
Ode XVII, Book
Horace,
G.
B. del Tufo, Ritratto
1,
(tr.
op.
Modello
A. Fairbanks) (London,
cit., p.
delle
1931), p. 125.
86.
Grandezze,
meraviglie della nohilissima Cittd di Napoli
delitie e
(ed. C. Tagliareni) (Naples, 1956), pp. 322.

36
As
W.
translated by
Friedlaender, in 'The Academician
Caravaggio', in Gazette
Heikamp
37
D.
38
A Michele Milanese
the date
tory,
is
may
des
Beaux
Arts,
XXXIII,
and the Bohemian; Zuccari and
1948, p. 30.
(ed.), Scritti d'Arte di Federico Zuccaro (Florence, 1961), pp. 658.
not
is
listed in the
Libro degli Introiti of the Accademia di San Luca, but
has been suggested that this
clear; it
artist,
who
then disappears from his-
Hours
have been Caravaggio. For Caravaggio's participation in the Forty
Waga,
Vita
hanno
a stare assistenti alle S.
Nota
Appendice
Ignota dei Virtuosi al Pantheon (1992),
Me
1',
H.
see
'Lista delli fratelli che
Ora. ni di Quarta Hore', pp. 21922off; and
S. Rossi,
'Peccato e Redenzione negli Autorittratti del Caravaggio' in S. Macioce, ed., op.
cit.,
pp.
316-27.
39
From
Giustiniani, 'Letter
Raccolta di Lettere sulla Pittura
and
J.
Brown,
Italy
on Painting
(Rome,
to
Theodor Ameyden' in G.
As translated
1768), vol. VI, pp. 24753.
Bottari (ed.),
in
R. Enggass
and Spain 1600 lyjg: Sources and Documents (Englewood Cliffs, NJ,
1970), p. 17.
40
C.
Van Mander, Het Schilder-Boeck (Haarlem, 1604)
as translated in
H. Hibbard,
1988, p.
344-
CHAPTER FOUR
1
2
3
Bellon/Hibbard
G. Baglione, Le
G. Mancini,
1988, p. 362.
vite de'pittori, scultori et architetti
Ibid., notes, Vol.
I,
Mancini/Hibbard,
A. Proia and
Marini, 1989,
P.
1642), p. 300.
vol.
pp. 251-2.
I,
p. 227.
1988, p. 347.
Romano, Roma
may
Petrignani in 1594, as he
nel Rinascimento
that
26, says
p.
(Rome,
A. Marucchi) (Rome, 1956),
it
is
(Rome,
1933), p. 140.
The
census
Caravaggio was
just possible that
have followed the painter
Anton Maria
Petrignani's service in January 1594. C. Gilbert, Caravaggio and His
Two
is
from
Panico,
1566.
Palazzo
at the
who
left
Cardinals (University
Park, Pennsylvania, 1995), pp. 132-3, argues for the date of 1595.
8
B. Castiglione, The Book of
L. Spezzaferro, 'La Cultura del Cardinal

dellArte,
10
the
Courtier (1561) (tr.
T Hoby) (London,
Del Monte
il
9-10, 1971, p. 68; as translated by C. Gilbert, op.
L. Spezzaferro, op.
1974), p.
primo tempo
cit.,
p. 203.
p. 67, n. 51.
cit.,
G. Pieraccini, Le
Stirpe dei Medici di Cafaggiolo
12
Z. Wazbinski,
Cardinak Francesco Maria Del Monte 1349-1626 (Florence, 1994),
13
Ibid., p. 113.
11
14
Il
First published
Household',
op.
cit.,
and translated by
Metropolitan
F.
(Florence, 1925), vol.
II, p.
289.
p. 77.
T Camiz, 'Music and Painting in Cardinal del Monte's
Museum Journal,
26, 1991, p. 213.
For the original see Z. Wazbinski,
pp. 376-7.
15
L. Spezzaferro, op.
16
Z. Wazbinski, op.
17
Ibid., p. 379.
18
Ibid., pp. 3812.
19
See Marini, 1989,
cit.,
p. 21.
cit., p.
p.
377.
26,
and C. Frommel, 'Caravaggios friihwerk und der Kardinal
Francesco Maria del Monte',

tory of 18
20
18.
di Caravaggio', Storia
March
G. Mancini, op.
1600,
cit., p.
398
Storia dellArte,
9/10, 1971, pp. 7-8, n. 20 for Petrignani's inven-
which contains no mention of Caravaggio.

216.
Notes
21
us that Caravaggio suffered from dire poverty after
p. 352, tells
leaving Cesan's studio, until he was rescued by a French dealer,
S Luigi dei Francesi. As
lived near
of Caravaggio
Rome',
in
S.
Magazine,
Burlington
M.
Corradini and
CXL,
Maestro Valentino, who
Marini, in 'The Earliest Account
January 1998, pp. 258, have demon-
strated this dealer was the Italian, Costantino Spata.
22
The
on the Gypsy
early sources
Fortune Teller are extremely confusing, a
confusion exacer-
bated by the fact that there are two versions of this painting, the work in the Capitoline,
and another work, subtler
in
mood,
Louvre
in the
both over attribution and over the sequence
many
that 'During that period he painted
young man
his fortune, the Flight into
(Mancini/Hibbard,
Evangelist'
when he was
Vittrice, the
it is
not clear whether
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.
a painting
Come
logue, 1991 (Florence, Palazzo Pitti;

23
Bellon, as translated in Hibbard,
24
Anton Maria Cospi,
25
Ibid., p. 553.
26
A. Bragaglia,
Ibid., p. 98.
28
On
mean
does not
this
This picture was
of
that
his
all
by
to Alessandro
left:
gypsy sold for 8 scudi and
bought by del Monte for
exhibition catalogue, Metropolitan
27
means
'that period'
with Fantin Petrigani. Elsewhere he describes a Gypsy
this
low
arguments over dating and attribution see K. Christiansen,
//
tells a
patron of the Entombment of Christ (Vatican, Pinacoteca); Corradini,
bly the Capitoline picture,
Player,
us
tells
Egypt, the Penitent Magdalene, a St John the
refer to this version.
Mancini mentions
1993, p. 96.
divided
is
Gypsy who
in particular a
belonged to Alessandro Vittrice, but
remarks on the painting
Gerolamo
and
pictures,
1988, p. 347), but
in d'Arpino's studio or
Fortune Teller that
opinion
in Paris. Scholarly
which they were painted. Mancini
in
Museum
nascono
of Art,
price.
was proba-
the
Lute
1990, pp. 545,
and
Caravaggio Rediscovered:
New York,
Capolovari (ed.
this
For a summary of the
M.
Rome, Palazzo Ruspoli),
Gregori), exhibition cata-
pp. 8695.
p. 362.
Giudice Criminalista (Florence, 1643), p. 551.
Storia del Teatro Popolare
Romano (Rome,
1958), p. 91.
p. 86.
For the
Pavoni for the
Medici-
Del Monte's connection with the Gelosi, see Z. Wazbinski, op.
quote see A. Bragaglia, op.
at., p. 92;
it is
taken from the Diario
di
cit.,
Lorrain wedding.
29
These engravings
30
On
gypsy
are part
dress, see Paul
of the
Receutl de Froissard,
storm with the gypsy": more on the gypsy and

3,
31
1995, pp. 383403.
On
this,
see Barry
Stockholm, National Museum.
Holberton, 'Giorgione's "Tempest" or
For the quotation, see
Wind,
"little
landscape with the
a reassessment', Art History vol.
XVIII, no.
p. 386.
'"Pitture Ridicole":
Some
Late Cmquecento
Comic Genre
Paintings', Storia dellArte 20, 1974, pp. 2535.

32
33
See
J.
Gordon, 'Gypsies
Society,
3rd series,
1045.
The
as
Emblems of Comedy and
XXIII, 1944, pp. 3942. Gordon
Ariosto frontispiece
G. Murtola
(ed.), 1603,
Rime
is
34
O. Tronsarelli,
(Rome,
35
F. Berni,
36
A. Rocca, 'Trattato di Fr. Angelo Rocca Vescovo
giochi a
di
1617), in Costume
per
la
e Societd nei
Alleon
Controriforma. Preistoria della Galleria Farnese (Turin, 1994), p. 87.
R. Zapperi, Eros
Archivio di Stato di
39
e Prefetto della Sacrestia apostolica
Conservazione della Robba' (Rome,
Giuseppe Maria Mitelli, exhibition catalogue, 1988 (Foligno, Palazzo
38
40
p. 62.
p. 78.
37
1595,
1634), pp. 2123.
Rime (ed. D. Romei) (Milan, 1985),
Stampa
Ubaldi)
Gypsy Lore
Gasparo Murtola (Venice, 1604), Madrigal 472; as given
cit., p. 17.
salute dell'anima e per la
the
(Padua, 1625), pp.
illustrated opposite p. 40.
del Signor
in K. Christiansen, op.
L'Appollo
Poverty', Journal of
cites Ripa's Iconologia
Roma, Tnbunale Criminale
del Governatore Processi Busto 291,
pp. 445 ff.
Z. Wazbinski, op.
cit.,
p. i42n.
p. 363.
399
Anno
A Lif<
41
Fondazione Treccani
degli Alfieri, Storia di Milano: L'Etd
Riforma, vol.
della
X (Milan, n.d.), p.
408.
42
See D. Boughner, The Braggart
43
Renaissance
in
am grateful to Lynda Stephens
Comedy (Minneapolis, 1954),
the polished finger, might be cheats' gloves. See also A.
M.
44
A.
45
P.
46
A. Bragaglia, op.
47
Amayden,
Cospi, op.
cit.,
M.
p. 80.
which so prominently
for suggesting that the gloves,
Cospi, op.
reveal
pp. 56061.
cit.,
p. 561.
Aretino, Le Carte Parlanti (Palermo, 1992), p. 229.

p. 108.
cit.,
by C. Gilbert, op.
as translated
205.
cit., p.
This chapter, 'Reports on
contains a fascinating discussion of the sexual orientation of Del
48
Amayden's report
49
This
letter
is
published in Latin in the seminal
dated 9 July
is
3759, ff.6oo01). I
am
1593.
Monte and
Sexuality',
Caravaggio.
by L. Spezzaferro, op.
article
p. 61.
cit.,
Archivio di Stato di Firenze (Fondo Mediceo del Principato
Camiz
grateful to Franca Trinchieri
for telling
me of
this letter.
CHAPTER FIVE
i
2
3
Z. Wazbinski,
Ibid., p. 518.
R. Toste,
Cardinale Trancesco Maria Del Monte lj 491626 (Florence, 1994), p.
//
On
Leoni's relationship with
Discourse
to
the
Del Monte,
Bishop of London (1589) (ed.
115.
see pp. 1989.
R. C. Melzi),
p. 59. I
am
grateful to
Emma Lauze for this reference. The suggestion that Gerolama was the model for the Judith
was made by R.
Quaderni
di
B.
Z. Wazbinski, op.
Ibid., p. 455.
Ibid.,
p.
Amidei, 'Delia committenza Massimo',
Palazzo Venezia, 6
380;
(MilanRome,
cit.,
G. Martin, Roma
Z. Wazbinski, 'Uno Schizzo di
13
G.
P. P.
dall'Italia all'Europa,
the
B. Parks)
V Galilei, Ilprimo
given in T Carter, Music
Bizoni
un
cardinale:
Montalto o Del
Atti del Convegno, 1990, p. 73.
Hoby) (London, 1974), p. 101.

Monte e il pnmo tempo del Caravaggio',
contrapunto intorno all'uso
p. 190.
pp. 1378.
Z. Wazbinski,
ibid.,
K. Christiansen,
Musiche, as given
Storia
pp.
Archivio di Stato di Firenze,
Fondo Mediceo
la
Giustiniani, Discorso sopra
American
Institute
paragraph are from
(New
Art), p. 45.
18
Musica
(tr.
del Principato 3762, unpaginated.
Carol MacClintock), in
of Musicology,
1962, pp.
this source: see pp. 69, 71
C. L. Frommel, 'Caravaggios Friihwerk

Storia dell'Arte,
158891), as
1389.
17
As given
(MS
1992), p. 185.
Caravaggio Rediscovered: The Lute Player, exhibition catalogue, 1990
York Metropolitan Museum of
9,
consonanze
(London,
cit.,
15
Documents
delle
Renaissance and Early Baroque Italy
in Late
cit.,
16
and
67 and
Musicological Studies and
80. All the quotations in
76.
und der Kardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte',
910, 1971, pp. 445.
in K. Christiansen, op.
22
Ibid., f.947; letter
23
In recent years a great deal of
of 29
cit. p.
May
del Principato, Folio 3760, f-937-
1599.
work has been done on Caravaggio and music, and this secarticles: F. Trinchieri Camiz and A. Ziino, 'Caravaggio:
indebted to the following
400
46.
Fondo Mediceo
21
is
Bernardo
1969), p. 96.
ritratto di
inT. Carter, op.
Il
tion
il
Cardinale Francesco Maria del Monte, op.
G. Caccini, Le Nuove
Z. Wazbinski,
20
di
Courtier (1561) (tr. T.
libro della prattica del
this
Viaggio
di
910, 1971, p. 59.
14
19
(Rome,
Rubens per
L. Spezzaferro, 'La Cultura del Cardinal del

dell'Arte,
Riflessioni,
p. 352.
Sancta (1581) (ed.
Monte?', in Rubens:
12
Europa Milkseicentosei Diario
(ed.),
11
Nuove
1942), pp. 767.
10
Caravaggio:
1989), p. 50.
240.
p.
Banti
A.
(Rome,
No
Aspetti musicali e committenza', in Studi Musicali,
Castrato Singer:
From Informal
quadn
171 186; 'La Musica nei

Venezia,
to
Formal
di Caravaggio', Caravaggio:
and Painting
1989, pp. 198221; 'Music
6,
Metropolitan
Museum
iz, 1983,
pp. 6790; F. T. Camiz, 'The
Portraiture', Artibus
Journal, 26, 1991, pp. 21326;
Nuove
et
Historiae, ix, 18, 1988,
Quaderni
Riflessioni
in Cardinal del
in
Inscriptions in
Honor
Ward (ed. A. Shapiro) (Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1985), pp. 24163;
of John Milton
Barbara Russo
in The Age of Marino: Literature, Fine Arts and Music (ed. F.
24
Guardiani) (Toronto, 1994), pp. 46585.

Baglione/Hibbard, 1988, p. 352.
25
E. Grillo (ed.), Torquato Tasso: Aminta, a Pastoral
26
27
G. Mancini,
Giustiniani, op.
pp.
Palazzo
Monte's Household',
H. Colin Slim, 'Musical
Paintings by Caravaggio and his Followers', in Music and Context: Essays
Hanning, 'Images of Monody',
di
Drama (London,
1924), pp. 723.
p. 78.
cit.,
(Rome, 19567),
Considerazione sulla Pittura
ed.
Marucchi,
vol.
I,
1956, pp.
129-30.
28
G. Murtola
29
The two versions of this picture, The Lute Player (St. Petersburg, Hermitage) and The Lute
Player (New York, Wildenstein), have been the subject of much dispute. The present author
Rime
(ed., 1603),
del Signor
Casparo Murtola (Venice, 1604).
has followed K. Christiansen's views of their relationship and dating: see K. Christiansen,
op.
30
31
cit.,
pp. 5860.
New
S. Sadie (ed.), The
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
(London,
1980), vol. 7, p. 96.
Montoya was suggested by F. T Camiz, Music and

Painting in Cardinal Del Monte's Household, op. cit., p. 221. Camiz has also suggested that
Caravaggio knew Philostratus's description of the Greek musician Amphion, and that he
The
of the
identification
lutanist as
deepened the significance of

the classical past. See
F.
his portrayal
of
contemporary musician by an allusion to
Camiz, 'Per prima cosa guarda
per vedere se e dipinta
la lira,
correttamente': quadri a soggetto musicale all'epoca di Caravaggio', in La Natura Morta
Tempo
di Caravaggio,
32
Z. Wazbihski, op.
33
Ibid., p. 89.
34
35
G. Baglione, Le
G.
(Rome, Musei
1995
al
Capitolini), pp. 759.
p. 570.
cit.,
Vite de'Pittori, Scultori e Architetti
(Rome,
1642), p. 365.
Paleotti, in B. Barocchi, Trattati dArte del Cinquecento, fra Manierismo
Controriforma (Bari,
1961), vol. 2, p. 299.
36
See
P.
M. Jones,
Borromeo and
Federico
Milan (Cambridge, 1993),

37
C. L. Frommel, op.
38
39
Both the date and attribution of

tain.
For
41
As given
Amhrosiana: Art Patronage and Reform
of
this
see La Natura Morta al Tempo
delle
Laudi Divine
This picture has recently inspired some very
N Bryson,
and Western
Looking at
A. Quint, Cardinal
43
Ibl d., pp- 24-5.
44
G. Murtola, op.
45
Quoted by
46
NJ, 1992), p.
G. Vasari, Le
J.
on copper by Jan Breughel
this small painting
problem
di Caravaggio,
are uncer-
exhibition
108.
cit., p.
42
Seventeenth-Century
p. 352.
in A. Martini, I Tre Lihri
in
cit., p. 31.
a discussion
catalogue, op.
40
the
p. 83.
the
(Cambridge and
Overlooked: Four Essays on
Federico
cit.,
Tradition
Borromeo
(New York,
Connect: art and
Borromeo (Padua, 1975), p. 193.
by
New York,
Still Life
Painting
S.
Bann, The True
Vine:
1989), pp. 68101,
On
and by
(London, 1990), pp. 7783.
1986), p. 252.
Madrigal 473; reprinted in
Shearman, Only
di Federico
brilliant writing,
M.
Marini, 1989,
p.
the spectator in the Italian
404.
Renaissance (Princeton,
50.
Vite
de'piu
eccellenti pittori, et scultori italiani,
Milanesi (Florence, 1959)

recent scholarship
on
the
vol.
iv,
p. 24.
da Cimabue insino a' tempi
See Z. Wazbinski, op.
cit., p.
96.
For
Medusa see M. Gregori, in La Magnificenza alia Corte

Museo degli Argenti), 1997, no. 59, pp. 101 2.
bition catalogue (Florence,
401
nostri,
ed.
G.
summary of
dei Medici,
exhi-
Caravaggio A
47
48
p. 352.
G. Getto,
49
Meditations on
NJ,
50
Poesia
of Christ (tr.
the Life
(Milan, 1969),
Ragusa and
I.
picture s provenance
in 1606,
mentions
[Milan, 1975], p.
but a
113);
M.
(1477), as given in
Fioretti
P.
Green) (Princeton,
in the inventory
Frommel,
in 1627 (C.
dell'Arte,
sul Caravaggio: Saggi e Contributi
mentioned
of the pos-
Caravaggios Friihwerk und der
nos. 910, 1971, p. 34.).
Askew, 'The Angelic Consolation of St Francis of Assist
Post-Tridentine Painting', Journal of

52
Cinotti (ed.), Novitd
St Francis in Ecstasy is also
Kardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte, Storia

I
B.
The will of Ottavio Costa, drawn

of St Francis by Caravaggio (L. Spezzaferro, 'Ottavio Costa
of Cardinal Del Monte made
sessions
51
Ragusa and R.
"I.
uncertain and controversial.
is
a picture
Caravaggio: Certezze e Probleme' in
p. 115.
ed.
1961), p. 67.
The
up
Barocco in Prosa
Lif<
the
Warburg and Courtauld
F.
Mattesini, 'San Francesco inTasso', in San Francesco
del
Rinascimento al Romanticismo (ed. S. Pasquazi), Atti del
Institutes,
XXXII,
in
1969, p. 285.
Francescanesimo nella Letteratura Italiana
il
Convegno Nazionale (Rome,
1990),
pp. 170-2.
53
54
E. Cecchi
and N. Sapegno
(eds.), Storia della Letteratura Italiana
Defined', Studies
in Spirituality, 2,
Luis de Granada,
56
Cambridge, 1869), p. 142.

See F. T. Camiz, 'Luogo molto vago
un suo
Counsels on Holiness of Life
soffitto dipinto
work. Cavalieri's
letter
is
of
a transcript
this inquiry,
and M. Marini, 'The
are
il
casino del Cardinale del
Ricerche di Storia dell'Arte, 1992,
Monte ed
pp. 818 for this
p. 82.
CHAPTER
For
794.
O. Shipley) (London, Oxford and
(tr.
et delitioso
da Caravaggio', in
on
p.
God and Humanity
1992, p. 66.
55
(Milan, 1967), vol.V,
A. Cacciotti, 'The Cross: Where, according to Jacopone da Todi,
Earliest
SIX
from which
all
these quotations are taken, see S. Corradini
Account of Caravaggio
in
Rome',
Burlington Magazine
CXL,
January 1998, pp. 258.

2
J.
von Sandrart,
Joachim von Sandrarts Academic der Bau~, Bild- und Makkrey-Kunste von l6yj (ed.
A. R. Pelzer) (Munich, 1925), as translated in H. Hibbard, Caravaggio (London, 1988).

3
This perfect simile

Italy',
4
5
G. Baglione, Le
Onorio Longhi
S.
(Rome,
del
(Rome,
Roma, Tribunale Criminale
4 maggio
1994), p.
in Sixteenth-Century
(1992), p. 866.
Vite de Pittori, Scultori et Architetti
Assasssino
from T V Cohen, 'The Lay Liturgy of Affront
is
Journal of Social History, 25, no.
1642), p. 156.
del Senatore, reg. 1438, Costituto di
1595 p. 2ov, cited in
R. Bassani and
F. Bellini,
Caravaggio
13.
Corradini, 'Nuove e false notizie sulla presenza del Caravaggio in Roma', in S. Macioce

lyrics
La
Vita attraverso
Documenti (Rome, 1995),
p. 73.
Obscene
were part of the usual weaponry of scorned young men; E. Cohen, in 'Honor and
Gender
in the Streets
of Earlv Modern Rome',
young
p. 613, tells
the story of a
and
accompanied by the
guitar,
ass for
your
Corradini, 1993, pp. 89.
L. Pascoli, Vite de
10
G. Baglione, op.
Ibid., p. 157.
Ibid., p. 360.
13
R. and
'Oh
little
woken by the delicate harmonies of lute

now comes the summer/Prepare your
whore,
Born Under Saturn (London, 1963),
R. and
11
lyric
lover'.
M. Wittkower,
12
journal of Interdisciplinary History, xxii, 4, 1992,
prostitute, Aurelia,
Pittori, Scultori ed Architetti

cit., p. 156.
M. Wittkower,
402
op.
cit., p.
198.
moderni
(Rome,
p. 196.
1736), vol. II, pp. 5123.
Not
14
Baglione, op.
cit.,
pp. 1323; as translated in R.
15
R. Zapperi, Eros
16
17
C. van Mander, Het
and M. Wittkower, op.
cit.,
p. 89.
Controrijorma: Preistoria della Galleria Farnese (Turin, 1994), p-49p. 373.
(Haarlem, 1604),
Schilder-Boeck
p. i9ir, as translated in
Hibbard, 1988,
p.
34418
19
The
word
Italian
and whores,
prostitutes
p. 355.
does not quite translate as the English 'courtesan', and
cortigiana
and became wealthy, but none the

wars of
20
21
Corradini, 1993,
F.
she participated in the violent behaviour and insult
less
prostitutes.
p. 10.
Angeloni, Historia
cit.,
22
common
cortigiane,
was immensely successful
are often hard to differentiate. Fillide
(Rome,
di Terni
1666), p. 199;
quoted
R. Bassani and
in
F. Bellini,
op.
p. 65.
F. Bellini, 'Tre
documenti
Michelangelo da Caravaggio',
inediti per
Prospettiva, 63,
1992, p.
70.
23
The
Corradini, 1993, pp. 11 17.

25
October
1600. It
quotations in this paragraph are from this document, dated
extremely difficult, and runs together
is
many
incidents, including
Longhi and Caravaggio's brawl with Marco Tullio and Flavio Canonici, for which
The
see p. 16.
magistrates seem to have been fishing for information with questions that seem unre-
lated
and to have
little
bearing on the matter in hand, but perhaps underlying
them
is
the
beginning of an enmity on Longhi's part towards Ranuccio Tomassoni. Caravaggio does
not appear in these preliminary skirmishes with Ranuccio, but he was side by side with
Longhi
in other violent episodes.
24
Corradini, 1993,
25
G. Martin, Roma Sanaa
26
The Complete Works of Montaigne
(tr.
27
R. Bassani and
F. Bellini,
op.
cit., p.
74.
F. Bellini,
op.
cit., p.
68.
p. 26.
(1581) (ed.
G.
(Rome,
B. Parks)
1969), p. 145.
D. Frame) (London, 1958),
28
R. Bassani and
29
Idem.
30
This episode, and Prudenzia Zacchia's complaint against
Travel Journal, p. 957.
Fillide
and her friend Prudenzia
Brunori are both described in Corradini, 1993, pp. 215, a document full of lively insults
and colourful syphilitic imagery that vividly evokes such neighbourhood warfare. I am
greatly indebted to
street life
is
Tom and Elizabeth Cohen
Liturgy of Affront', op.

cially,
XXII,
Interdisciplinary History,
Words and Behaviour
in
32
On
this see F.
33
the
d'Alessandri,
1935).
II Cavaliere
and
Roman
Cohen, 'The Lay

espe-
of Early Modern Rome', Journal
pp. 597625; E. Cohen, '"Courtesans"
of
and "Whores":
Streets', Women's Studies, vol. 19, no. 2, 1991, pp. 2018.
Point of
The
Thomas
on whores and courtesans
for material
in the Streets
T Hoby) (London,
Courtier (1561) (tr.
R. Bryson, The
(New York,
Gentleman
4, 1992,
Roman
31
34
pp. 85777,
cit.,
Cohen, 'Honor and Gender
E.
for help in reading these documents.
discussed in several of their publications; see
Honor
in
16th century Italy:
quotation from Aristotle
is
1974), pp. 35
An
as given
and 40.
Aspect of the Life of
on
the
p. 28.
Compito (Viterbo, 1609), pp. 657.
E. Cohen, Journal of Interdisciplinary History, has coined the
term 'house scorning' for
this rit-
ual.
35
L. Lawner, I Modi: The Sixteen Pleasures, an Erotic Album of

p. 38,
who
cites F.
36
G. Martin, op.
37
On
38
See C. L. Frommel, 'Caravaggio, Minniti e
this see
Macioce
cit., p.
his
cit.,
room
(London,
1988),
p. 50.
il
Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte', in S.
The
Renaissance
n.d.), p. 109.
143.
R. Zapperi, op.
1995), pp. 1842.
the Italian
Pona, La Lucerna (ed. G. Fulco) (Rome,
idea
is
attractive,
and
it is
La
Vita
le
Opere
attraverso
very likely that Caravaggio
documenti
(Rome,
would have used
mate, as a model, but the portrait engraving, although certainly similar to
403
A
Caravaggio's youth,
39
not absolutely unimpeachable evidence. For the portrait engraving
is
G. Grosso Caccopardo, Memorie
see
For
Marini, 1989,
41
This was
first
Caravaggio:
Nuove
will
is
(Messina,
1821),
ill.
83.
dated 8 October 1614.
suggested by R. Barbiellini Amidei, in 'Delia Committenza Massimo', in

Quaderni
Riflessioni,
de Voragine, The Golden Legend
J.
43
The hidden symbolism of
44
45
See R. Bassani and
W. G. Ryan)
the ointment jar was
51.
(Princeton, NJ, 1993), vol.

first
pointed out by
in S.
Macioce
(ed.), op.
cit.,
pp. 538.
Not
cit.,
p.
I,
p. 375.
Askew, 'Caravaggio:
P.
249.
p. 362.
op.
F. Bellini,
On
Bianchini are reliable.
documenti
e false
Palazzo Venezia, 6, 1989, p.
di
(tr.
Outward Action, Inward Vision',
all
the documents concerning
the difficulties of using these
documents
Caravaggio in Roma', in
sulla presenza del
S.
Anna
see S. Corradini,
Macioce
(ed.), op.
pp. 718.
cit.,
46
The
402.
p.
42
'Nuove
de Pittori Messinese e degli Esteri
Fillide's will see
40
Lifi
Corradini, 1993, pp. 11720, publishes an inventory of Fillide's property which includes this
work.
47
Quoted by
and
B.
Aikema,
48
G. Martin, op.
49
J.
50
cit.,
de Voragine, op.
The
'Titian's
Journal of
its Critics',
may
it
vol.
I,
is
Institutes, 57,
An Ambiguous
1994, p.
Painting
51.
p. 375.
unclear.
have hung in Del
Z. Wazbihski,
Musicians.
in the Palazzo Pitti:
pp. 143, 144.

cit.,
history of the Bacchus
gestion that
Mary Magdalene
Warburg and Courtauld
the
II
M. Marini, 1989, p. 399, has made the interesting sugMonte s musical camerino with The Lute Player and The
Cardinals Prancesco Maria del Monte
1349 1626 (Florence, 1994), p.

in 1618 for the Grand Ducal
was acquired by Francesco Guicciardini
99, says that the Bacchus

collections.
51
Horace, Odes, Book
52
On artists and Bacchus see K. Hermann Fiore, 'II Bacchino Malato autoritratto del Caravaggio
ed
53
54
cit.,
It is
G.
56
artisti',
(tr.
J.
Michie) (Harmondsworth, 1967).
in Caravaggio: Nuove
Riflessioni,
Quaderni
di
Palazzo Venezia,
pp. 95132.
impossible to see this self-portrait in a reproduction of the painting, but
B.
Marino,
Marino
55
The Odes of Horace
bacchiche degli
altre figure
op.
18;
1,
L'Adone,
I,
43; translated in
(New York and London,
Sandrart/Hibbard, 1988,
Mancini/Hibbard,
'II
V Mirollo,
The Poet of
the
it
does
exist.
Marvellous: Giambattista
1963), p. 78.
p. 379.
1988, p. 349.
given by R. Zigliolo,
J.
The
dates
of Giovan
Battista Merisi's stay in
Caravaggio ... a Caravaggio, in Rome', in
S.
Rome
Macioce
are
(ed.), op.
cit., p. 63.
57
F.
Susinno, Le
Vite de Pittori Messinesi e di altri chefiorirono in
Messina (ed.
V Martinelli) (Florence,
i960), p. 117.
CHAPTER SEVEN
1
O. Panciroli, I
Tesori Nascosti dell'Alma Cittd di
Roma (Rome, 2nd
Fondo Mediceo
ed., 1625), p. 2.
del Principato, vol. 3759,
Ibid.,
12.
Ibid.,
f.
10.
Ibid.,
f.
34V 35r.
Idem.
Z. Wazbihski,
Archivio di Stato di Firenze, Mediceo del Principato, vol. 3760,
R. Krautheimer,
Wittkower
//
f.
531.
Cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte 1349-1626 (Florence, 1994), p. 147f.
945.
A Christian Triumph in 1597', in Essays in the History of Art Presented
(London,
1967), p. 174.
404
to
Rudolph
Not
10
11
Nadal and Early Jesuit Art in Rome', Art Bulletin, LVIII, 1976, p. 432.
H. Barnabeus, Purpura sancta seu vita Cardinalts Baromi (Rome, 1651), p. 62; as given in R.
T. Buser, 'Jerome
Krautheimer, op.
12
On
cit.,
Christianity', Studies
13
Barocchi (ed.),
P.
loc. cit.
Counter-Reformation patterns of conversion see A. Mali, 'Patterns of Conversion
in
pp. 20922.
in Spirituality, 2, i()g2,
Trattati d'Arte del Cinauecento jra
Mamerismo
Controriforma (Bari, 1961), vol. 2,
p. 215.
14
15
Ibid., p. 228.
See
I.
Fosi, La Societd Violenta:
(Rome,
16
As given
M. Gregon,
in
Naples, Capodimonte),
17
See C. Ricci,
19
20
Roman
C. Baronius, I Annales
M.
22
Z. Wazbinski, op.
23
Marini, 1989,
Calvesi, he Realtd
S.
21m,
p.
cit.,
and
206,
211,
213.
O'Neil, 'Stefano Maderno's Saint
Ecclesiastici vol. 9,
del
(New York, Met:
Bishop and H. L. Stuart) (London, 1926), for the quo-
sculpture remeasured', in Antologia

as
quoted
Fondo mediceo
S. Tuccio,
M.
M.
264.
cit., p.
21
24
The Age of Caravaggio, exhibition catalogue, 1985
and the following paragraph:
O. Panciroli, op.
century
Seconda Metd del Cinauecento
nello Stato Pontificio nella
p. 256.
Beatrice Cenci (tr.
tations in this
18
Banditismo
II
1985).
di Belle Arti,
in
M.
O'Neil, op.
S.
Cecilia:
2526, 1985,
seventeenth-
p. 13.
cit., p. 16.
del Principato, no. 3760,
f.
76.
Caravaggio (Turin, 1990), pp. 1236.

p. 635.
p. 418.
printed in B. Soldati,
Giudetta,
Collegio
II
Mamertino (Turin, 1908),
p.
170.
On
Tuccio, see G. Calogero, Stefano Tuccio (Pisa, 1919).

25
This was pointed out by Elena
ideology
'Patriarchal
Ciletti,
in
Renaissance
the
M. Miguel and J. Schiesari (eds.), Refiguring Women. Perspectives on

Gender and the Italian Renaissance (Ithaca, NY, and London, 1991), pp. 11036. For an overview
of the iconography see also M. Garrard, Artemisa Gentileschi: the image of thefemale hero in Italian
Iconography of
Judith', in
Baroque Art (Princeton, NJ, 1989), which
particularly interesting
is
on Abra and her
likeness
to a procuress.
26
On
28
nature,
and
for an analysis
"L'Esempio davanti
del
naturale"
E. Safarik, in
F. della Valle,
30
G.
Faldi
I.
Safarik, Acquisti igyo2:
La Tuna (1606), in
for this
von Pastor, The
argued by
33
this pic-
Bulletin,
F.
commission
History of
the Popes,
XV Settimana
dei
Musei
Italiani,
Pastor, op.
M.
Calvesi, op.
cit.,
Marini, 1989,
Vazzoler
(ed.),
in
Prosa
e in
La Maschera
Poesia
del
(Milan, 1969),
p. 254.
Boia (Geneva, 1982), p. 72.
are published in Marini, 1989, pp. 42636.

ed.
R.
F.
Kerr (London,
1933), vol. xxiii, p. 139.
The
IV was
first
pp. 27984.
pp. 1923.
p. 430.
For the
35
NJ, 1955), p. 297.

36
For
a discussion
tion to the
cit.
exhibi-
Barberini), p. 32, placed the picture in this context.
'La Reina di Scozia', in G. Getto, Barocco
B. della Porta,
The documents
L.
and E.
(Rome, Palazzo
connection between Caravaggio's paintings and the conversion of Henry
34
of
Art
1986, pp. 421-5.
29
31
and
Jaynie Anderson, Judith (Paris, 1997), pp. 589.
tion catalogue, 1972
32
from
directly
see K. Christiansen, 'Caravaggio
LXVIII/3,
27
method of working
Caravaggio's
ture,
translation, see W. F. Fnedlaender, Caravaggio Studies (Princeton,
p. 353.
of the history of the commission for the Contarelli chapel,
documents
in
Marini, 1989, C. Gilbert,
Caravaggio and His
see, in
Two
addi-
Cardinals
(University Park, Pennsylvania, 1995), pp. 15989, and, for the role of the Crescenzi family,
M.
Pupillo,
documenti per
'I
la
Crescenzi, Francesco Contarelli e Michelangelo da Caravaggio: contesti e
commissione
Merisi da Caravaggio;
37
J.
La
Vita e
in
San Luigi dei Francesi',
Le Opere
de Voragine, The Golden Legend
(tr.
attraverso
in S.
Macioce
(ed.), Michelangelo
Documenti (Rome, 1996), pp. 14866.
W. G. Ryan)
(Princeton, NJ, 1993), vol.
405
II, p. 185.
Caravaggio A Life
38
For the development of the composition
see D.
Caravaggio Revised', Burlington Magazine, XCIIL

39
J.
von Sandrart,
Mahon,
Urbe
Pictor:
Joachim von Sandrarts Academie der Ban-, BiU-; und Mahkrey-Kunste von i6yy (ed.
A. R. Pelzer) (Munich, 1925), as translated in Hibbard, 1988,
40
'Egregius in
pp. 22334.
1951,
p. 378.
on the Contarelli chapel. I am particularly

indebted to M. Calvesi, op. cit., and F. T. Camiz, 'Death and Rebirth in Caravaggio's
Martyrdom of St Matthew', Artibus et Historiae, XI, 1990, pp. 89105. There is also a parThere
is
a great deal
of very
brilliant writing
M.
paragraph in
ticularly illuminating short
Fumaroli, I!Age
de VEloquence
(Geneva, 1980),
p.
Matthew but recently this

has become controversial. Several scholars believe that St Matthew is the young man at the
end of the table, who has not yet responded to the call, and that Bellori's St Matthew is
149. Bellori identified the figure
with the coin in his hat
Demarco, 'Caravaggio's Calling of Matthew',

was rejected by H. Hibbard,
'Da
ist
Iris:
Notes on
St John Chrysostom, Homilies on
The
put forward in N.
first
History of Art,
1,
1982, pp. 57.
scholars.
H. Rottgen,
Matthaus', Pantheon, 49, 1991, pp. 979, provides an interesting analysis of gesture to
as the
the Epistles
bearded man.
of Paul
Corinthians, as given in T.
to the
'Caravaggio's First Inspiration of St Matthew, Art Bulletin,
42
the
(London, 1983) and by other
Caravaggio
support the identification of Matthew

41
St
young man. This view was
pointing, not at himself, but at this
It
as
LXVTI,
Thomas,
(1985), p. 644.
idea that the dark space in the foreground of the picture represents a baptismal pool
was suggested by Marini.
It
was developed by
F.
Camiz, op.
cit.,
who
suggests that
it is
probably that such a pool was visible in San Lorenzo in Lucina in the sixteenth century,
and makes an
interesting
comparison with Cristofero Roncalli's Baptism
of Constantine in St
John Lateran, Rome.

43
L. Puppi, Lo Splendore
europeo dal
XII
44
For
45
Marini, 1989,
46
F.
47
M.
J.
al
XIX
dei Supplizi Liturgia delle esecuzione capitali e iconografia del martirio nell'arte
secolo
(Milan, 1990),
this possibility see F. T.

p.
Camiz, op.
446, and for
McGinness,
all
p. 55.
cit.,
p. 101.
documents associated with
this
commission pp. 4467.

Rome (Princeton, NJ,
Right Thinking and Sacred Oratory in Counter-Reformation
1995), p. 170.
Marini, 1989, p. 447, published an inventory of Francesco Sannesio (the heir to

Cardinal Giacomo) dated 19 February 1644, which records 'Doi quadri grandi in tavola che
rappresentano un San Pietro crocifisso e
l'altro la
convers[ion]e di San Paolo corniciati e
filetatti d'oro'.
48
49
50
Mancim/Hibbard,
51
p. 354.
p. 364.
1988, p. 350.
The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius (Dublin, 1864), pp. 97
52
John Webster, The Duchess
53
F.
Huerner, Rubens and
the
of Malfi, V,
Roman
v,
Circle
and
105.
99101.
1996), p.
15.
CHAPTER EIGHT
i
G. Marino,
London,
2
tr.
J.
Giustiniani, 'Discorso sopra
Giuochi: Trattati dal
essay in E.
3
Mirollo, in The Poet of
il
Giuoco
XV al XVIU Secolo
Marvelous: Giambattista Marino
(New York and
Marino,
G.
Anon. Epigram
Lettere familiari
406
On
(tr.
Giustiniani see the
NJ, 1966), pp. 64105.
(Turin, 1966), p. 62: letter
593 in The Greek Anthology
vol. Ill, p. 331.
2, p. 329.
Nicolas Poussin (Princeton,
del Pallamaglio', in C. Bascetta (ed.), Sport
(Milan, 1978), vol.
Cropper and C. Dempsey,
G. Mancini,
B.
the
1963), p. 25.
from Ravenna,
vol.
1,
p. 143.
1607.
W. R. Paton) (New York and London,
1917),
No
6
F. Scannelli, // microcosmo della pittura
(Cesana, 1657), as translated in Hibbard, 1988,
p.
357-
G. Fulco, Ammirate l'Altissimo Pittore: Caravaggio
p. 364.
Ricerche di Storia dell'Arte, 10, 1980,
On
Macioce, 'Una nota per
this see S.
nelle
Rime
inedite di
Marzio
Milesi',
pp. 6589.
il
"Mondafrutto"', and C. Belloni, 'Cesare Crispolti
Perugino: documenti per una biografia', both in S. Macioce (ed.), Michelangelo Merisi da
Caravaggio:
La
Vita e
quotation, see
10
Le Opere
attraverso
J.
N. Entreo,
13
14
G. Baglione, Le
C. Malvasia,
This
Cologne
Vista
Pinacotheca imaginum illustrium, doctrinae vel ingenii laude,
Vite de'Pittori, Scultori et Architetti
(Rome,
extremely difficult to understand;
LXXIII,
commentary
Caravaggio', Rivista
Storica Italiana,
Calvesi, Le Realtd
1,
B.
Marino,
G.
B.
Marino, Rime (Venice, 1602), dedication.
Croce)
Poesie Varie (ed. B.
1961, pp. 3658.
For
al
Michelangelo da
M.
see
(Bari, 1913), p. 299.
See E. Cropper, 'The Petrifying Art: Marino's Poetry and Caravaggio', Metropolitan Museum
seminal article on the relationship between Marino and
Journal, 26, 1991, pp. 193212, a
Caravaggio, to which
Marino, La
18
G.
19
Marini, 1989,
B.
am
indebted.
M.
Galeria (ed.
p. 373: translated
Pien) (Padua, 1979), 'La Madre
Ovid, Metamorphoses (Harmondsworth,
1955),
Book
For an illuminating discussion of Narcissus
(Cambridge and
New York,
Infelice', p. 38.
Esther Langdon.
Caravaggio's Narcissus, see S. Bann, The True
22
Brascaglia) (Bologna, 1971), p. 425.
was published by G. Cozzi, 'Intorno

a
G.
21
M.
Langdon.
315.
15
10
it
1642), p.
Ottaviano Parravicino, a monsignor Paolo Gualdo
del
in
1967), pp. 568.
1645; Leipzig 1729), p. 379. Translated Esther
16
17
Roma (Rome,
da
Felsina Pittrice: Vite de'Pittori Bolognesi (ed.
letter is
Cardinale
Roma
in
Gian Vittorio Rossi,
alias
virorum (1st edn,

12
Documenti (Rome, 1995), pp. 12336; pp. 13648. For the
Biography of Maffeo Barberini by Andrea Nicoletto, the Canon of San Lorenzo
Damaso, quoted by C. d'Onofrio

11
p. 138.
III, p. 85.
in painting,
Vine:
On
which includes a discussion of
and Western Tradition
1989), pp. 12756.
Philostratus the Elder, Imagines (Cambridge, Massachusetts and
London,
1969),
Book
I,
23,
pp. 89-91.
23
24
G.
B.
Marino, La
Galeria, op. cit., p.
13:
Sonnet
7,
'Narciso di Bernardo Castello'.
Idem.
On
C. Grayson) (Harmondsworth, 1991),
25
L. B. Alberti,
26
G.
27
For an interesting description of the web of contacts that link the Giustiniani, Marino,
B.
Painting (tr.
Marino, La
Galeria, op. cit., p. 14:
p. 61.
'Narciso di Francesco Maria Vanni'.
Castello and Caravaggio, see S. Danesi Squarzina, 'Caravaggio e
Macioce
28
G.
29
This
B.
(ed.), op.
Marino,
avviso
cit.,
Lettere Tamilian,
was
first
Farnese' in Melanges
in
R. Bassani and
op.
cit., p.
de I'Tcole Trancaise de Rome,
F. Bellini,
C. Malvasia, op.
cit., p.
31
C. Malvasia, op.
cit.,
Giustiniani', in S.
276: Letter 148, 1620.
published in R. Zapperi, 'Per
30
pp. 94123.
la
datazione degli affreschi della galeria
Moyen Age Temps Modernes,
Caravaggio Assassino (Rome, 1994),
93, 1981, pp. 82iff.
and
p. 119.
282.
as translated in
J.
R. Martin, The
Tarnese Gallery (Princeton,
NJ,
1965),
p. 14.
32
C. Malvasia,
Felsina Pittrice,
graph are from

33
G.
P.
Bellori,
op.
cit.,
35
G.
P.
quotations from Malvasia in this para-
The Lives of Annibale and Agostino Carracci
Pennsylvania, and London, 1969),

34
p. 295. All the
this source.
Bellori, op.
C. Malvasia, op.
cit.,
(tr.
C. Enggass) (University Park,
p. 16.
p. 60.
cit., p.
296.
407
Caravaggio A L
36
G.
P.
37
D.
Mahon,
Bellori, op.
cit., p. 17.
Urbe
'Egregius in
Pictor: Caravaggio revised', Burlington Magazine, XCIII, 1951, p.
230, n. 72.
38
G.
39
M.
op.
P. Bellori,
cit., p.
34.
Maccherini, 'Caravaggio nel carteggio familiare dr Giulio Mancini',
Prospettiva, 86,
April
1997, pp. 71, 84.
40
This
recorded in a
is
poem by G. Murtola,
medesimo (Amore
1604), no. 471, 'Per lo

41
M.
Rime
del Signor
Gasparo Murtola (1603 ed., Venice
Pittura del Caravaggio)'.
Marini, Caravaggio: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
(2nd edn, Rome,
pictor praestantissimus
1989), p. 564.
42
M.
43
Scannelli, op.
44
See on this A.
Maccherini, op.
cit.,
cit.,
p. 74.
as translated in
W. G.
Hibbard, 1988,
p. 359.
Poseq, 'Caravaggio and the Antique', Artibus
et
Historiae, xi, 21, 1990,
pp. 147-67-
45
G.
46
Marini, 1989,
47
G.
48
T.
49
J.
op.
P. Bellori,
B.
cit., p. 31.
p. 461.
Marino, L'Adone (Milan, 1988), pp. 347, 348 and 356.

Famiglie Romane (f. 1640), Biblioteca Casanatense,
Amayden,
von Sandrart,
A. R. Pelzer) (Munich, 1925), as translated Hibbard, 1988,

50
For
of
a translation
this letter, see
R. Enggass and
and documents (Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1970), pp.

51
Ovid, Amores
Langdon
G. Lee) (London, 1968),
(tr.
Murtola, op.
cit.,
53
M. Wiemers,
'Caravaggio's
p.
Amore Vincitore im
v.
p. 378.
Brown,
and Spain 1600 l Jj8:
Italy
am
sources
grateful to Esther
is
from
J.
p. 564.
Urteil eines Romfahres

is
um
have changed his raie to
rare. I
am
1650', Pantheon,
evidence of Caravaggio's homosexuality.
Gash, review
article,
M.
Gregori,
Caravaggio: Atti della Giornata di Studio', Burlington Magazine,
il
Ann
grateful to
me. For a convincing demolition of Symonds
54
J.
lines 16, 1417. I
3,
1986, pp. 5961, argues that the passage
dipingeva
p.
438r and
f.
i6ff.
madrigal 471. See Marini, 1989,
This transcription of the manuscript
41. I
MS 1335,
for pointing out this passage.
52
XLIV,
Rome
Joachim von Sandrarts Academie der Bau~, Bild-, und Mahkrey-Kunste von 16 jj (ed.
ed.,
CXL,
Brookes for discussing
'Come
1997, p.
this
C. Gilbert, op.
as a reliable source, see
with
cit.,
200.
G. Fulco, Ammirate l'Altissimo Pittore: Caravaggio nelle Rime inedite di Marzio
Milesi',
Ricerche di Storia dellArte, 10, 1980, p. 88.
CHAPTER NINE
1
Catechismus,
Ex
Decreto
Concilii
Giambologna: Narrator of
2
3
G. Martin, Roma
Meditations on
the
Tridentini,
Sancta (1581) (ed.
the Life
Ad
as
Parachos,
translated in
Catholic Reformation (Berkeley, California,
of Christ (tr.
I.
G.
B. Parks)
Ragusa and
(Rome,
ed.
I.
M. W.
and London,
Gibbons,
1995), p. 57.
1969), p. 71.
Ragusa and R. Green) (Princeton, NJ,
1961), p. 320.
4
5
Ibid., p. 4.
On
meditative literature see L. Martz, The Poetry of Meditation: a study
Literature of the Seventeenth Century
M. Vanti,
L. Ponnelle
G.
M.
149.
9
10
San Camillo de
and
e Teologia dell
poverty, see B.
Geremek,
L. Scupoli, The Spiritual Combat
(2nd
edn.,
Rome,
1958), p.
440.
Kerr) (London, 1937). p- 209.

Incarnazione secondo Giovanni Crisostomo (Vicenza, 1967),
(tr.
Poverty:
(London,
R.
F.
p.
History (Oxford, 1994).
1950), pp. 1567.
For the contract, see N. R. Parks, 'On Caravaggio's Dormition
408
in English Religious
1954), pp. 16170.
suoi Ministri degli Infermi
L. Bordet, St Philip Neri
Ellero, Esegesi
On
Lellis e
(Newhaven,
of the Virgin
and
its
Setting',
Not
CXVII,
Magazine,
Burlington
(Princeton, NJ, 1990),

11
On the Mattei
43848, and
pp.
Askew,
P.
Death of
Caravaggio's
and
family, see F. Cappelletti
L. Testa,
Trattenimento di Virtuosi: Le collezioni sei-
11
Roma (Rome, 1994), and idem, in Caravaggio

Mattei, exhibition catalogue, 1995 (Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica
Barberini, Salone da Pietro da Cortona), pp. 2955
centesche di auadri nei
F. Bellini,
13
C. Malvasia, The
and London,
14
Palazzo Mattei di
Tre documenti
12
234244.
inediti per
Cuido Reni
Life of
Michangelo da Caravaggio',
e la
collezione
di Palazzo
Prospettiva, 63, 1992, p. 70.
C. and R. Enggass) (University Park, Pennsylvania
(tr.
1980), p. 43.
For these dates see

Mattei:
Virgin
the
p. 133.
Cappelletti and L. Testa,
F.
nuovi documenti
On
con
riscontri
Quadri
'I
fonti',
le
Caravaggio and the Mattei see also
di Caravaggio nella collezione
LXIX,
dell'Arte,
Storia
1990, pp.
S. Benedetti, Caravaggio: The Master Revealed,
exhibition catalogue, 1993 (Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland).

15
16
L.
17
Luis de Granada, Book of Prayer and Meditation
Richeome, The
p. 353.
(London and
Pilgrime of Loreto (1629)
(tr.
Ilkley, 1976), p. 174.
R. Hopkins),
quoted
as
Martz, The
in L.
Poetry of Meditation, op. cit., p. 77.

18
Antonio de Molina,
19
Baglione
A Treatise of Mental Prayer (tr. J. Sweetman)
(Saint-Omer,
us that the picture was painted for Ciriaco Mattei;
tells
amongst them
the inventory of the Giustiniani collection by 1606. Several scholars,

cit.,
and
// Trattenimento
L. Testa,
mistaken
Quadrena
pp. 1516, and L. Testa, in 'La
Benedetti, op.
op.
di Virtuosi,
cit.,
p.
only mistake of this kind. Silvia Danesi Squarzina, in

Filippini', Storia
Macioce
dell'Arte,
1995), pp. 94123, has
a patron
85,
if
La
Vita e
le
a Jesuit Cardinal, ordered,
is
a contrast
and those ordered by
would be
Opere
Giustiniani' in S.
attraverso
Documenti (Rome,
important
as
20
of Benedetto
Giustiniani', Part
his brother, a virtuoso
21
G. Baglione, Le
22
On
I,
Michelangelo da Caravaggio: contesti
For
all
these
Macioce
documents
as
he,
and connoisseur.
The
collec-
1997, pp. 76692.
p. i46n.
Vite de pittori, scultori et architetti
M.
Crescenzi in the Contarelli chapel, see
23
CXXXIX,
(Rome,
1642), p. 100.
the relationship of Francesco Contarelli with the Crescenzi family,
Francesi', in S.
Vicenzo
as
between the religious works which
See also S. Danesi Squarzina, 'Documents for the History of Collecting: 24.
tions
Baglione's
Giustiniani e 1'Oratorio del
'I
argued convincingly that Benedetto was
of Caravaggio, and that there
Baglione was simply
so this
36994, and in 'Caravaggio
1995, pp.
S.
di Ciriaco', in F. Cappelletti
41, believe that
ordered the picture, although
in saying that Ciriaco
1617), pp. 601.
already recorded in
it is
(ed.), op.
cit.,
Pupillo,
and the
role
of the
Crescenzi, Francesco Contarelli e
'I
documenti per
commissione
la
in S. Luigi dei
pp. 14867.
see Marini, 1989, pp. 4357,
who summarises
the complex argu-
ments over dating.

24
This
Lxvn
is
quoted
in
T Thomas,
(1985), p. 640.
'Caravaggio's First Inspiration
Inspiration in Caravaggio's
Two
St Matthews',
'Addenda to "Divine Inspiration'",
idem,
25
R. Cannati and H. Rottgen, 'Un Quadro per
see A.
I.
Bulletin,
Lavin, 'Divine
Art Bulletin LVI, 1974, pp. 5981;
la
SSTrinita dei Pellegrini affidato
Macioce
(ed.), op.
cit., p.
Lemoine, 'Caravage, Cavalier d'Arpin, Guido Reni
Trinita dei Pellegrini', Storia
dell'Arte,
27
The Letters of Peter Paul Rubens
28
The
I.
Lavin,
(tr.
R.
85, 1992,
S.
pp. 41629.
82.
al
Caravaggio,
For the original docu-
et la confrerie
The document
is p.
romaine de
la
SS
428.
Magurn) (Cambridge, Massachusetts,
1955), p. 39.
dating and patronage of The Entombment of Christ have been the subject of bitter con-
troversy. C. Barbieri, S. Barchiesi,

181,
Matthew', Art
p. 365.
eseguito dal Cavalier d'Arpino', in S.
ment
St.
pp. 5901.
26
ma
of
For interesting iconographical discussions see also
D. Ferrara, Santa Maria
publish ddcuments relating to this commission.
in Vallicella
On
(Rome,
1995), pp. 61
and
September 1604, by which time
409
Caravaggio A L
Caravaggio's altarpiece was installed, the church authorities agreed to give

altarpiece
from the
original chapel 'avendo di~sua cortesia fatto fare
Caravaggio'. This suggests very strongly that
M.
Calvesi, in 'Michelangelo
Roma',
collezionisti a
da Caravaggio:
in Caravaggio
il
Gerolamo the
quadro nuovo del
Gerolamo had commissioned the altarpiece.

il suo Rapporto con
Mattei e con altri
i
e la collezione
1920, offers a different
Mattei, op. cit., pp.
reading of these documents, arguing for a date of 1600 and the patronage of Pietro
Vittrice.
29
For the documents see also Marini, 1989, p. 462.

as the owner of The Gypsy
Mancini mentions Alessandro Vittrice

of
May
1607 mentions four pictures
Gypsy. It does
30
left
not mention Caravaggio's name. See Corradini,
This section on Caravaggio and the Oratorians

researches
of Alessandro Zuccari, presented
Nuova
capella della "Pieta" alia Chiesa
and 'Cultura
(1983), pp. 536,
Fortune
Teller.
document
by Gerolamo to Alessandro, amongst them a

at the
1993, p. 96.
Chiesa
in a series
of
Nuova
articles.
indebted to the
is
See A. Zuccari, 'La
committenti del Caravaggio',
Storia dell'Arte,
predicazione nelle immagini delTOratorio',
47
idem, 85, 1995,
pp. 34054. For this quotation see idem, p. 342.

31
Ibid., p. 343.
32
33
Luis de Granada,
(Louvain, 1599),
34
p. 366.
Spiritual Doctrine conteining a rule
to liue wel,
For an extremely interesting account of The Entombment

iconography of the chapel, see
35
G. Marino,
37
See
Dicerie sacre del Cavaliere
Askew, op.
relating to this
38
Cherubini's will of 1602
As
translated in Askew, op.
40
G.
M.
I.
Ellero, op.
42
The
p.
cit.,
Lavin, 'Caravaggio's
posium,
which
New York,
printed in
is
cit.,
Vatican
Gallery of Art).
p. 70.
this chapter is
much
indebted, for documents
P.
Askew, op.
cit.,
pp. 1345.
p. 22.
p. 149.
Roman
Madonnas', paper presented
Metropolitan
source for these events
is
Museum of Art,
Mancini/Hibbard,
1985,
at
'The Age of Caravaggio' Sym-
quoted by
1988, p. 349,
and
P.
Askew, op.
cit.,
p. 105.
as given in Marini, 1989,
479. Baglione too says that the picture was removed because of the Virgin's lack of deco-
rum, her swollen belly and bare

43
Marino (Rome, 1618),
to the
the
commission.
39
41
DC, National
from
p. 354.
p. 13346, to
cit.,
Holy Shroud of Turin
Caravaggio: The Deposition
exhibition catalogue, 1984 (Washington
36
P.
Grossman,
S.
with particular reference
of Christ,
to the role of Alfonso Paleotti and the importance of the
Collections,
with divers Praiers and Meditations
p. 101.
M.
legs.
Maccherini, 'Caravaggio nel carteggio familiare di Giulio Mancini',
Prospettiva, 86,
April
1997, p. 82.
44
The
picture's date
is
controversial.
Askew, op.
P.
cit.,
ing a possible gap in Caravaggio's activities from
of
1602. This, however,
The
depends on
has argued for an early date, suggest-
mid-November
1601
through the winter
a later dating for the Vatican Entombment,
of 16046.
present writer finds her stylistic arguments for an early dating convincing, the Apostle
with his hands to his eyes
of the second
St Matthew,
rustic figures has
much
in
is
reminiscent of the
both of
1602.
common
first St
Matthew,
and the
figure
behind him
Moreover, the poetic feeling for these heavy and
with the ethos of the works from 16002.
CHAPTER TEN
G. Fulco, Ammirate l'Altissimo
Pittore: Caravaggio nelle rime inedite di
Ricerche di Storia dell'Arte, 10, 1980, p. 88.
410
p. 365.
Marzio
Milesi'
Notes
C. G. Malvasia, The
and London,
4
Cuido Reni
Life of
(tr.
C. and R. Enggass) (University Park, Pennsylvania,
1980), p. 43.
F. Scanelli, // microcosmo della pittura, overo trattato diviso in due libri
(Cesena, 1657), as in Hibbard,
1988, p. 358.
5
Het Schilder-Boeck (Haarlem,
C. van Mander,
J.
von Sandrart,
1604), as translated in Hibbard, 1988, p. 344.
Joachim von Sandrart's Academie der Bau~, Bild~, und Mahkrey-Kunste von 16 jj (ed.
A. R. Pelzer) (Munich, 1925), as translated in H. Hibbard, Caravaggio (London, 1988),
Van Mander,
10
G. Vasari, Le
p. 364.
p. 353.
Vite de' piu eccellenti pittori, et scultori italiani,
Milanesi) (Florence, 1959), vol. 4,

11
p. 378.
as translated in idem, p. 344.
da Cimabue insino a' tempi nostri (ed.
G.
p. 92.
This was convincingly suggested by R. Bassani and
F. Bellini, Caravaggio Assassino
(Rome,
1994), p. 117.
12
Corradini, 1993,
13
For
Tullio's
p. 15.
episode see Corradini, 1993, op.
this
companion
identification
as Flavio
pp. 1517. For the identification of
cit.,
Canonici see R. Bassani and
plausible, but not proven; Flavio
is
op.
F. Bellini,
cit.,
wounded him on
W.
See
Friedlaender,
Corradini, 1993,
it is
possi-
judicial peace, see
are extremely difficult to interpret.
Caravaggio Studies (1955), pp.
26970. For Caravaggio's appeal see
p. 26.
15
M.
Marini, 1989,
16
On
Caravaggio and Marzio Milesi, see G. Fulco, op.
and
are printed,
For the
a separate occasion.
The documents

14
This
Canonici makes a shadowy appearance in
other incidents in which Longhi was involved (see Corradini, 1993, p. 26), and
ble that Caravaggio
Marco
p. 114.
p. 437.
L. Spezzaferro,
'II
Testamento
di
cit.,
poems
un perduto
pp. 6589, in which these
Marzio
Milesi: tracce per
Caravaggio', idem, pp. 909.

17
18
G. Mancini,
19
p. 353.
Considerazioni sulla pittura (ed.
Roma, Tribunale
Adriano Monteleone del

20
C. Malvasia,
12
gennaio
Scritti originali del conte
vol.
I,
p.
246.
del Governatore, Investigazioni, reg. 328. Querela di
1601,
cc.i74r 175V.
Carlo Cesare Malvasia spettanti
alia
sua Felsina Pittrice (ed. L.
Marzocchi) (Bologna, 1982), p. 388. On this see L. Spezzaferro, 11 Caravaggio, i collezionisti Romani, le nature morte', in La Natura Morta al Tempo di Caravaggio, exhibition catalogue,
19956 (Rome, Musei Capitolini),
21
G. Baglione, Le
22
For
23
Amor
oder der Sieg derfleischlichen Liehe
G. A. Dell'Acqua and
(Milan, 1971),
(Rome,
1642), p. 188.
between Baglione, Gentileschi and Caravaggio see H. Rottgen,
this rivalry
irdische
p. 49.
p. 156,
M.
Cinotti,
II
Caravaggio
G. Baglione, op.
25
For the identification of the face of the Devil

'Quel diavolo
Der
e le
Grande Opere da San Luigi
sue
dei Francesi
F54.
24
cit.,
Caravaggio:
(Frankfurt, 1992), pp. 1622.
p. 403.
as a portrait
of Caravaggio see H. Rottgen,
Caravaggio. Giovanni Baglione e la sua denuncia satirica delTAmore ter-
reno', Storia dell'Arte, 79, 1993, pp. 32640.
26
G. Baglione, op.
27
For these poems see W. Friedlaender, op.
cit.,
p.
402.
tion of the second poem.
H. Rottgen, 'Quel diavolo

28
The
trial
documents
cit.,
pp. 2713:
have used Friedlaender s transla-
in their
unexpurgated versions by
e Caravaggio', op. cit., pp. 3323.
evidence was published in English by W. Friedlaender, op.
versions of the
29
cit.,
These poems were published
M.
are in
Cinotti, op.
cit.,
p. 153,
M.
cit.,
pp. 2709. Improved
Cinotti, op.
F46. Translated in
p. 273.
411
cit.,
W.
pp. 1556.
Friedlaender, op.
Caravaggio A Life
30
For
Salini's
testimony see
Ibid., p. 154,
32
Ibid., p. 154, F50.
33
For Caravaggio s evidence

Friedlaender, op.
34
35
As given
LXVIII,
suggested by
first
(Rome,
C. Malvasia,
and "L'esempio davanti del
W.
Friedlaender, op.
translated in
is
W.
naturale'", Art Bulletin,
p.277, followed by A. Coliva,
cit.,
(Bologna, 1841), vol.
Felsina Pittrice: Vite de' Pittori Bolognese
M. Wittkower, Born under Saturn (London, 1963),

DelTAcqua and M. Cinotti, op. cit., p. 155, F53.
G. A.
Gentileschi's testimony
39
Idem.
42
of the evidence
R. and
38
41
Much
F52.
155,
II
1980), p. 12.
37
40
see ibid., p.
pp. 2778.
cit.,
1986, p. 421.
This was
in
pp. 1534, ^47-
in K. Christiansen, 'Caravaggio
Mastelletta
36
ibid.,
F49.
31
is
96, as translated
II, p.
p. 116.
in ibid., p. 156, F55.
Corradini, 1993, p. 29.
G. A. DelTAcqua and
J.
P.
M.
Cinotti, op.
cit.,
p. 156, F55.
Babelon, 'Les Caravages de Philippe de Bethune', Gazette
des
Beaux Arts,
s.
VI, CXI, 1988,
pp. 33-8.
43
The documents
p. 164.
44
concerning Longhi's release are published in R. Bassani and
For the challenge to a duel
William Lithgow,
see
m Italy in 1632,
M.
G. A. DelTAcqua and
wrote of
monstrous
'the
Cinotti,
filthiness'
op
of
F. Bellini, op. cit.,
cit.,
pp. 1567, F56.
their 'bardassi, or
buggered boys'. See D. Posner, 'Caravaggio's Homo-erotic Early Works', Art
Quarterly, 34,
1971, pp. 301-24.
45
46
argument that the
For
a convincing
Two
Cardinals (University Park, Pennsylvania, 1995), pp. 1949.
The document
is
bardassa
did not exist see C. Gilbert, Caravaggio and His
published by Marini, 1989,
472,
p.
who
also publishes a reproduction
of
the copy at Ascoli Piceno (Marini, cat. no. 56).
47
M. Aronberg
Magazine,
Lavin, 'Caravaggio
CIX,
Documents from
the Barberini Archives', Burlington
1967, pp. 4703.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
1
Mediceo
Letter of 23 June 1603; Archivio di Stato di Firenze,
del Principato, vol. 3761,
unpaginated.
2
On
this
episode see R. Couzard, Une ambassade
and R. Zapperi,
3
See
W.
Eros
Friedlaender,
Controriforma: Preistoria
Rome
Caravaggio Studies (Princeton,
Macioce, Attorno a Caravaggio: Notizie
sous
Henri
IV (Paris,
1900), p. jojff.,
Farnese (Turin, 1994), pp.
della Galleria
NJ,
1955),
3745.
pp. 27980. See also S.
d' Archivio', Storia delVArte, 55, 1985, pp.
28993, and
4
5
S.
Macioce, op.
(Milan, 1971).
6
p. 292.
cit.,
M. Cinotti, II Caravaggio e le Sue Grande Opere da

The documents relating to this episode are pp. 1578.
G. A. DelTAcqua and
F. Baldinucci, Notizie de' Professori del Disegno da
dei Francesi
qua (6 vols.), (Florence 1681 1728;
in
pp. 68384.
1846 edn.), vol.
Ill,
G. Baglione, Le
have been
Cimabue
San Luigi
when Borgianni was young,
(Rome,
before he
1642), p. 142.
left for
Spain
This encounter could
at the
end of the sixteenth
century.
8
On the partisanship
gli inizi
M.
of Borgianni and Saraceni, see
del caravaggismo', Storia
Chapell and W. C. Kirwin,
L. Spezzaferro,
'Una testimonianza per
1975, pp. 5360.
A Petrine Triumph: The
San Pietro under Clement VHI',
412
dell'Arte, 23,
Storia delVArte, zi, 1974,
Decoration of the Navi Piccole in

pp. 119-70.
Notes
10
F.
Baldinucci, op.
Ibid., pp. 227,
12
C. Malvasia
1980), p. 107.
121, 126, 93, 115,

13
14
15
C. and R. Enggass), The
(tr.
and London,
vol. Ill, p. 277.
cit.,
447.
The
Life of
Guido Reni (University Park, Pennsylvania
quotations in this paragraph are from the same source, pp.
and 40.
Ibid., p. 49.
G. Baglione, op.
On
for a lucid
detto
II
291.
cit., p.
sequence of events, around which
this
summary of
many myths were spun
in the early sources, see,
recent scholarship, Ilaria Chiappini di Sorio, 'Cristofero Roncalli
Pomerancio', in / Pittori Bergamaschi
dal
XLU al XIX secolo: ll Seicento,
(Bergamo,
1983),
pp. 3-201.
16
Malvasia, op.
17
The
cit.,
p. 50.
after November 1603.

The Theme of St John the
commissioned
picture was
'Caravaggio and Tanzio:
Museum
(Philbrook
This chapter
18
L. Ponnelle
and
This
how
123.
19
For
is
20
See
P.
Apollo,
Fumaroli,
L. Bordet, St Philip Neri and
L'Ecole du Silence
the
Roman
of Art, Kansas
City).
(Geneva, 1994), pp. 294ff.
Society of his
Times
(London,
1937), p.
Filippo Neri described his vision to Federico Borromeo.
and
this quotation,
logue, 1984
M.
Townsend and R. Ward,
P.
Museum
of Art, Tulsa), 1996 (Nelson-Atkins
also indebted to
is
See R.
Baptist', exhibition catalogue, 1995
source, see
its
(New York, Met:
Matthiesen and
S.
M.
Gregori in The Age of Caravaggio, exhibition cata-
Naples, Capodimonte),
p. 303.
Pepper, 'Guido Reni: an early masterpiece discovered in Liguria',
XCI, 1970, pp. 45262, and
S.
Guido Reni: Contrasts
Pepper, 'Caravaggio and
in
Attitudes', Art Quaterly, 34, 1971, pp. 32544.

21
The
relevance of this
Triumph of
poem was
Illumination', Artibus
La Galeria (ed.
M.
22
Malvasia, op.
cit.,
23
Ibid., p. 50.
24
Ibid., p.
25
The documents
pointed out by
et
Pepper, 'Guido Reni's Davids:
S.
The poem
Historiae, 25, 1992, p. 134.
Pieri) (Padua, 1979), vol.
1,
is
The
from G. Marino,
p. 51, no. 4.
p. 42.
51.
Madonna
Appunto per
have been published in L. Lopresti, 'Un
Michelangelo da Caravaggio',
dei Pellegrini a
L'Arte, 1922, p. 116,
San Agostino',
and
in his 'Sul
L'Arte, 1922, p. 176.
For
Tempo
la
Storia di
piu probabile della
Cavalletti's will see Corradini,
1993, p. 27.
26
R. Cannata and H. Rottgen, 'Un Quadro per

Caravaggio,
ma
Richeome, The
27
L.
28
As given
29
See
30
M.
Pilgrime of Loreto (1629 edn., Ilkley
in B. Pullan, 'Catholics
Charity: Europe, Italy, Venice

F.
la
eseguito dal Cavalier d'Arpino', in S.
and the Poor
Santa Trinita dei Pellegrini affidato
Macioce
and London,
in Early
1400ljOO (Aldershot, 1994),
Grimaldi and K. Sordi (eds),
al
(ed.), op. cit., p. 82.
1976), p.
Modern
31.
Europe', in Poverty and
p. 18.
LTconografia della Vergine di Loreto nell'arte (Loreto, 1995), p.
i7-
Fagiolo and
alogue, 1985
31
M.
L.
Madonna
(eds), Rome, 1300-18 jj: L'Arte degliAnni Santi, exhibition cat-
(Rome, Palazzo Venezia),
Cardinal Agostino Valier,
ll
Dialogo
p.
della
2728.
Gioa Cristiana
(tr.
and
ed. A. Cistellini) (Brescia,
1975), p. 87.
32
33
34
Ibid., pp. 923.
L.
Richeome, op.
cit., p.
64.
Baglione, Hibbard, 1988, p. 354. Baglione's word, schiamazzo,
balance
it
seems that
it is
is
difficult to translate,
derogatory. For an alternative view see
F.
Bologna,
but on
L'Incredulitd del

35
L. Niissdorfer,
'The Vacant See: Ritual and Protest
in Early
Modern Rome',
Century Journal, XVIII, 1987, pp. 17389.

36
C. D'Onofrio, Roma
Vista da
Roma (Rome,
1967), p. 200.
413
Sixteenth-
37
C. Malvasia, op.
38
For
39
F.
cit.,
p. 36.
comparison see D. Mahon,
this
Borromeo,
Marini, 1989,
41
For the inventory of Caravaggio's goods
Artibus
42
et
p. 53.
Historiae, 28, 1993,
M. Marini and
see
singulorum bonorum mobilium
et
Art and Theory (London, 1947), p. 257.
Studies itTSeicento
Delia Pittura Sacra (ed. B. Agosti) (Pisa, 1994), p. 97.
40
omnium
Lif,
di
S. Corradini,
'Inventarium
Michelangelo da Caravaggio: "pittore"',
pp. 16171.
See R. Zapperi, 'L'Inventario di Annibale Carracci', Antologia
di Belle Arti,
34, 1979, pp.
62-8.
Cavaliere Compito (Viterbo, 1609), p. 70.
43
T. d'Alesandri,
44
These documents were
45
Notizie d'archivio', pp. 28992. See also S. Corradini, 1993, pp. 557.
Corradini, 1993, p. 58. G. A. DelTAcqua and M. Cinotti, op. cit., p. 158.
46
This contract was discovered and published by R.

Massimi' in
is
47
48
1/
Riflessioni,
usually identified with an Ecce
Corradini, 1993, p.
J.
Nuove
Caravaggio:
published by
first
Quaderni
Homo which
how
is
B.
Attorno
cit.,
a Caravaggio:
Amidei, 'Delia Committenza
Palazzo Venezia, 6, 1989, p. 47.
di
now
in the Palazzo Bianco,
The
picture
Genoa.
58.
Hess, Die Kunstkrbiographien von Giovanni
Passeri tells
Macioce, op.
S.
young
notary,
(Leipzig and Vienna, 1934), pp. 3478.
Battista Passeri
who wished
to
marry Caravaggio's model, spoke
ill
of
Caravaggio to her mother; in revenge Caravaggio attacked him with a hatchet and then took
refuge in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi.
He
does not mention either Mariano
Pasqualone or Lena by name, but his account finds confirmation in the criminal
which prove that Caravaggio did attack a notary over

Francesi
is
identification
R. Bassano and
49
For these translations

version in G. A.
50
51
52
Documents
see
W.
(Rome,
J.
cit., p.
Cinotti, op.
R. Martin, The
1994), p. 207,
cit.,
is
made by
incorrect.
284, with additions

p.
dei
refuge with del
whore, Maddalena di Paolo Antognetti,
Friedlaender, op.
DelTAcqua and M.
as translated in
Corradini, 1993,
M.
of Lena with
F. Bellini, Caravaggio Assassino
archives,
woman. The church of San Luigi
Madama, where Caravaggio perhaps sought
close to the Palazzo
Monte. The
from the
better
158.
Tarnese Gallery (Princeton,
N],
1965), p. 18.
p. 61.
Sica in The Dictionary of Art (ed.
J.
Turner)
1990), vol. IX, p.
174.
53
54
55
Ibid.
Corradini, 1993,
p. 62.
Idem.
56
Idem.
57
W.
58
This was suggested by
Friedlaender, op.
Mattei
con
logue, 1995
cit.,
p. 285.
M.
Calvesi, 'Michelangelo
altri collezionisti a
Roma',
da Caravaggio:
in Caravaggio
(Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica
59
Corradini, 1993.
60
Ibid., p. 69.
e la
il
suo rapporto con
Collezione Mattei,
exhibition cata-
di Palazzo Barberini), p. 21.
The documents concerning Prudenzia Bruna
are pp. 647.
61
Ibid., p. 67.
62
For the documents concerning the altarpiece commissioned by the Company of the
63
Grooms,
64
On
see Marini, 1989, pp.
4848.
p. 354.
the nakedness of Christ see L. Steinberg, The Sexuality of Christ
in
Renaissance Art and in
Modern Oblivion (Chicago, 1983). For a discussion of the pose of St Anne, and
ship to
mento
Roman
art, see S. Settis,
'Immagini della meditazione, dell'incertezza,
nell'arte antica', Prospettiva, 2, 1975, pp. 418.
65
66
Marini, 1989,
p. 485.
414
p. 372.
its
relation-
e del penti-
Not
67
Corradini, 1993,
p. 70.
68
A newspaper of
The documents
homicide
relating to the
are pp. 703.
June 1606 claims that 'segui una questione da buono a buona tra un certo
Michelangelo da Caravaggio, pittore famoso,
prima erano passate alcune
un
et
tal
Ranutio ...
tra quali doi giorni
R. Fuda, 'Note Caravaggesche',
querele'. See
Paragone,
43,
509-511, 1992, p. 74.
69
Sandrart, as translated in
70
Corradini, 1993,
71
72
H. Hibbard,
op.
cit., p.
377.
p. 71.
Ibid., pp. 801.
M.
man was Mario Minniti, which is possible;

may have been in Sicily. See M.
Calvesi believes that the fourth
Minniti committed
certainly
homicide, but this
'Michelangelo da Caravaggio:
il
suo rapporto con
Mattei
...',
op.
Calvesi,
in Caravaggio
cit.,
e la
Collezione Mattei, op. cit.
73
Corradini, 1993,
74
Ibid., p. 71; translated in
75
Corradini, 1993,
p. 70.
H. Hibbard,
Caravaggio
(London,
1988), p. 206.
p. 71.
76
77
Mancini/Hibbard,
78
As
79
80
Corradini, 1993,
p. 355.
1988, p. 348.
translated in Hibbard, op.
206.
cit, p.
p. 76.
For the aftermath of the homicide,
see Corradini, 1993, pp. 905. 1
am
indebted to Sandro
Corradini for discussing these documents with me, and suggesting that family honour
may
have been at the root of the brawl.

81
Corradini, 1993,
82
M.
83
Mancini/Hibbard,
84
Hibbard, op.
85
On this
passim,
86
The
in
1988, p. 355.
fascinating
web of
relationships see
and the remarks by R. Fuda, op.
picture
now
in the Brera, Milan,
M.
Calvesi,
Realtd del Caravaggio (Turin, 1994),
he.
pp. 758.
usually identified with the picture
For a summary of the arguments
Corradini, 1993, pp. 879. This

gli inizi
is
M.
cit.,
gave or sold to the Marchese Patrizi before 1624,
Patrizi's inventory.
anza per
88
cit.,
del
1988, p. 348.
Rome, which he then
ed in
87
p. 84.
Calvesi, he Realtd
was
trial
del Caravaggismo', op.
first
see
bought by Costa
when
M. Marmi,
it is
record-
1989, p. 490.
discussed by L. Spezzaferro, 'Una testimoni-
cit.
Maccherini, 'Caravaggio nel Carteggio familiare di Giulio Mancini',
Prospettiva, 86,
April
1997, p. 82.
89
For these
letters, see
CHAPTER TWELVE
i
G. C. Capaccio,
II, p.
As
Il Forastiero:
Dialoghi con G.
Capaccio, Accademico Otioso
(Naples, 1634), vol.
850.
translated in G. Galasso, 'Society in Naples in the Seicento', Painting
from Caravaggio
to
Giordano, exhibition catalogue, 1982
in Naples 1606IJO3
(London, Royal Academy of Arts), p.
25.
3
G. C. Capaccio, op.
as
cit.,
quoted
(Chicago and London, 1970),
G.
B. del
Tufo,
Ritratto
in B. Croce, History of
the
Kingdom
of Naples (tr.
Frenaye)
p. 120.
Modello
delle
Grandezze: Delitie
meraviglie della Nobilissima Cittd di Napoli
(ed. C. Tagliareni) (Naples, 1959).

5
On
In the nineteenth century this painting was in the collection of the Principessa Carafa
Luigi Carafa, see
M.
Calvesi, he Realtd
del
Caravaggio (Turin, 1990), p. 129.
Colonna.
415
Caravassio A
B.
In
de Dommici,
Vite dei Pittori, Scultori edArchitetti Napoletani, vol. Ill
Battistello Caracciollo e
Primo Naturalismo
il
1991 (Naples, Castel Sant'Angelo
known
have
10
11
B.
V Pacelli, Le
are also published
G.
13
The documents connected

Statutes
and
of the Monte
Sette
Opere
and discussed
in Naples',
(Salerno, 1984), p. 102.
di Misericordia
with the payment are published and discussed in
in Marini, 1989, p. 494.
from
are also
The
The
Pacelli.
"Roman Charity" in
Munshower (eds), Parthenope's
tion that Caravaggio's source for
common
V Pacelli, op.
information on patrons and on the
The Seven Acts of Mercy, in

Splendor:
(University Park, Pennsylvania, 1993), pp. 12663; Tuck-Scala
This scene was not
hand.
first
in Marini, 1989, p. 501.
A. Tuck-Scala, 'Caravaggio's
Porter and S. Scott
(p.
must
pp. 2723.
cit.,
1984, pp. 1023,
churches at
not, he
1977, pp. 81929. For Caravaggio's banking activities in connec-
12
14
San Martino), Stefano Causa argues
'New Documents concerning Caravaggio
Pacelli,
tion with this painting see
cit.,
Roman
40.
p.
p. 368.
CXIX,
B. del Tufo, op.
di
(1844 edn, Naples),
Bologna), exhibition catalogue,
40.
cit., p.
For the contract see
documents
and Certosa
the great public works in
de Dommici, op.
a Napoli (ed. F.
we cannot know whether Caracciolo knew Caravaggio or
186) that, although
Lifi
Cimon and
Art of
made
Pero, in Valerius
the
Chenault
in
Naples
the interesting observa-
Maximus,
nor had
in Italian art before Caravaggio,
J.
Golden Age
is
an ekphrasis.
been associated
it
with the Seven Acts.

15
16
M.
This was pointed out by

(tr.
W. G. Ryan)
G.
B. del Tufo, op.
Calvesi, op.
(Princeton, NJ), vol.

214, writes
cit., p.
describes a series of paintings

17
18
Valerius
Maximus,
cit.,
II, p.
how
p. 359.
See also
de Voragme, The Golden Legend
J.
292.
the pilgrims 'put
up monuments and
statues'
and
of the deeds of Samson.
V4, 'Of
Memorabilia,
Filial Piety', (ed.
M.
Nisard) Oeuvres Completes
de
Valere
Maxime
One
school of thought, led by Friedlaender, has argued that the picture was the one
(Paris, n.d.), vol.
I,
p. 363.
Duke of Modena but
ordered by the
never delivered; see
W.
Friedlaender, Caravaggio Studies
(Princeton, NJ, 1955), p. 199. The suggestion that the patron was
put forward by
1954, pp.
On
2779.
ography, see
W.
Kunsthistorischen
Hess
J.
G. C. Capaccio, op.
On
S. B.
in
Gajano and L. Scaraffia
22
M.
23
For the documents see
cit.,
p.
(eds), Luoghi sacri
Congetture su un
419, 421
Pacelli,
p.
3.
'New Documents concerning Caravaggio
1977, pp. 81929,
and analysed
Pacelli
in
M.
and
24
Luigi di Granata, op.
25
Ibid., p. 117.
in Naples',
and the same author's 'Nuovi documenti
Nobilissima,
XVII,
1978, pp. 57-67.
sul-
The documents
Marini, 1989, pp. 51719. For information on the de
and A. Brejon de Lavergnee,
ritratto nella Tlagellazione di
de Dommici, op.
(Turin, 1990), pp. 397417.
Maria (Rome, 1573),
409.
Caravaggio a Napoli', Napoli
are also published
e spazi della santitd
della Sacratissima Vergine
CXIX,
Franchis family see
XXXVI,
der
in 32.
pp. 8778.
cit.,
Luigi di Granata, Rosario
l'attivita del
Wien, 76, 1981, pp.
Rosa, 'L'Onda che Ritorna: Interno ed estero Sacro nella Napoli del 600', in
21
Rosa, op.
was
the iconography of the picture, and the evidence presented by radi-
Sammlungen
19
M.
Don Marzio Colonna
Modelli del Caravaggio', Commentari, V,
Prohaska, 'Untersuchungen zur Rosenkratz Madonna Caravaggios', Jahrbuch
20
this see
in an article, 'Modelle e
'L'Eclisse del
Committente?
Caravaggio rivelato dalla radiografia',
Paragone,
423, 1985, pp. 20918.

cit.,
p. 120.
26
B.
27
D. Bodart, Louis Tinson (Brussels, 1970),
28
Corradini, 1993,
29
These documents
cit.,
p. 41.
p.
11.
p. 96.
are published in Marini, 1989, p. 497. See also Corradini, 1993, p. 97.
416
Notes
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
i
2
3
George Sandys,
F.
On
An.Dom: 1610 (London,
Relation of a Journey begun
Sansovino, Delia Origine

the Knights of
de Cavalieri di
Malta generally
M.
H.
see
1615), p. 228.
Francesco Sansovino (Venice, 1570), p. 33.

J.
A.
The Knights of Malta
Sire,
(New
Haven,
Connecticut, and London, 1994), and for the Orders increased popularity at the end of
the sixteenth century,
p.
74.
p. 368.
Sandys, op.
cit., p.
232.
Sandys, op.
cit., p.
234.
R. A. de Vertot, The History
G. Bosio,
ristampata, e dal medesimo autore ampliata et illustrata
9
10
11
12
B.
Dal Pozzo,
Sandys, op.
M.
S.
F.
1728),
Book
San Gio: Gierosol.no
(Rome and
Historia della Sacra Religione di Malta
di
XIII, p.
55.
Iacomo Bosio.
Buhagiar, The Iconography of
Macioce, 'Caravaggio
the
Malta
Maltese Islands,
e
went
that Caravaggio
from Wignacourt
in the
the petition about Venosa
1400 1900:
Painting
(Malta, 1987),
is
company of Marc'Aurelio
dated 24 July 1607.
move
1935,
pp. 16874, su g"
Giustiniani,
and the dates
di
16002, p. 47
B. dal
Pozzo, op.
cit.,
p. 521.
17
B. dal
Pozzo, op.
cit.,
p. 522.
18
On
the date
of
of the
arrival
Works and His
Influence', in
M.
pp. 1 18. See also
Fondo Mediceo de
galleys in
P.
earlier. Calvesi,
Buhagiar, op.
of the
21
pp. 41, 459
and
521,
by
M.
first
Calvesi,
Principato,
file
4028, Awisi da
Roma,
cit.,
Randon
p. 62.
Cutajar, 'Caravaggio in Malta.
There
is
His
(Malta, 1989),
strong circumstantial evidence that
not proved and he
it is
may have been on the island

who gives the date of the
quotes dal Pozzo,
160, n. 120,
cit., p.
(ed.), Caravaggio in Malta
galleys as 12 July 1609.
The documents
translation in
op.
Malta see
Farrugia
Caravaggio came with these galleys, but
Randon
cit.,
(13 July 1602).
16
20
that he
is
Caravaggio (Turin, 1990), pp. 131 3.
arrival
for
likely expla-
story of Fabrizio Sforza Colonna, and his connection with Caravaggio, was
pieced together, from the account in Dal Pozzo, op.
19
fit,
possible that the Giustiniani helped
It is
Colonna.
sailed with Fabrizio Sforza
Te Realtd
81,
to Malta. She suggested
Caravaggio in Malta, and that he arrived with them; but on balance the more
even
p. 49.
cited in this chapter, pp. 20729.
nation (which does not, however, entirely exclude the interest of the Guistiniani)
15
768.
suoi referenti: notizie d'archivio', Storia dell' Arte,
Ashford, in 'Caravaggio's Stay in Malta', Burlington Magazine, LXVII,
The
nuovo
p.
(Verona and Venice, 17035), pp. 4423.
gested that the Giustiniani cousins facilitated Caravaggio's
14
Di
Naples, 162184), vl- ni,
p. 230.
cit.,
1994, publishes the letters

13
(London,
of the Knights of Malta
Dell'Istoria della Sacra religione et lll.ma Militia di
J.
relating to this hearing are
reproduced in facsimile and with an English
Azzopardi, 'Documentary Sources on Caravaggio's Stay in Malta', in
(ed.), op.
P. F.
pp. 3031.
cit.,
p. 355.
p.
368. It
is
possible that a seated portrait
of Grand Master
Wignacourt (Wignacourt Collegiate Museum, Rabat), attributed to Cassarino,
work by Caravaggio.
Gash, 'The Identity of Caravaggio's "Knight of Malta'",
is
a copy
after a lost
22
See
J.
CXXXIX,
23
G. Bosio, op.
cit.,
Magazine,
p. 677.
Toffolo, Image of a Knight (London, 1988),
24
J.
25
F.
Sansovino, op.
26
S.
Macioce, Caravaggio
Malaspma
Burlington
1997, pp. 15660, n. 29.
left a
cit.,
p. 27.
pp. 45.
a Malta
suoi referenti: notizie d'archivio, op. cit.,
pp. 217, 221 and 228.
'quadro grande' and 'quattro piccoli' to the chapel of the Italian Langue
417
in the Cathedral
of St John. She suggests that the 'quadro grande' alludes to the
which hangs there now. John Gash (op.

inally
commissioned
Sansovino, op.
28
B. dal
29
S.
30
Corradini, 1993, p. 97. This
31
32
J.
33
op.
a Malta
document
cit.,
G. Bosio, op.
J.
cit.,
Book
cit.,
cit.,
p. 33, gives a transcription
A.
J.
S.
Macioce, Caravaggio
and
a translation
of
this
a Malta
B. dal
P. F.
Randon
(ed.)
Works and His
Influence', in
Randon
P. F.
(ed.), op.
(Munich
cit.,
p.
und Mahlerey
H. Hibbard, Caravaggio
Bild
in Malta', Burlington Magazine,
42
43
Idem.
44
On
M.
its
socioreligious context, see the
Stone, 'The Context of Caravaggio's "Beheading of St John"
CXXXIX,
1997, pp. 16170, to
which
this section
is
indebted.
p. 369.
quotations in this and the following paragraph are from this source.
the Lorrain family and the commission for The Annunciation, see
Caravaggio, op.
cit.,
pp. 3759, and S. Macioce, op.
45
46
47
F.
Susinno, Le
Hibbard, op.
cit.,
The
Randon,
cit., p.
M.
Calvesi, Le Realtd di
209.
p. 369.
p. 355.
Vite de'Pittori Messinesi
These documents
100 1.
482.
the original architectural context of the picture, and
The
1925), as translated in
1988), p. 482.
Pozzo, op.
very fascinating article by D.
V Martinelli, Florence, i960) as translated in
(1724: ed.
1988, p. 381.
are published in
J.
Azzopardi, op.
cit., p.
39; see also
Corradini, 1993, pp.
quotations from Sarnmut are from E. Sammut, 'The Trial of Caravaggio', in

(ed.), op.
cit.,
p. 61.
For a
clear
summary of
the primary sources
Malta see also J. Azzopardi, 'Un San Francesco di Caravaggio

commenti sul periodo maltese del Merisi', in S. Macioce
in
Caravaggio, op.
J.
suoi referenti: notizie
pp. 11 13.
(London,
49
document.
von Sandrart, Joachim von Sandrart's Academie der Bau
On
Azzopardi,
J.
p. 55.
Sire, op. cit., p. 213.
Kiinste von 1675 (ed. A. R. Pelzer)
F.
cit.,
872.
cit., p.
D. Cutajar, 'Caravaggio in Malta: His
48
(ed.) op.
Azzopardi, 'Documentary Sources on Caravaggio's Stay in Malta' in
Quoted from H.
41
Randon
XIII, p. 60.
38
40
P. F.
p. 568.
cit.,
37
J.
in
p. 210.
Pozzo, op.
35
39
transcribed and translated in
is
ibid, p. 56. Corradini, 1993, p. 98.
36
op.
St Jerome,
was orig-
pp. 2078.
suoi referenti: notizie d'archivio, op. cit.,
Admission into the Order'
R. A. de Vertot, op
B. dal
this that the painting
cit., p. 523.
This identification was suggested by

d'archivio,
34
cit.,
Macioce, Caravaggio
Azzopardi,
from
inferred
p. ^r.
F.
Pozzo, op.
cit.)
for Malaspina's personal devotions rather than as a public work.
27
'Caravaggio's
Lif
cit.,
P.
on Caravaggio
Malta nel Secolo XVIII:
(ed.),
Michelangelo Merisi di
pp. 195212.
Azzopardi, 'Un San
Francesco di
Caravaggio
.',
op.
cit., p.
197.
The
list is
in a private col-
lection in Malta.
50
G. Sandys, op.
cit., p.
234.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
i
F.
Susinno, Le
Vite de'Pittori Messinesi
Hibbard, 1988,
2
G. Sandys,
(1724; ed.
V Martinelli, Florence, i960), as translated in
p. 386.
Relation of a Journey begun in
F.
Susinno, op.
F.
Susinno, as translated in Hibbard,
cit.,
Anno Domini 1610 (London,
p. 117.
418
p. 381.
1615), p. 241.
Notes
Mirabella, Dichiarazione
quoted
6
della
pianta dell'antiche Siracuse
(Naples,
1613), p. 89.
This passage
is
in Marini, 1989, p. 100.
For a summary of the scholarship on
<md the controversy over the patron,
this painting
see Marini, 1989, p. 535.
Susinno, as translated in Hibbard, 1988,
G. Sandys, op.
10
Samperi,
P.
Iconologia della Gloriosa Vergine
V Abbate,
1644), p. 4. See also
(1580 1625)', in Caravaggio
(Palermo,
11
in
Museo Regionale
'I
p. 382.
Madre
Tempi
suo Tempo,
ll
Sicilia:
di
Dio Maria,
Prottetrice di
Messina (Messina,
del Caravaggio: Situazioni della Pittura in Sicilia

il
suo Influsso, exhibition catalogue,
1984
di Palazzo Bellomo), p. 45.
For the documents concerning
commission
p. 382.
p. 245.
cit.,
this picture see Marini, 1989, pp. 5367.
The
story of the
told by Susinno, as translated in Hibbard, 1988, p. 382, from which the quo-
is
tations in this section are taken.
Book
12
Ambroise de Milan, La
Penitence,
13
St Augustine, Lectures or
Tractates on the Gospel according to St John (tr.
chapter
II,
vii (Paris, 1971), p. 171.
Rev.
J.
Innes) (Edinburgh,
1874), v l- H> PP- J 3 2 ! 3^> x 39Susinno, as translated in Hibbard, 1988, p. 386.

>
14
Samperi, op.
15
P.
16
Meditations on the Life of Christ (tr.
17
C. Cargnoni (ed.), I
18
G.
19
P.
20
M.
cit., p.
Ellero, Fsegesi
Samperi, op.
For the
145.
e Teologia
cit.,
I.
Ragusa and R.
B.
Green) (Princeton, NJ,
(Perugia, 1988), vol.
Frati Cappucini
Ill,
i,
dell'incarnazione secondo Giovanni Crisostomo
(Vicenza, 1967), p.
150.
p. 143.
of Catalano l'Antico and of Filippo Paladini, see
lives
1961), p. 37.
p. 725.
Susinno, op.
F.
cit.,
pp.
96193 and 1036.

21
See Marini, 1989,
22
23
Idem.
24
G.
p. 568.
p. 386.
Bellafiore, Palermo: Dalle Origine alia maniera in Metamorfosi della Cittd (ed. L.
(Milan, 1995),
Benevolo)
p. 151.
25
Meditations on the Life of Christ, op.
26
As given
in E.
cit.,
A. Armstrong, Saint
pp. 335.
Francis:
Nature Mystic (Berkeley, California, and
London,
1973), p. 142.
27
28
29
R Ziglioli,
'II
da Caravaggio:
p. 355.
p. 370.
Caravaggio ... a Caravaggio, in Roma', in S. Macioce

La
Vita e
le
Opere attraverso
Documenti (Rome, 1995),
(ed.), Michelangelo Merisi
p. 65.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
1
G. C. Capaccio,
G.
II Forastiero:
B. del Tufo, Ritratto
Dialoghi con G.
Modello
delle
Capaccio, Accademico Otioso
Grandezze: Delitie
(Naples, 1634),
p. 821.
meraviglie della Nobilissima Cittd di Napoli
(ed. C. Tagliareni) (Naples, 1959), p. 29.

3
J.
F.
Orbaan, Documenti
sul Barocco in
Roma (Rome, 1920),
p. 157.
G.
B. del Tufo, op.
M.
Maccherini, 'Caravaggio nel Carteggio familiare di Giulio Mancini',
cit.,
p. 149.
Prospettiva, 86,
April
1997, p. 83.
M.
Calvesi, Le Realtd
del Caravaggio,
(Turin, 1990), p. 147, has suggested that Caravaggio was
attacked by Spanish soldiers and that he remained a prisoner of the Spanish throughout
his
Neapolitan
stay,
although allowed to work and given a considerable degree of freedom.
Baglione and- Bellori both believed that his attackers were Maltese.
419
M. Macchenni,
C. N. Cochin, Voyage
op.
Lif-
loc. cit.
cit.,
d'ltalie
(Paris, 1758), vol.
pp. 1712; for this source, and other early
descriptions of this lost picture, see Marini, 1989, p: 568.
9
10
This
is
rapporto con
Mattel
bition catalogue
11
p. 370.
M.
the view expressed cautiously by
N. Ault
con
Romani', Caravaggio
(Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica
(ed.), Elizabethan Lyrics
12
G. Marino, La Galena (ed.
13
On
this picture see
M.
(New York,
ing was suggested by
il
suo
Colkzione Mattei, exhi-
di Palazzo Barberini), p. 24.
p. 51, no. 4.
Lune and D. Mahon,
Bulletin of the Cleveland
M.
e la
i960), p. 362.
Pien) (Padua, 1979),
A. Tzeutschler
Andrew from Valladolid',
Museum
'Caravaggio's Crucifixion of Saint
of Art, 1977, pp. 324.
The
Gregori, The Age of Caravaggio, exhibition catalogue
Metropolitan, and Naples, Capodimonte),

14
Calvesi in-'Michelangelo da Caravaggio:
altri collezionisti
late dat-
(New York
p. 349.
V Pacelli and F. Bologna, 'Caravaggio, 1610: la Saint'Orsola
per Marcantonio
confitta dal tiranno
Doria', in Prospettiva, 23, 1980, pp. 2445.

15
was protected by Cardinal Gonzaga; see Bellori/Hibbard,
Bellori tells us that Caravaggio
1988, p. 370.
16
17
As
18
For the
p. 356.
translated in ibid., p. 255.
of these
texts
da documenti
letters see
V Pacelli, 'La Morte del Caravaggio
inediti', Studi di Storia delYArte, 2, 1991,
pp. 16788,
e alcuni suoi dipinti
and
Pacelli, L'Ultimo
Caravaggio: Dalla Maddalena a mezzafigura ai due San Giovanni (1601 1610) (Todi, 1994).
19
The
letters
from Deodato
at first sight to elucidate
cult to interpret. It
instance,
may
is
Gentile, recently discovered by
what had happened
not
have been sent to Scipione
had
M.
Calvesi, 'Michelangelo
pp. 1729;
in S.
M.
nor
earlier,
is it
which seemed
proved very
or
it
may
have been
da Caravaggio', op.
cit.,
were
at
different interpretations
Marini, 'L'Ultima Spiaggia', Art

in Caravaggio
Dossier, 66, 1992,
e la
diffi-
David, for
with
left at Chiaia,
clear that the three pictures that
from Port'Ercole). Very
necessarily been returned
material have been given by
it;
Pacelli,
what pictures went on the felucca (the
at all clear
Caravaggio intending to send for
Vincenzo
at Caravaggio's death, have
Chiaia
of
pp.
this
8 11;
Colkzione Mattei, op.
cit.,
V Pacelli, 'Un Nuova Ipotesi sulla Morte di Michelangelo Merisi di Caravaggio'
Macioce
(ed.), op.
cit.,
pp. 18495. There
is
also a puzzling notice
from
1630,
from
SS Apostoli at Naples, which suggests that Caravaggio was

he had received 100 scudi to do a painting but because he was mur-
the church and monastery of
murdered;
it
claims that
dered the church lost the
money and
intended to return to Naples, for he
the picture. It also seems likely that Caravaggio
left
the large picture for Santa Maria della Sanita
unfinished.
20
G. C.
Gigli,
Caravaggio
La
Pittura Trionfante (1615), as translated in
(London,
1969), p. 10.
420
M.
Kitson, The Complete Paintings of
Location of paintings
Location of paintings by Caravaggio

(including attributions) mentioned in the text
Dimensions
Medium
are in centimetres, height preceding width.
oil
is
on canvas unless other-
wise stated.
The Adoration of
the Shepherds;
The Adoration of
the
Museo Regionale
314 x 211; Messina,
Shepherds with Saints Tawrence and Trancis;
268 x 197; stolen, formerly Palermo,
Oratorio di S Lorenzo
Nancy; Musee des Beaux-Arts
The Annunciation; 285 x 205;

Basket of Truif,
Bacchus;
98 x
x 47; Milan, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana
31
85;
Florence, Uffizi
The Beheading of St John
the Baptist,
361
x 520; Valletta, Oratory of the Co-Cathedral of St John
The Blessed Isidoro Agricola (copy); 220 x 150; Ascoli Piceno, Pinacoteca
Boy with
70 x
a Basket of Truif,
Boy
Bitten by a Tizard;
Boy
Peeling a Truif,
London,
51.4;
408 x
the
Mount
Phillips
Museo Regionale
Worth, Kimbell Art
133;
Museum
formerly Berlin, Kaiser-Friedrich
Magdalene; 100 x 134.5; Detroit, Detroit Institute
The Conversion of St Paul (first version) (oil
on
panel); 237 x 189;
The Conversion of St Paul (second version); 230 x 175;
Rome,
S.
Rome, Odescalchi Collection
Maria del Popolo
The Crowning with Thorns; izj x 165.5; Vienna, Kunsthistonsches
The Crucifixion of St Andrew; 202.5 x
David and
David with
Goliath;
the
The Death of
Peter,
no
Head
230 x
175;
5 2 -7>
S.
Risparmio
Museum
Museum of
Depositi)
Art
Maria del Popolo;
Madrid, Prado
91;
of Goliath; 115 x 101;
the Virgin;
Cleveland, Cleveland
Rome,
Museum
of Arts
The Crowning with Thorns; 178 x 125; Prato, Palazzo degli Alberti (Cassa
The Crucifixion of St
Bellomo
Madrid, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
of Olives; 154 x 222; destroyed,
the
di Palazzo
S. Luigi dei Francesi
The Cardsharps; 91.5 x 128.2; Fort

St Catherine of Alexandria; 173
The Conversion of
Communale
Galleria Borghese
300; Syracuse,
Rome,
The Calling of St Matthew;
Christ on
Rome,
66 x 49.5; London, National Gallery
64.2 x
The Burial of St Tucy;
67;
Rome,
Galleria Borghese
369 x 245; Paris, Louvre
Doubting Thomas; 107 x 146; Potsdam, Sanssouci Bildergalerie

Tcce
Homo; 128 x
103;
Genoa, Palazzo Rosso
Wadsworth Atheneum
Rome, Vatican Palace, Pinacoteca
The Tlagellation of Christ, 286 x 213; Naples, Capodimonte
St Trancis in Meditation; 124 x 93; Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Palazzo
St Trancis in Meditation; 130 x 98; Rome, S. Maria della Concezione
The Gypsy Tortune Teller, 116 x 152; Rome, Pinacoteca Capitolina
The Tcstasy of St Trancis; 92.5 x 107.8; Hartford,
The Tntombment of Christ, 300 x 203;
The Gypsy Tortune
Teller,
St Jerome in his Study; 112

St Jerome Writing; 117
99 x
x
131;
157;
Paris,
Rome,
Louvre
Galleria Borghese
x 157; Valletta, Co-Cathedral of St John
129 x 94;
St John the Baptist, 170.6
Rome, Pinacoteca Capitolina
130;
Kansas City, Nelson- Atkins
Museum
of Art
421
Barberini
Caravaggio A L
94 x
Rome, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Palazzo Corsini

Rome, Galleria Borghesex 195; Rome, Galleria Nazionale dArte Antica, Palazzo Barberini
(oil on plaster); 500 x 285; Rome, Casino Ludovisi
131;
x 124.5;
St John the Baptist, 159
Judith and Holofernes; 145

Jupiter,
Neptune and Pluto
94 x
The Lute Player,
St Petersburg, State Hermitage
119;
New York, Wildenstein
The Lute Player, 100 x 126.5;
The Madonna of Loreto; 260 x 150;
Rome, S. Agostino
(Madonna dei Palafrenieri); 292
The Madonna and Child with St Anne
211;
Rome,
Galleria
Borghese
The Madonna of
the
Rosary; 364.5 x 249.5;
Mary
Magdalene; 123 x 98.3;
Mary
Magdalene, 106.5 x 9 1
-'
Rome,
Rme,
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches
private collection
The Martyrdom of St Matthew; 323 x 343;
Rome,
The Martyrdom of St Ursula; 140.5 x 170.5;

St
Matthew and
Museum
Galleria Doria Pamphilj
Naples, Banca Commerciale Italiana
the
Angel (first version); 223 x 183; destroyed, formely Berlin, Kaiser-Friedrich
the
Angel (second version); 296.5 x 195;
Museum
St
Matthew and
mounted on convex poplar
Medusa (oil on canvas

The Musicians; 92 x
no
Narcissus;
66 x
Portrait of Pillide;
New York,
118.5;
Rome,
x 92;
Metropolitan
Galleria Nazionale
Museum
of Art
dArte Antica, Palazzo Barberini
destroyed, formerly Berlin, Kaiser-Friedrich
53;
Portrait of Majfeo Barberini
Museum
124 x 90; Florence, private collection
Portrait of Cardinal Baronio (attribution);

Portrait of a
Rome,
shield); diameter 55.5; Florence, Uffizi
60 x 48; Florence, Uffizi
Knight of Malta; Tra Antonio Martelli; 118.5 x 95.5; Florence, Palazzo Pitti
Portrait of
Giovan Battista Marino (?) (attribution); 73 x 60; Switzerland, private collection
Portrait of
Alof de Wignacourt, 195 x 134; Paris, Louvre
The Rest on
the Flight into
Egypt, 135.5 x 166.5;
Rome,
The Resurrection of Lazarus; 380 x 275; Messina,

The
Sacrifice of Isaac;
104 x
135;
Salome with
the
Head
Salome with
the
head of St John
Florence, Uffizi
of St John the Baptist, 116

the Baptist, 91.5
(Madonna
The Seven Acts of Mercy
Galleria Doria Pamphilj
Museo Regionale
x 140; Madrid, Palacio Real

x 107; London, National Gallery
della Misericordia); 390 x 260; Naples, Pio
Monte
della
Misericordia
The Sick Bacchus; 67 x
Sleeping Cupid;
72 x
53;
Rome,
Galleria Borghese
105; Florence,
The Supper
at
Emmaus;
141 x 196.2;
The Supper
at
Emmaus;
141 x 175;
Palazzo Pitti
London, National Gallery
Milan, Brera
The Taking of Christ, 133.5 x ^-S,* Dublin, National Gallery

Victorious Cupid; 156
113;
of Ireland
Berlin, Gemaldegalerie, Staatliche
Museen zu
Berlin, Preussischer
Kulturbesitz
Location of works by other artists mentioned

IN
NB: Murals, and

Alberti,
THE TEXT
other works whose location
is
clear
from the
Durante
The Nativity;
Rome, Chiesa Nuova
Allori, Cristofano
Judith with
the
Head
of Holofernes; Florence,
422
Palazzo
Pitti
text, are
omitted.
Location of
Baglione, Giovanni
Rome,
the
World, the Flesh
and
the
Devil;
the
World, the Flesh
and
the
Devil; Berlin,
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica,
Palazzo Barberini;
zu
Gemaldegalerie Staatliche Museen
Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz
The Resurrection (modello); Paris, Louvre
Barocci, Federico
The
Rome, Chiesa Nuova
Visitation;
Gian Lorenzo
Bernini,
Portrait
Bust of Scipione Borghese;
Rome,
Galleria Borghese
Breughel, Jan (ascribed)
Rome,
Carafe of Flowers;
Galleria Borghese
Breughel, Jan
Milan, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana
Vase of Flowers;
Campi, Antonio
The Agony
Garden; Milan, Pinacoteca
in the
Ambrosiana
Carracci, Annibale
The Assumption of
Domine Quo
Rome;
the Virgin;
Maria
S.
del
Popolo
Vadis;
Hanging (drawing); Windsor, Royal Collection
St Margaret;
Rome; Museo Nazionale d'Arte
S. Caterina della
Self Portrait,
Antica, Palazzo Barberini,
on deposit from
Rota
Parma, Galleria Nazionale
Caravaggio, Polidoro da
The Adoration of
Figino,
the Shepherds;
Museo Regionale
Messina,
Ambrogio
The Madonna of
Still Life
the Serpent;
Milan,
S.
Antonio Abate
with Peaches; Private Collection
Giorgione (previously ascribed to)

Soldier
and Woman Carrying a
Flute;
Hampton
Court, Royal Collection
Giorgione
David Meditating on
the
Head
of Goliath;
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches
Museum
Tommaso,
Laureti,
The Triumph of
Rome, Vatican
Religion;
Palace, Sala di Costantino
Leonardo da Vinci
The Madonna of
the Rocks;
Leoni, Ottavio
Portrait of Caravaggio
(drawing); Florence, Biblioteca Marucelliana
Ligozzi, Jacopo
Two
African Vipers (drawing); Florence, Uffizi
Manfredi, Bartolomeo
Mars
Chastising Cupid;
Chicago, Art Institute of Chicago
The Master of Hartford

Fruits
and Flowers
in
Still Life
with Fruit,
Still Life
with
Game
Two
Carafes;
Hartford,
Wadsworth Atheneum
Flowers and Vegetables; Rome, Galleria Borghese

Birds;
Rome,
Galleria Borghese
Minniti, Mario
The Raising of
the
Widow
of Nairn;
Messina,
Museo Regionale
Paladino, Filippo
St Francis Receiving the Stigmata;
Messina, Chiesa dei Capuccini
Parmigianino
Amor (Cupid Carving
his
Bow); Vienna, Kunsthistorisches
Museum
423
Caravaggio A Life
Peterzano,
Simone
-
The Deposition, Milan; S. Fedele
Pulzone, Scipione
The Crucifixion;
The Holy Tamily;
Rome, Chiesa Nuova

Rome, Galleria Borghese
Raphael
The Conversion of St Paul (tapestry);
The Transfiguration;
Reni,
Rome, Vatican
Rome, Vatican
Palace, Pinacoteca
Palace, Pinacoteca
Guido
The Crucifixion of St
Peter,
Rome, Vatican
Palace, Pinacoteca
The Martyrdom of St Catherine; Conscente, S. Alessandro
David Contemplating
the
Head
of Goliath; Paris,
Louvre
Rubens, Sir Peter Paul

Gian Carlo Doria; Genoa, Palazzo Spinola
Sebastiano del
The
Piombo
Rome,
Flagellation;
S. Pietro in
Montorio
Titian
Death of St Peter Martyr, destroyed, formerly Venice,
Mary
SS Giovanni
Paolo
Magdalene; Florence, Pitti Palace
The Resurrection
Salome with
the
(from the Averoldi Altarpiece);
Head
of St John the Baptist;
Rome,
Brescia,
Galleria
SS Nazzaro
Dona
The Venus of Urhino; Florence, Uffizi

Vasari, Giorgio
the Baptist;
424
Rome;
S.
Pamphilj
Giovanni Decollato
Celso
Acknowledgments
should like to thank many
Sergio
especially
Benedetti,
friends for help
Tom
and information,
and Elizabeth Cohen, Kate
Emma
Gallagher, John Gash, John Keats,
Lauze, Judith Landry,
Francesca Piovano, Jonathan Rolls, Erich Schleier, Christopher
and
my
fellow
members of
Allen and Lynda Stephens.
Mendez
the Independent Scholars' Group, Elizabeth

I
am, of course, also deeply indebted to pre-
vious Caravaggio scholars, for ideas and for factual information.
The
footnotes are not meant to be exhaustive, but to assist the reader in locat-
and
ing relevant materials
acknowledge
at least
scholarship. In
areas
some of
of controversy, and, hopefully, to
these debts to the vast
Rome, Tuscany and Naples many
with their time and knowledge, and
body of Caravaggio
scholars were generous
should
like
to thank Silvia
Danesi Squarzina, Maria Bernardini, Francesca Cappelletti, Michele

Maccherini, Vincenzo Pacelli, Mario Rosa and Karen Wolfe for help and
hospitality.
great,
and
My
debt to Sandro Corradini and to Maurizio Marini
much
discoveries with
is
appreciated their generosity in discussing their archival
me and
ticularly grateful to
me
helping
to procure photographs.
Maurizio Marini for lending
me
am
par-
the photograph of
the painting which he believes to be Caravaggios lost portrait of Giovan

Battista
Marino, and which he intends to publish shortly.
The
staff
of
Rome provided practical help, particularly Maria

Scott. I am also grateful to the Maltese, particularly
the British School at
Pia and Valerie
Canon John Azzopardi, Mario
Buhagiar, Keith Sciberras and Marquis
Anthony Cassar de Sayn, who provided me with

photographs. At Chatto
Burnham
my
& Windus
should
for his initial encouragement,
manuscript.
My
like to
class
thank Jonathan
and Jenny Uglow
help,
and
am
indebted to
ious classical literary allusions and translations.
my
and
for help with
son and daughter, John and Esther Langdon, have
both provided practical
mention
hospitality, ideas
of students
at the Australia
my
daughter for var-
should also
like to
National University,
425
who
provided some
last
minute
ideas.
to Franca Trinchieri Camiz, for

kinds, to Father
about
Roman
Dermot
But perhaps
Anthony Langdon,
practical help, but, even more, for
many long
of
help of
many wonderful
Fenlon, for
Catholicism; and
my greatest debts
much encouragement and
all
are
many
conversations
for a great deal
of
discussions of Caravaggio
art.
would also
to thank
like
the following individuals and
kind permission to reproduce paintings and
institutions for their
other material in their possession, as acknowledged in the List of
The Art
Illustrations:
Institute
of Chicago; Avery Architectural and Fine
New
Arts Library, Columbia University in the City of
Commerciale
Naples; Sergio Benedetti; Biblioteca-Pinacoteca
Italiana,
Ambrosiana, Milan; The Bridgeman Art Library, London;
Museum, London; The

Sayn;
York; Banca
British Library,
The British
London; The Marquis Cassar de
The Cleveland Museum of Art; 1998 The Detroit Institute
of Arts; Galleria Borghese, Rome; Galleria Doria Pamphilj, Rome;

Gemaldegalerie, Staatliche
Museen zu
Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz;
Rome;
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica,
Galleria Nazionale, Parma;
Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth; Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna;

Logart Press; Maurizio Marini; Christopher Mendez;
Museum
del
of Art,
Prado,
Bornemisza,
New York; Musee
du Louvre,
Madrid;
Madrid; Palazzo
Pinacoteca Vaticana;
Soprintendenza per
I
Vatican
Pitti,
Scala
Schlosser
The National
Gallery,
The
London;
Art, Kansas City, Missouri; Palacio
Istituto
Fotografico
Editoriale,
e Storici di Firenze;
Rome;
S.p.A.,
Soprintendenza
Storici di Roma; State Hermitage; Stiftung
und Garten Berlin-Brandenburg/Bild
Museum; Wadsworth Atheneum,
London.
Italiana;
Florence; Pinacoteca Capitolina,
Beni Artistici
Beni Artistici
Preussische
Museo Nacional
Banca Commerciale
Naples,
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of
per
Paris;
Madrid; Museo Regionale, Messina; Museo Thyssen-
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin;
Real,
The Metropolitan
Archiv;
Hartford; Warburg Institute,
Ind ex
Figures in
italics
within the
Allori, Cristofano: Judith with
refer to captions
text;
Head
those in bold
Altemps,
indicate colour plate numbers.
Accademia degli Insensati (NonSensual Academy), Rome, 65,

195,
201
Accademia
degli Oziosi, Naples,
Accademia
Rome,
degli Umoristi,
the
of Holofernes, 200, 205
Duke
of, 134
dei Crescenzi,
Rome,
Altieri, Cardinal, 128
122-3,
Altieri family,
214, 217, 230, 237, 240, 246, 252,
48
Amayden (Flemish
writer), 93-5
Rome,
dei Lincei,
Milan, 26
di
72
'82, 186, 197, 213,
>
161, 271; Lives of the Artists, 4-5; The
306, 311-12, 314-15, 317, 348, 360,
the
112
Thsh and
the
Resurrection, 259, 262, 265,

del
Valley),
91
the
Devil, 258, 259,
San Luca, Rome, 49,
270
Baldmucci, Filippo, 277-8, 279

Banco di Santa Maria del Popolo,
Anne,
St,
Anno
Santo, 154, 156
Banco di Sant'Eligio, 326-7

Bande Nere, Giovanni delle, 20
306-7
Bann, Stephen: The True
Accolti, Marcello, 82
Apocrypha, 166
Acquaviva, Cardinal Claudio, 128,
Apollo Belvedere,
Barbary pirates, 364, 366

Barbenni, Monsignor Maffeo
50, 54, 56, 74-5, 78, 96, 103, 228,
256, 317. 339
262
51
Aragona, Tullio
243
of Art,
292
Hills,
Rome,
of, 181
Barocci, Federico, 23, 54, 192, 370;
family, 12-13
m,
112;
Primo
Arch of Septimus Severus, Rome,
135-6, 194,
Alberti, Durante, 74; The Nativity,
242
Alberti,
Leon
On
Battista;
9,
Painting,
203-4
Romano, 74
The
Visitation,
243
90
Baronio, Cardinal Cesare, 48,
242, 248, 290, 304, 307; Annales

Tcclesiastici,
33
Arch of Titus, Rome, 9

Archconfraternity of St John the
Barry,
Due
48-9, 107, 189, 224
du,
353
Bartholi, Francisca, 303
Bartolomeo (C's
Beheaded, 159
servant), 266, 271
Archconfraternity of Santa Maria
Bartolommeo (card
player),
Morte, 247
Archconfraternity of Santa Trinita
Bascape, San Carlo,
18, 19
dell'
Orazione
Archilei, Vittoria, 128, 130
Bassano da Sutri, 205, 217

Bassano family, 23, 25, 192
Aldato, Paolo, 310
Arcimboldo, Giuseppe,
Baths of Caracalla,
Aldobrandini, Cinzio Passeri,
Aretino, Pietro, 79, 85; Le Carte
dei Pellegrini, 240-41
Cardinal of St George, 96, 137

Aldobrandini, Giovan Francesco,
137
Aldobrandini, Olimpia,
150, 276,
277
Aldobrandini, Cardinal Pietro, 40,
41, 90, 99, 105, 107, 109, 128, 156,
160, 199, 205, 275, 276, 281,
Aldobrandini family,
2ii, 275,
Mattheo Perez
113
d', 345;
Investment of Tort St Michael,
Alessandri,
Tommaso
26, 27, 66
92
Argentini, Lorenzo, 134
The
34!
d': II Cavaliere
Rome, 9
Baulduin, Noel, 125
Bellarmine, Roberto, 290, 307
Bellon, Giovan Pietro, 5, 14, 25, 29,
Arion, 106, 107

Ariosto, Ludovico, 209; Comedies,
88
57, 68, 85, 87, 91, 93, 112, 148, 188,
Aristotle, 143
326, 333, 336, 342, 348, 352, 356-60,
Armenini, Giovanni
Arpino, Cavaliere
Battista,
d' see
Astorgio, Andrea, Baron of
Rocchetta, 328
Augustine,
22
Cesari,
Giuseppe
Arrigone, Cardinal, 346
Arrigoni, Pompeo, 304
276
Aldrovandi, Ulisse, 82,

Aleccio,
290
43, 199, 207,
Parlanti,
90
Bassano, Jacopo, 97
Albertini, Gaspare, 140-41
Alberti,
50,
109, 155, 156, 158, 162, 163, 181, 197,
33-4
270, 278
Barnabites, 16
Baroncelli, Valerio,
Albergati, Fabio, 79;
43
272
di,
Araton
Arch of Constantine, Rome,
Albergo della Scrofa, Rome, 285

Alberti, Cherubino, 59-60, 74, 76,
Conte Ainolfo
Barefoot Carmelites, 224
Albani, Francesco, 210, 279

Albenga, near Genoa, 102
// Cardinale,
Bardi,
Bardi, Giovanni de, 106
d', 211
Libro, 112
310, 315, 319, 324, 333
see
Araton, Giovan Giacomo (C's

maternal grandfather), 19, 29
Arcadelt, Jacques, 105,
42, 105, 109,
Vine,
113
Urban Vm, Pope
Aquila and Prisca, house
[Velli], Padre,
Agostmi, 79
Agucchi, Monsignor: Theory
Alban
Barbari, Jacopo de',
Aquila, 163
Aeneas, 12
Agnolo
160,
Bagnaia, 109
Antonine column, Rome, 34

Antwerp, 339
130,
World,
Andreini, Isabella, 87, 91
della Valle di Blenio,
Accademia
Amphion,
Captain Trightall of Hell
115
15-&>
379; Divine Love Overcoming
Capitano Spavento (The Brags of
Accademia
Accademia
255, 257, 258, 262-73, -2.80-81, 297,
Amayden, Theodore, 217

Ambrose, St, 372
Ambrosiana, Milan, 119
Andreini, Francesco: Le Bravure
229
57, 62, 65, 66,
76, 77, 78, 104, 109, 114, 115-16,
Andrea, Gio, 267, 269, 270
195-6
Accademia
Bacchus, 26, 69, 70

Baglione, Giovanni,
St,
Compito (A Knight's Duties), 143,
372
Augustinians, 180
296
Avellino, Sant'Andrea, 328
I93-4, 2IO, 211, 215, 232, 234, 240,
243-4, 252, 254-5, 308,
3II, 314,
379- 383> 388

Belvedere, Vatican, 195
Belvedere Torso, 211
Bembo,
Pietro, 211
Benavente, Juan Alonso Pimentel
Herrera,
Conde
de, 319, 323, 381,
386, 390
Benedictines, 321
Bentivoglio, Guido, 42, 48; Memorie,
40
427
Caravagg
Bergamo, 28
Bruno, Giordano,
Berni, Francesco: Capitolo

89; Cotmnento
Bernini,
del Gioco,
alia Primiera,
Gian Lorenzo,
Lif,
of the
commission,
246-51, 277; fame spreads (1599),
179; feared by other painters,
359-62, 365; the failure
41, 162, 163
Brunori, Prudenzia, 141
Death of
Butio, Hippolito, 139
89
325; Portrait
Caccini, Giulio, 106-7, 108; Le Nuove
Bust of Scipione Borgbese, 290, 29 1

Bernini, Pietro. 325
Musiche, 106
Bertacchi, Pellegrino,
Cagliari,
311
the Virgin
Rome
from
254; flees
(1606),
homosex-
251, 310, 312, 314-16, 381;
Paolo
see
Veronese
uality allegation,
220-21,
6, 93,
5,
Calabria, Viceroy of, 354

Calasanzio, Giuseppe, 300
376; illness, 67-8, 77, 188, 196, 211,
Bianchini, Anna, 140, 149

Bizoni, Bernardo, 104
Calvesi, Maurizio, 6
ings in Palo (1610), 388-9, 390;

influences, 76; his inheritance,
Black Friars, 334

Bloemart, Abraham, 125
Calvin, John,
Calvin, Stephen, 163
Ranuccio Tomassoni
Bodello, Carlo, 317
Cambiaso, Luca, 192

Camillo de Lellis, St, 46
Campanella, Tommaso, 323, 330
Campani, Caterina (later Longhi),
309-12, 314, 316, 339, 353; knight-
Berti, Paolo, 205
Bethune, Philip de, 272, 289
Calvetti,
Boissy, Nicholas de Paris, 351
Bologna/Bolognese, 30, 228, 235,

269, 280
Bonino, Cesare: Carlo helps and brings
aid
to the
189
155,
29, 30,
213
Campi, Antonio: The Agony
poor, lj
Borghese, Camillo seeVicario,
in the
Campi, Bernardino, 20
Cardinal
Campi
290-91, 29;, 303, 306, 309, 314,
Campo
381, 384, 388, 389,
Borghese family,
353,
390
4, 42,
116,
314, 339, 342, 345,
meets Orsi, 67;
pardoned by the Governor of

Rome, 302; pardoned by the
4, 6, 7, 54,
Rome, 38, 159, 162

Marzio, Rome, 38, 44, 54,
131-2;
1,
136,
response to sudden
152, 326, 391;
159
stardom,
277; street-fighting,
253,
the Tribunal (1597),

violence, 6, 29, 77,
138, 152, 304;
de' Fiori,
295, 297, 309, 312
Campo Vaccino
(previously the
Forum), Rome,
Canonici, Flavio,
280, 317
1,
352-6, 358-9, 380; libel trial (1603),
241, 264-73, 276;
Corbolini, Florence, 354,
55, 61, 63, 138,
390
Borghese inventory (1634), 241

Borgianni, Orazio, 192, 252, 278,
Malta,
153; kills
(1606),
349, 380, 386; personality,
Campidoglio, Rome,
355
Borghese Gallery, Rome, 72,
in
isolation, 152,
95, 137, 191, 194, 229, 237, 300,
family, 26
Campo
Campo
296
hood
55;
Pope, 390; patronage,
Garden, 23-4
Borghese, Francesco, 346

Borghese, Cardinal Scipione, 209,
imprisoned and loses paint-
256;
Olimpio, 160
209, 253, 277

style,
365;
139,
256
dark colouring,
illusionism,
204,
33
and
383;
202,
imitations of, 258,
naturalism,
338;
5,
6, 118, 151, 188,
213, 232;
1,
25, 77, 85,
5,
Borgo, Durante dal, 271
Cantalice, Fra Felice da, 46
146, 165, 173, 180, 193, 207, 209,
Borgo, Giovanni dal, 271
Capaccio, Giulio Cesare, 320-21,
215, 228, 232, 234, 235, 243, 262,
Borromeo, Anna, 48, 300

Borromeo, Cardinal Carlo,
Archbishop of Milan, 11,
18, 19,
322-3, 334;
15-16,
20, 23, 29, 30, 48, 56, 126,
et Supellectilts Ecclesiastical,
zy,
Memorials, 31-2
Borromeo, Federico (d 1562), 15

Borromeo, Cardinal Federico, 48,
126, 290, 292; and the Accademia
di San Luca, 49, 56, 96; and
Breughel,
created
115;
traditions, 124;
De
Pictura Sacra,
250-51; Le Laudi, 116-17; Musaeum,
Le
119;
Borromeo family
Capitol,
Rome,
Rome, 96
Capopardo, G. Grosso,
de' Pittori Messinesi, 60
Capuchins,
3,
tion, 270;
74
9, 38, 41,
16,
union of naturalism
with idealism, 234
ed.:
Memorie
subjects,
love
46, 47, 224, 271,
165;
card players,
and death,
musicians,
1;
235. 388; violent

301,
techniques,
1;
216;
self-portraits, 7,
364-5, 373, 375, 380
Caracciolo, Battistello, 338

Caracciolo, Giovanni Battista,
gypsies,
Carafa, Fra Vincenzo, Prior
Capua, 390
Caravaggio (town),
of
10, 11, 12, 13, 14,
19, 20, 28, 29, 30, 388, 391
da: appearance,
5,
69,
1;
martyrdom,
the poor, 224-5;

178-9, 234,
151,
death, 165
bravura of
Cs
358; chiaroscuro, 188;
386
technique,
use of light
and dark, 188-90; method of

painting from posed models,
167-8; use of mirrors, 115, 122-3;
refraction and reflection, 115-16
works, The Adoration of the Shepherds,
153
Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi
30, 55-6
Bosio, Antonio, 354

Bosio, Giacomo, 344,
with a deep awareness of tradi-
Caravaggio, Giovan Battista,
Piaceri, 116-18, 125
union of naturalism
367, 391;
Capello, Bianca, 81
325,
Archbishop, 96; friendship with

Del Monte, 102-3; on medieval
265, 284, 291, 292, 293, 301, 332-3,
381
Capellano, Lorenzo, 139
Capitoline Hill,
237, 247, 286, 337; Instructiones

fabricae
II Forasterio,
373.
374-
375- 378, 384; The
Adoration of
131, 391;
the
Shepherds with Saints
Historia della Sacra religione di
24-5, 28, 268; arrested for carry-
Lawrence and Francis, 377-9, J76;

The Annunciation, 359; Bacchus, 10,
S Giovanni Gerosolimitano, 354-5

Giovanno Ottone, 353, 354
ing weapons,
116, 145, 150-52, 232; Basket of Fruit,
apprenticed to Peterzano,
353, 354;
Rome
138, 156,
21, 22,
229; arrives
attack
on
Bosio,
in
bravi, 91, 133
Pasqualone, 299; attacked in
Brescia, 28, 185
Naples (1609), 382-3, 384, 385;

attacks on fellow artists, 256-7;
behaviour becomes more unbal-
Boy
anced, 365; birth (1571),
201, 204;
Bresciano, Ludovico, 265
Breughel, Jan,
103, 115, 116, 119, 339;
Carafe of Flowers (ascribed), 116;

Vase of Flowers,
Brie,
Conte
Brill,
Paul, 103,
British
33, 51;
1,
10, 12,
388; in Cesari's studio, 65-8; cre-
Uj, 119
ates a
de, 353-4
115,
(1592),
228
Museum, London, 80
Brothers of Mercy, 161
Brothers of St John the Baptist,
161
new Catholic
art,
1,
6-7,
12, 116-19, 232;
John
3;
The Beheading of St
the Baptist, yj,
356-9, 359, 362-
The Blessed Isidoro Agricola, 273-4;

with a Basket of Fruit, 2, 68, 70-
72; Boy Bitten by a Lizard,
Boy
368-9; The Calling of St Matthew, 18,

145, 170, 174-6, 177,
sentence, 314, 326; defines a good

artist, 268, 269; defrocked, 361-3,
284; The Cardsharps,
Del Monte's
role,
240, 252, 253,

5,
84, 85, 89-
93, 104, 145, 174, 199; Christ on the
Mount
of Olives, 235, 136;
Bruegel, Pieter, 103
78; education, 20-21; epitaph, 391;
Circumcision, 335, 386; The
Bruna, Prudenzia, 303
escapes from a Maltese prison,
Conversion of
428
38,
145, 195; The Burial of St Lucy, 38,
226; death (1610), 389-90; death
364, 365, 390;
11, 116,
Peeling a Fruit, 57,
the
Magdalene, Ml, 123,
Ind
230-33, 234, 295, 316-17; Susanna,
Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de, 382

Cervini, Gregorio, 239
205; The Taking of Christ, 24,
Cesari, Bernardino, 65, 67, 68, 324
Thorns, 228, 235, 298; The
233-5, 2 57> 3^8; Victorious Cupid, 16,
Cesari,
Crucifixion of St Andrew, 383, 386,
213-20, 218, 230, 237, 258, 271
146, 150; The Conversion of St Paul,

21, 182, 26(3,
of Saul,
5,
184-7; The Conversion
219; The Crowning with
387; The Crucifixion of St
Peter,
ii,
Emmaus, 22,
30, 72-3, 219, 225,
Caravaggio, Polidoro da,
14, 39, 51,
20, 182, 187-8, 222, 281; Danae,
194, 259, 380; The Adoration of
272; David and Goliath, 169-70,
Shepherds,
David with
Head
Giuseppe (Cavaliere
d'Arpino),
the
77, 85,
115,
61, 63-8,
122-3, !3 2
64, 74, 76,

i3 6 '
>
H3.
207,
156, 158, 172, 173, 195, 196,
209, 241, 267, 268, 270, 271, 278,
370
Cardinalate, 42
280, 281, 291, 295, 296, 324, 342;
Carita, Naples, 324, 325
David
Killing Goliath, 200; Joel
Sisera,
200; Triumph of Constantine,
27, 226-7, 229, 246, 248-51, 277,
Carmelites, 250, 367

Carracci, Agostino, 207, 209
317-18, 339; Divine Love triumphing
Carracci, Annibale, 75, 84, 180, 186,
169;
the
of Goliath,
41, 383, 384-6, 388; Death of St

Joseph, 67;
The Death of
the Virgin,
over Earthly Love, 211, 213, 217, 271;
Doubting Thomas, 23, 230, 235-7;

Ecce
Homo, 228, 298; The
~^ e
209
207-11, 213, 214, 215, 217, 218, 227,
267-70, 279, 284, 292,
253, 255,
Ecstasy of
294-5, 2 9^> 3'
34>"
Entombment of
Christ, 26, 241-5,
246, 277; The
Flagellation of Christ,
Margaret, 210; Samson and Delilah,
34, 336-8; The
Gypsy Fortune
200; Self
3,
Teller,
84-9, 93, 144-5, 174, 175, 242;
The Inspiration of St Matthew, 238;

Judith and Holofernes,
146, 166-8,
13,
170, 200, 209, 363; Jupiter, Neptune
and
Pluto, 128, ll8; The Lute Player,
6, 111-12, 113, 115-16, 201,
204, 218;
Madonna and Child with Saint Anne,

29, 304-9, 314; Madonna della
Misericordia, 327-8; The Madonna of
Madonna
of the Rosary,
33, 333-5,
The Martyrdom of St Matthew,
339;
170-71, 173-4, '76-9. 184, 200, 234,
Mary
Mary
Ursula, 42, 324, 383, 386-8;
146-50, 359;
Magdalene (untraced), 235, 390;
Medusa, 14, 119-22, 199, 200, 201;

The Musicians, 4, 109-n,
145; Narcissus, 17, 202-3,
113,
144,
20 4>"
Alof de Wignacourt, 348,
349, 330,
351; Portrait of Fillide, 145,
Giovan
Marino
Battista
Rome,
the Flight into
137,
The
Egypt, 8, 123-6,
Giovanni Zaratini,
196,
Castello, Bernardo: Narcissus, 203,
The Book of
the Courtier,
79, 217
Giacomo di, 338

Catacomb of Priscilla, Rome,
(untraced),
157
Catalano l'Antico, 370, 375, 376

Catholic Reformation, 224, 245
art,
and the dissent of northern

15; dreams of crusade,
Rome
2; revived, 2-3, 34;
as the
della Cieca,
Anima
81, 82-3,
97,
e di
107; Rappresentazione
Corpo, 176
Tommaso
235; St Catherine of Alexandria, 145,
Cavalieri,
146, 164, 165-6, 170; St Francis
Cavalletti,
in
157, 158,
159, 358, 368;
medieval,
renewed,
St Peter and,
34;
3;
81,
Church,
the, 16,
48, 49, 125,
35, 39,
6,
248, 289,
351, 381
faces of St Carlo
and
Cigoli, Ludovico, 278-9, 305
Clement VII, Pope, 1

Clement VIII, Pope, 2, 40,
198, 211, 247, 275, 276, 278, 286,
289-92, 304, 305

Co-Cathedral of St John, Valletta:
de', 65, 81
Ermete, 285
356, 357, 362-3,
j6z
Cobaert, Jacques, 171-2;

and
the Angel,
St
Cobergher, Wensel, 325

Cointrel, Matthieu
see
Contarelli,
Matteo
Romano, Rome,
zgz, 293, 303; St
head of Medusa, 121
Jerome Writing, 36, 375; St John
the
Cellini,
Benvenuto:
Perseus with the
Cenci, Beatrice, 160, 161-2, 205
Baptist, 15, 213, 214, 219, 225, 230,
Cenci, Francesco, 160, 161
281-2, 292-3, 293, 388, 390; St John
Cenci, Giacomo, 160,
(untraced), 386, 390, 391; St Mary
Cenci, Lucrezia, 160, 161
Magdalene,
Cenci
315,
Matthew and
j?j, 316, 324; St
the
Angel, 25, 219, 237-
40, 277; Salome with

John
the Baptist,
the
Head
of St
40, 383-4, 391; The
161
affair, 159-62, 168
Cerasi, Tiberio, 179, 180, 182, 185,

186, 213
Cerasi chapel, Santa Maria del
Seven Acts of Mercy, 32, 327-33, 333,
Popolo church,
335-6; The Sick Bacchus,
188, 207, 213, 222, 229, 230, 232,
1,
68, 69-70;
Sleeping Cupid, 213, 355; The Supper at
246, 281
179, 180, 185, 186,
Matthew
237
Colleoni, Bartolomeo, 20
in his Study,
135, 143,
144, 154, 156, 159-63, 172, 179, 180,
Celio, Gaspare, 280
Jerome
41, 43,
47-8, 49, 64, 98, 106, 134,
(untraced), 386; St Jerome, 348, 351,

359; St Jerome (untraced), 235; St
294;
the
St Ignatius glow',
Collegio
St Francis
87, 107
117, 176, 225,
Cecilia, St, 157, 162
Meditation, 292,
181; see
Church, the
Christine of Lorraine,
Italian chapel, 359; Oratory, 348,
centre of, 34, 50

Cavalien, Emilio de',
di
99
martyrdom,
classicism, 50, 285, 291
Gioco
Augustine
105, 176, 241,
Ciamberlano, Ludovico: 'He saw
204
Castello Sforzesco, Milan, 14
Castiglione, Baldassare, 105, 142;
(untraced), 386; The

Isaac, 219; St
156-9, 166, 167, 181, 189, 223, 225-
107, 109, 128; Blind Man's Buff (II
of
1,
239, 250, 375
Lazarus, 39, 370-73, 375; Resurrection

Sacrifice
island,
Chrysostom, St John,
308
1;
146, 271, 295; The Resurrection of
Chiesa Nuova, Rome,
also
256, 309, 360, 361, 363
Europe,
Portrait of Maffeo Barberini, 205;
Holy Roman Emperor
and King of Spain,
Christianity:
Cassar, Paolo, 347

Castel Nuovo, Naples, 319
205; Portrait of a Knight of Malta;
Rest on
Charles V,
Chios
195
Era Antonio Martelli,
348, 351-2;
Guidobaldo, 97
Chapel of the Most Holy Rosary,
San Domenico, Naples, 334
8, 251, 317
Casa Milesi, Rome, 194

Casa Pia, 149, 247, 248, 249
Castellini,
63
Chiaia, Naples, 324, 381, 388, 390, 391
Catholicism: and C's religious
(attrib.), 193, 194, 198,
35,
284
205
Casa Borromeo, Milan, 89

Casa Grande, via dei Giubonnan,
Castro,
Portrait of
247; Portrait of
30,
Muzio,
Cesi, Federico, 97, 115
Cherubini, Laerzio, 226, 229, 246-
Castel Sant'Elmo, Naples, 319
19,
257, 262, 299; The Martyrdom of St
Magdalene,
Carracci, Ludovico, 192,
Carracci family,
208, Z08
Castel Sant' Angelo, Malta,
287, 289, 298, 306;
Loreto, 31,
Portrait,
Cesari,
Cesi,
Th*
Assumption of the Virgin, 180, 185;

Hanging, 161; Picture Seller, 54; St
St Francis, 9, 123, 126-7, H5'
and
21
Colonna, Anna (nee Borromeo), n

Colonna, Antonio, 334
Colonna, Cardinal Ascanio, Bishop
of Palestrina, 55, 163, 316, 346
Colonna, Contestabile, 90
Colonna, Costanza, Marchesa di
Caravaggio,
10, 12, 28, 51, 55, 163-
4, 300, 316, 324, 346, 381, 388,
Colonna, Fabio, 113

Colonna, Fabrizio Sforza,
345, 346, 347,
11,
349
Colonna, Filippo, Prince of

Paliano, 316
429
390
300,
- A Lif<
Colonna, Don Francesco, 315

Colonna, Isabella (nee Gonzaga),
324
Colonna, Luigi Carafa, Prince of

Stigliano, 324, 328, 334, 336
Colonna, Marcantonio,
22 3-
9, 10-11,
334. 34 2 364
333.
>
Colonna, Don Marzio, 314, 315, 333

Colonna, Don Maurizio, 324, 335
Colonna, Donna Onnzia, 333-4
Colonna, Orsina Peretti
Damasceni, Principessa, 163
Colonna, Vittoria, 56
Colonna
family, 4, 28, 30, 48, 56,
300, 316, 323, 324, 333, 345, 388
Colosseum, Rome, 105

Comanini, Gregorio, 27,
Figino
zj;
Counter-Reformation,
23, 26, 52, 126,
1,
328
7, 20, 21,
Dionisi, Giuseppe, 298
Dionysio (card player), 90
courtly love, 142
Discalced Carmelites, 247-8, 250
Cremona, 28
Crescenzi, Abate Giacomo,
Dolce, Lodovico, 52
Domenichino, 253, 279, 292

Dominicans, 321, 334
172,
237
Crescenzi, Crescenzio, 194, 201
Crescenzi, Francesco, 194
Dominici, Bernardo de, 325,

Donesana, Vincenzo, 380
Melchiorre,
137, 193-4,
Doria, Cardinal Giannettino, 377,

380
Doria, Admiral Gio Andrea, 300,
199
Crescenzi, Virgilio, 134, 172
Crescenzi family,
63, 105, 134, 172,
194, 199, 229, 237
348
Doria, Giovanna (nee Colonna),
Crispolti, Cesare, 194

28;
Croatia, 136
II
'On the Painting of
300
Doria, Marcantonio,
Croys, Loise, 325
Certain Very Naturalistic
Cumandeo, 370
Peaches', 32, 72
Cupid, i\q.
Doria, Principe, 302
Cupid with a Bow, 97, 215
Doria
Commedia
dell'Arte,
Compagnia
di
86-7, 88
San Francesco
d'Assisi, 377
325
Doria, Agostino, 301

Doria, Gian Carlo, 301
4
a,
326, 338
Donnalbina monastery, Naples,
Crescenzi, Giovanni Battista, 102,
301, 381, 386,
388
family, 4, 102, 300, 301, 349,
Curbiello (a bandit), 137

Cusano, Cardinal, 48, 288-9
Diirer, Albrecht, 235
Damiano, Signor, 387

Del Monte, Cardinal Francesco
Ear of Dionysius, Syracuse, 367-8

eastern Europe, 2, 136
377, 380, 386, 388
Conca, Matteo di Capua, Prince

of, 197, 198, 339
Conclave of 1603, The,
confraternities
297
of the Rosary,
10
Confraternity della Misericordia

Oratory, Conscente, 281
105, 123, 154, 162, 230,
253, 272, 273, 275,
304, 305,
Monte
Confraternity of the P10
Maria, 104,
Pope,
315, 365;
156;
279, 298, 302,
accompanies the
acquires Villa
Ludovisi, 127-8; and alchemy,
della Misericordia, 336
Confraternity of San Sebastiano,
121-2, 128;
Amayden
association with the
389, 391
113,
and, 93-5;
Works of
Peter's, 172;
289
Congregation of Lombardy, 180
Congregation of the Oratory/
de' Medici's adviser, 80, 81; circle
Oratorians,
3,
46, 47, 48, 49, 62,
102, 104, 114, 126, 127, 176, 224,
Congregazione della Reveranda

Fabbrica di San Pietro, 304, 305
Constantine basilica, Rome, 304
Contarelli, Francesco, 237, 241
Matteo (Matthieu
178, 237
Contarelli chapel, San Luigi dei
Rome,
68, 170,
202, 232,
171, 172, 178, 188, 193,
friends, 97-8, 126, 130; collec-
237, 252, 254-7
Tommaso, 81
Convertite, Rome, 141, 149
Giano Nicio:
Esquiline Hill,
Este family,
Fabriano, Gilio da, 52

Fanucci, Camillo, 44
di
importance to C, 78; life in

the Palazzo Madama, 82-3; love
155;
of music, 106-9, IIO loyalty to C,

277; and the Mattei, 228;
Napoletano and, 325; owns
paintings by C, 211, 213, 217; personality, 83-4; rise to
80, 81-2;
eminence,
and St Catherine of
165; and science, 82,
Farinacci, Prospero, 161, 205, 313
Farnese, Cardinal Alessandro, 42,
79, 82;
207, 275-6, 279
Farnese, Ottavio, 90
Farnese Dukes, 2
Farnese family, 43, 48, 98,
304.
210, 213,
279
Del Monte, Ranieri, 79
Fathers of the
Delia Carnacia, Pietro, 276

Della Porta, Giovanni Battista:
Fazello:
Cosimo
Cospi:
II
of Tuscany,
della Valle, Federico: Judith, 168; The

13
135
II Ciudice Criminalista,
92
Costa, Alessandro, 349

Costa, Ottavio, 102, 166, 232, 281,
282, 292, 314, 317, 349
Costa family, 281, 300

Council of Trent (1545),
Natural Magic, 123; La Tuna, 170
Delia Rovere, Francesco Maria, 79
Vittorio Emanuele), Milan,
Queen of Scotland, 168

della Vecchia, Isabella, 298
della Vecchia, Laura, 298
Delia Rovere family, 79

dell'Antella, Francesco,
353, 354-5,
343 354-5
Demetrios, 292
3,
15,
23,
430
Madonna
Consolazione,
De
Rebus
185,
della
186
Siculis,
377
Felicita, St, 157
Fermo, Saint, 14
Fernandez de Castro,
Don
Pedro,
390-91
Ferrara, 2, 156, 255
Ferrara,
Duke
of, 108
Ficino, Marsilio, 211
363; Valletta,
142, 189
137, 275,
10
Corenzio, Belisario, 324

Corfu, 12
Corso dei Servi (now Corso
Duke of Parma,
137
Farnese, Cardinal Odoardo, 43,
Farnese Hercules, 211
Perspectivae, 113-14
no
209, 300
103, 163, 205,
Farnese, Octavio,
Farnese Gallery, Rome, 207, 208,
Del Monte, Guidobaldo,
del,
2,
of the
San Luca, 96; early
life, 78-80; and Federico
Morromeo, 102-3; on Henry IV
229, 293, 303; director
97, 102, 113-14, 119
Correggio, Antonio de, 23
Pinacotheca
Teodoro d', 325

Rome, 34
Errico,
Corbario, Leonetto, 347

Cordier, Nicolas, 98
Cornetto, Cavaliere Luigi
269
itnaginum illustrium, 196
232, 258; C's patron, 54, 95, 132,
Alexandria,
Contarini,
114, 252-3,
Faber, Johann, 41, 97, 114
>'
Cointrel), 170, 172, 173, 174, 177,
Francesi church,
Cardinal Ferdinando
Adam,
Emilia Romagna, 207

Equicola, Mario, 211
tions, 82, 96-7, 103, 108, 112-13,
Accademia
225, 242, 243, 321, 332, 354
Contarelli,
of
275
Elsheimer,
Eritreo,
St
Confraternity of Santa Trinita dei

Pellegrini, 285,
Edict of Cardinal Rusticucci, 40,
Figino, Ambrogio, 27; The Madonna

of the Serpent, 24, 306;
Peaches, 28, 32,
Still Life
72
Deti, Cardinal, 107
Finson, Louis, 324,
Diocletian, Emperor, 368
Flanders, 80,
325, 338, 339
136, 137
with
Ind
Flemish
art, 103, 338
Rome,
Flemish, in
165, 173, 255;
55
Florence, 62, 199; Carnival, 107;
and Medusa,
David Meditating on
Florentine Camerata, 106
ascribed to), 97
Giovanni, Vincenzo
Foligno, 163
'Giovanni
121
Fontana, Lavinia: Herodias with
Head
of John
the Baptist
the
di,
Fort St Angelo, Malta, 341

Fort St Elmo, Malta, 341
gypsies, 86-8
Henry II of Lorraine,
Henry IV of Navarre,
Hermes Trismegistus,
273
Gismondo, 267
2, 39,
High Renaissance,
8'
113
Holbein, Hans: The Dance
France:
226, 235, 247, 259, 304, 305, 345

Giustiniani, Gerolama, 99, 101, 101
Holy League, 9, 10
Holy Shroud of Turin, 245-6
Giustiniani, Geronima, 146, 167
Honthorst, Gerrit van,

Horace, 70, 150
154; fights for

1;
dominance
in
peace with Spain (1598),
between French and
136, 171; riot
Spanish factions (Rome, 1605),

297; settlement with Spain
(1559), 2;
struggle for political
domination over the Papacy, 39

Francesco (C's pupil or servant),
99-102, lOO, 104, 140, 156, 181, 205,
Giustiniani, Giorgio, 99, 102

Giustiniani, Giuseppe, 99, 100,
101,
series, 89; The Gamblers,
of Death
89
113,
192
Hospital for the Incurables,

Naples, 327
102
Hungary,
Giustiniani, Marc'Aurelio, 345

Giustiniani, Orazio, 345
Giustiniani, Pietro, 341
Giustiniani, Vincenzo,
220, 293
2, 136, 137
27
icastic art,
61, 62-3,
m,
76,
Ignatius, St, 158
Franchis,
Lorenzo
Franchis,
Tommaso
de, 336, 337
180, 191-2, 204, 213, 216-17, 2I 8.
Franchis,
Vincenzo
de, 336
221, 228, 229, 230, 232, 234, 237,
Imitation of Christ,
240, 246, 251, 253, 269,
Immaculate Conception, 306
de, 336
99-104, 99, 107,
Franchis, de family, 336

Francis, St, 16, 126, 127, 271, 377,
Discorso sopra
379
Francis Xavier, St, 158
Painting, 192,
Emperor, 366
Fnedlaender, Walter: Caravaggio
112
Rome see
Rome
Borghese Gallery,
Gallio, Cardinal
Tolomeo, 247
Gelosi, 87, 91
2,
104, 163, 164, 299, 301,
Caserta, 390
Gentileschi, Artemesia,
Gentileschi, Orazio, 76,
161, 252, 259, 301;
suit,
161,
168
135, 152,
Baglione's libel
264-8, 270, 271-2; St Michael
the Archangel,
258
Gentili, Ottavio, 339
Germany, 154
Gesu church, Rome, 259, 265
Giacomo, Nicolo di, 376
Giancarli, Giglio Artemio: The
Gypsy, 87
Gibbon, Edward, 344
Jesuits,
Gilbert, Creighton: Caravaggio and
His Two Cardinals, 6

Giogoli brothers, 310
Giorgione, 23, 30, 71,
northern, 4,
1;
new
to
16,
48, 150, 167, 225
16, 21,
3,
46, 104,
153, 157,
158, 321
Jews, 163
John of Austria, Don,,
Gonzaga
Knights of the Order of St John,
Juan,
Julius
Pope,
II,
113,
340-49,
18
333
3
the
Two
Sicilies, 319
351-5, 357, 361, 362, 363,
37o, 37i. 379- 39o
Granada, Luis de,

the
Don,
Kingdom of
family, 2, 4, 388
127, 233, 245, 333,
Memorial and Guide
to
Kiinsthistorisches
Museum,
Vienna, 385
Duties of a Christian, 16
Graziano, Antonio Maria, 34

Great Siege of Malta, 340, 341, 342,
Greco-Roman
Gregory,
reliefs,
270
of Rome, 287-8, z88
Lancry de Bams, Cavalier Henrico
245
St, 158
Gregory XIII, Pope, 44,

242
Gregory of Nyssa, 43
Laer, Sigismondo, 192, 205, 269,
Lafrery, Antoine: The Seven Churches
344- 345. 348. 349- 357
64, 98,
de, 354
Landini,
Tommaso:
Tortoises,
Fountain of
the
form of
art,
227
Griettano, Antonio, 65
Gualdo, Francesco, 194, 196, 197
Gualdo, Paolo, 197
landscape, as a novel
Gualfreducci, Onofrio, 108, 109
Laokoon, 51, 209

Late Mannerism, 20
//
Pastor
Don Hieronymous
Lanfranco, Giovanni, 102
Tommaso:
The Triumph of
Religion, 33, 35
'Of the
Boy and the Scorpion', 201-2
Lauri, Giovanni Battista:
de, 361-2
Popol', 5-6
66
Laureti,
Fido, 107
Guevara, Fra
Gunn, Thorn:
73, 97, 109,
in,
Prince of Molfetta, 336, 359, 388

Gonzaga, Margherita, 359
Gonzaga, Vincenzo, 253
Gonzaga, Duke Vincenzo I, 339
Gonzaga court, Mantua, 253
Guarini, Battista, 97, 105;
Gigli, Giulio Cesare, 391
Italy:
Jerome, St,
49, 147, 149,
3,
248, 368
Giogny, Filippo, 359

Gonzaga, Cardinal Ferdinando,
di
334, 337; Brief
of
Rome, 227
France and Spain fight for
Isola dei Mattel,
dominance
197, 252, 258
346, 349, 386, 388

Gentile, Deodato, Bishop
The (a comedy), 93
105, 107, 112
Grammatica, Antiveduto, 58-62,
Garegnano, 24
Genoa,
204,
at Velletri,
Inquisition, 347
Isabella d'Este, 133
eminence,
Gondi
Galileo Galilei, 82, 97, 106, 113, 278

Galiti, Nunzio: Milan in the Plague,
31.
Inn
Gli Inquieta Academy, Milan, 28
165, 174,
Vincenzo: Dialogue on
Ancient and Modern Music, 106,
151,
232
47, 158
25, 80, 103, in; rises
Golden Legend, The,
Galilei,
213,
Imperia, 146
217-18
131,
3,
204,
Giustizia, Cavahere of, 360, 361
Golden Age,
Studies, 5
Gabnelli, Ottaviano, 276
Galleria Borghese,
310, 326;
Musica, 108; La
Giustiniani family, 99-102,
27, 32, 69, 118,
6,
188, 193, 202, 203,
205, 228, 229, 246, 300, 380
Frascati, 109, 185, 199

II,
illusionism,
116, 145,
Giustiniani, Cardinal Vincenzo, 99,

100, 102
156
Francois, Prince of Lorraine, 359
Frederick
la
110,
Galleria Giustiniani, 100; Letter on
Franciscans, 47, 124, 158, 373
Franco-Spanish war,
history painting, 173, 254, 269
310, 314, 381
Giustiniani, Cardinal Benedetto,
Italy,
5,
180, 336
Fosdinova, Lunigiana, 349

Fossa di Sant'Elmo, Naples, 323
civil war, 2; 'devastation' in,
40,
Hermitage, St Petersburg, 115

Hibbard, Howard: Caravaggio,
310, 314,
Giugoli, Ignazio, 137,
359
289
154-5, 171,
377
Battista', 265-6, 271,
Giugoli, Giovan Federico,
200
the
Head of Goliath, 385; Soldier and

Woman Carrying a Flute (previously
'In
Santa Maria del
Lawrence,
431
St, 40,
377
- A Lifi
Lazzan, Giovanni Battista
370-
de',
Lazzari family, 376
del Pilero church,
Madonna
Lena, 298-9
Madonna
Madonna
Madonna
Madonna
Madonna
Leo I, Pope, 246

Leo X, Pope, 3
Leo XI, Pope, 289, 290
Leonardo da Vinci, 25-6,
della Misericordia, 287,
332
121-2, 161,
307; followers of, 21, 97; The Last

Supper, 26; Medusa, 121; The Virgin of
26
Leone, Ludovico, 80, 98

Leone, Ottavio, 80, 98, 265, 270;
Group Portrait of Artists, including
of Loreto, 272, 273, 285-8

of Mercy, 323
of the Pilgrims, 285
of Purgatory, 323, 332
of the Rosary, 10, 323,
105, 106, in, 194, 201,
216, 219, 354

Magdeburg Centuries, 48-9
Magno, Giovanni,
317-18
Malaspina, Ippolito, 348-9, 351

Malta, 7, 314, 338, 339, 340-63, 365,
Portrait of the Cavaliere d'Arpino,

Portrait of Giovanni Baglione,
64;
161
9, 10, 18, 319, 333, 334, 335,
97
Ligozzi, Jacopo, 82,
113;
Two
333;
Advice
African
ill
Vipers,
to
Pilgrims, 331
Lodi, 28
Lomazzo, Gian Paolo,
21-2; Trattato,
151, 161; Rabisch,
Lombards: Lombard
cast, 67; in
23, 26, 27,
Rome,
26
artists type55, 134,
194
4, 14, 20, 23, 25, 28, 71
Lomellini, Francesco, 352

London, Bishop of, 100
Longhi, Antonio, 134

Longhi, Decio, 133, 134, 196
Longhi, Martino, 133
Longhi, Onorio, 179,
188, 196, 201,
of breaches of the peace, 138-9;

as an architect, 133, 134; the attack
on Tullio, 256; Baglione's libel
suit,
264, 265, 266, 270, 272-3;
commissions portraits of himself, 213;
with,
C's close association
death,
133;
exiled, 314;
135;
house arrest for attacking
ity,
pardoned,
134-5;
Rome,
prison,
Mancini, Giulio,
4,
391;
personal-
and Ranuccio
Tomassoni,
5,
29-30, 41, 57,

153,
138, 139, 309, 312, 313;
Mars
Chastising Cupid, ill, 213
'maniera statuina',
51,
29
Marchese, Fra Giacomo
di,
347
181
Marino, Giambattista, 70,
105, 192,
193-4, 197-205, 233, 257, 284, 324,
246; Rime, 199; Salamacis and

Hermaphrodite, 217
Martin, Gregory, 104, 140, 144, 149,

223;
Roma
Ludovisi family, 42
Luke, St, 75
Luther, Martin,
2,
3,
189, 223, 286,
333
432
81;
Martelli serves, 349; and music,
of Del Monte,
106-9; patronage
80, 81-2; personality, 80-81;
on
Rome,
119
48;
and
science,
Medici, Francesco
113,
de', 113
Duke Francesco
Medici, Grand
Vegetables,
St,
Medici ambassadors, 38
Medici court, 81, 82
Medici family, 4, 20, 96, 104
Medici Grand Dukes, 2
Meditations on the Life of Christ, 47,
124, 223, 373, 379
Birds,
72
313,
391
Melandroni, Silvio, 140, 142

Mellan, Claude: Portrait of Vincenzo
Still Life
grandfather),
12, 19,
30
Merisi, Caterina (C's aunt), 12
40
311, 312, 315
Merisi, Caterina (C's half-sister),

12,
with
14
Merisi, Caterina (C's sister),

Merisi,
with Fruit, Flowers and
72;
I,
Merisi, Bernardino (C's paternal
Donducci), 269, 270

Master of Hartford, The: Fruits and
Flowers in Two Carafes, 72-3, 73;
Still Life
Maderno, Stefano, 162

Madonna of Caravaggio sanctuary,
(1569), 42;
declares his loyalty, 94;

collections, 57, 82, 88, 97; as a
Giustiniani, 99, 101
Sancta, 35
St, 331
Massimi, Massimo, 228-9, 2 9$

Massimi family, 48, 226
Mastelletta, II (Giovanni Andrea
Lucia, St (St Lucy), 157, 368
Rome
149, 152, 166, 167, 196,
Loyola, Saint
132
de', 87, 93, 96, 122, 135, 191, 275,
Mei, Girolamo, 97
Melandroni, Cinzia, 140
Melandroni, Enea de', 140
Melandroni, Fillide, 136, 140-46,
Holy Shroud',
Massa, Lanfranco, 386, 387

Massimi, Fabrizio de', 242
131,
Medici, Grand
Bella Bocca', 201; La Galtria, 200,

203, 205; 'Murtoleide', 191;
Masetti, Ulisse, 140
189
Duke Cosimo, 121

Duke Cosimo I, 80
Medici, Grand Duke Ferdinando I
Medici,
Medusa, 120-22
Masetti, Fabio, 299-304,
Luca (Roman barber),
the Piety
328, 385-6, 391; Adone, 216; 'La
Loreto, 272, 273, 280-81, 285-8

Lotto, Lorenzo, 124
Exercises,
Of
81
Marchese, Signor, 104

Marcus Aurelius column, Rome,
Mary Magdalene,
Ignatius, 189; Spiritual
Valerius, 332;
Medici, Cardinal Alessandro de,
gamester, 90; marriage,
85
Mannerism, 51, 52, 62, 64, 76

Manso, Giovanni Battista,
Marchese di Villa, 328, 332
Mantua, 302, 339
Mantua, Duke of, 108, 317
Manzoni, Alessandro: I Promessi
Martinelli, Pietro Paolo, 276
254
74
Maximus,
279; arrives in
253;
a troublemaker,
133,
Maxentius, Emperor, 165
379, 382, 383
Manfredi, Bartolomeo,
Martin,
5,
237,
buys the Villa Medici, 80;
309; takes refuge in Milan, 310; as
Longhi, Roberto,
Mattei family, 42, 226, 228,
220, 250, 251, 258, 312, 314, 317,
Martelli, Fra Antonio, 348, 349
street-fighting with C, 138, 152,
326
181
181
182, 188, 192, 196, 197, 211, 213,
'Painting, or the
Baglione and Salini, 272-3; marries, 213;
175, 197, 208-9,
Sposi,
220, 257, 276, 297, 381; accused
316,
Mattei, Giovanni Battista, 230

Mattei, Cardinal Girolamo, 226,
of a Daughter towards her father, 330
83
67, 68, 77, 78, 97, in, 123,
Loarte, Gaspare de,
Lombardy,
Malvasia, Cesare,
Mamertine
Licinio, Bernardino,
226, 228,
191, 213,
229, 230, 234, 235, 241, 253, 281,
132, 139
229, 253, 269, 279-80, 292
364
341, 342, 348, 361,
375.
228, 229, 230

Mattei, Ciriaco,
Matthew, St, 170

Mauruzi, Lancillotto, 273
Mausoleum of Augustus, Rome,
Maggi, Giovanni, 266
Malanno, Corporal, 277
Lepanto,
Portrait of
Wl
296, 301
168; Portrait of Caravaggio,
98;
101,
Mattei, Antonio, 141

Mattel, Asdrubale, 74, 78, 226,
227, 228, 301
333
madrigals,
Sigismondo Laer and Ottavio Leone,

xii,
Dirck:
Gerolama Giustiniani,
Messina, 372
Le Blanc, Horace, 256

Lellis, Camillo de, 90, 223
the Rocks,
Matham, Theodor
20, 286
Madonna
71
Game
Fermo
14,
(C's father), 10,
29
12,
19, 30
Merisi, Francesco (C's uncle),

19,
12,
29
Merisi,
Giacomo
(C's uncle), 12
Merisi, Giovan Battista (C's

brother), 14,
19, 21, 29, 153
Merisi, Giovanni Pietro (C's

brother), 19
Merisi, Lucia (nee Araton; Fermo's
Index
second wife and C's mother),

12-13,
28, 29,
Merisi,
music, 104-13
55,
Palazzo Cellamare, Chiaia, Naples,
Musso, Cornelio, 149

Muziano, Girolamo, 171;
2 9> 3
9<
Merisi, Ludovico (C's uncle),
12,
324, 381, 388

Ascension,
Palazzo Colonna, Rome,
Maddalena (nee Vacchi;
Fermo's
first wife), 12
Merisi, Margarita (C's half-sister),
12, 19,
30
Mensio, Bartolomeo (C's uncle),
359
Palazzo Crescenzi, Rome,
319-39,32!, 340,
Palazzo del Campidoglio, Rome,
2, 7, 301,
Messina, Antonello da, 370

Sicily, 364, 365, 367,
369-
Nazianus, Gregory
37> 375- 376, 379- 380
73.
Michelangelo Buonarroti,
56, 67,
74, 76,
3-4,
for
51,
On
of:
391
Palazzo Farnese, Rome, 207, 209,

the
Love
16
Neapolitan painting,
97, 175, 184,
81,
the Poor,
301
309,
Negrone, Padre,
258; The Last Judgement,
Neri, Filippo, 46-7, 48, 80, 86, 96,
Middle Ages, 44,
51-2,
179
49, 223, 226
Milan: Carlo Borromeo on,
16
224, 225,
105, 127, 150, 163, 181,
cathedral, 14, 19, 23; Jubilee
Neri, Nero, 106
(1576), 18; lively literary culture,
Nero, Emperor, 56
Nicoletto, Andrea, 195
northern Europe, 4, 15,
Longhi takes
28;
ury v poverty,
Caravaggio
refuge, 310; lux-
Caravaggeschi'
e dei
exhibition (1951),
31;
as a
'Mostra del
14-15;
plague, 18-19,
5;
Spanish dominion,
257-8, 308, 391; 'La Pittura', 194,
257
the,
Minniti, Mario, 98, 145,
Rome, 272
145;
engraving of the
151, 175,
artist, 60,
friendship with C, 60-61, 145;
involved in brawls,
136; in Sicily,
366-7, 369; as a successful artist,

366, 367; Assumption of
367; The Raising of
the
the Virgin,
Widow
of
Rome, 68
see Congregation of the
Oratory
Oratory of St Lawrence, Palermo,
Oratorians
170, 179, 196, 211, 226,
Caravaggio, 14
Orlandi, Cristofero,
Orpheus,
Palazzo
Florence, 148, 355
Pitti,
62, 263
Leonora, 134
Paleotti, Cardinal Gabnele, Bishop
61,
62
106, 112
Orsi, Aurelio, 77, 195

Orsi, Carlotta, 78
of Bologna, 49-50,
96, 251, 289,
370; Discorso intorno
alle
sacre e profane,
Palermo,
49,
Paliano, 314,
the Tribunal (1597), 131-2; turns

against Cesari, 77
d'Este,
Duke
of,
38, 136,
Don Verginio,
Ortaccio,
33,
90, 98-9, 105, 107, 108,
112, 113,
191, 253, 290, 346

Mont'alto, Gio Battista, 347
Montalto family, 42
Monte, Cardinal del, 4
Rome,
Ospizio
Panciroli, Ottavio, 154
Rome,
Panigarola, Francesco, Bishop of
39
dell'
St John,
Anton Maria, 84
Panico,
180, 186
Sistina,
Palma, Jacopo (II Giovane), 23, 192

Palma, Jacopo (Vecchio), 23, 97
Pamfili family, 42
139-40
Orso, Rome, 38
Osterhausen, C. von: The Oratory of
Ostaria
315, 316
Pallotta, Evangelista, 304
Palo, 388, 389, 390
90
Ospedale della Consolazione,
Rome,
140
Montalto, Cardinal Alessandro, 64,
Monte
Monte
Orsini, Fulvio, 98
Orsini,
Molina, Antonio de, 235

Montaigne, Michel Eyquem de,
and
223
380
Siracuse,
to risk independence, 77;
immagini
115, 159,
Sicily, 364, 365, 376-7, 379,
Palestnna, 314-15, 316
311
128
Palelli,
299-300, 302, 310
113,
Palazzo Vercelli, Rome, 103

Palazzo Zuccaro, Pincian hill,
agent, 226, 229, 258; encourages
Modena, 2, 300,
Modena, Cesare
113,
229
Palazzo Vecchio, Florence,
Dichiarazione della pianta dell'antiche
367
83, 95,
Massimo alle Colonne,

Rome, 229
Palazzo Mattei (now Caetani),
Rome, 226-30, 227, 235, 246
Rome,
Oratory of San Bernardino,
Mirabella, Vincenzo, 367-8;
Coppelle,
Palazzo
Orsi, Prospero, 75, 78, 93, 195, 230,

meets, 67; as C's
267, 270;
Nairn, 375
alle
99, 102
Palazzo Magistrale, Valletta, 344

Palazzo Mancini, Corso, Rome, 195
252
Nuremberg, 104
377. 3 8
219, 220, 265, 271, 365; deserts C,

153;
38, 51, 57,
Olgiati chapel, Santa Prassede,
Milesi, Marzio, 146, 194, 215, 252,
Palazzo Giustiniani
96, 98, 99, 103, 104, 107, 109,
Odescalchi collection, Rome, 182
29
Milesi, Giovanni, 196
101-2,
170, 205, 217, 220, 310
Palazzo Gravina, Naples, 325

Palazzo Madama, Rome, 82,
14; as
a violent city,
Minerva, church of
63, 124, 176,
38, 295,
311
Rome,
239, 240, 242, 282, 289, 333
31-2;
210-11, 215, 275, 295

Palazzo Firenze, Rome,
Palazzo Giustiani, Rome, 99,
187, 207, 210, 211, 214, 215, 226,

3,
20
Palazzo del Quirinale, Rome, 303
Palazzo della Cancellena, Rome, 98
IOO
National Gallery, London,

Navagero, Andrea, 120-21
102, 199
205
Palazzo del Comune, Caravaggio,
Napoletano, Filippo, 325

Benedetto Giustmiani, 100,
Messina,
164
Naples,
Natalis, Michael: Portrait of Cardinal
20
324
315,
56,
Nancy museum,
346, 379, 381-3, 386, 388, 390
12, 19
Merisi, Pietro (C's uncle),
Palazzo Cenci, Rome, 160

Palazzo Colonna, Naples,
242
56
Asti, 30,
49
Pantheon, Rome,
102, 114, 310
Paolucci, 161
361
Osteria del Cerriglio, Naples,
325,
Papal States,
Paracelsus,
382, 384, 385
2, 156
113
Ottoman Empire, 340
Paravicino, Cardinal, 128,
della Misericordia, 327, 328

Montefeltro, Guidobaldo da, 79
Monteleone, Adriano, 258
Ovid,
Parione,
Montoya, Pedro de, 108-9, II2

Mora, Domenico: II Cavaliere, 143
Moretto da Brescia, 28, 379
Padri Crocifen church, Messina,
Parma,
371- 372
Padua, 79, 80
Parmigianino, Ludovico, 266; Amor
Morigi, Paolo,
Paladino, Filippo, 375-6; St Trancis
Parrhasius, 27
Caprino, Rome,
14,
33
28
Mount La Verna, Tuscany,

Murtola, Gaspare,
126
88, 120, 194, 195,
201, 216, 219; Rime, in
Museo Diocesano,
Albenga, 281
216; Amores, 218-19;
Metamorphoses, 202, 203, 215
Rome,
Parisot, Jean
155,
197
54
de La Valette,
341,
342
2, 310
(Cupid Carving
his
Bow), 215-16
Paruta, Paolo, 43-4
Receiving the Stigmata, 375
Pascoli, Lione, 134-5
Palafrenieri, 305-6, 313-14
Pasqualone, Mariano da, 160, 299,
Palatine Anthology, 193
Palazzo Avogardo, Rome,
39,
Pans, 2
113
302-3
433
Passed, Cinzio, Cardinal di San

Giorgio, 40-41
Lif.
Pisani, Baldassare, 123
120-21, 173, 178, 193, 215, 218, 245,
Pius IV, Pope,
270, 348; cardinals,
15, 42, 290;

courtesans, 145-6; courty love,
15
Passignano, Domenico, 278, 305
Pius V, Pope,
Patnzi, Francesco, 41
Platea Trinitatis (later Piazza di
142; literature, 85, 89, 109, 215;
Paul, St, 180-81, 182, 340
Spagna), Rome, 38
Plato: Symposium 211
and melancholy, 70;
Pliny, 27, 71
10; rhetoric, 176;
Paul V, Pope (previously Cardinal

Vicario), 275, 290, 291, 293, 298,
9, 10
metu motto,
Pauline chapel, Vatican, 184, 187
Poland, 154
Pona, Francesco: La Lucerna, 144
Ponte, Rome, 39
Peace of Cateau Cambresis
Ponte di Santa Maria
304, 309, 327, 352, 353

Paul III, Pope, 2-3
(1559),
Rome,
Rotto),
(later
207
Reni, Guido, 90,
Peretti, Camilla, 56
Orsina Damasceni,
Marchesa di Caravaggio, 56
Peretti,
Peretti family, 56
Pesaro, 79
Pesaro, Venturino: La Farsa satyra
Rome,
160
of St Peter, 281,
Contemplating
Sacchis), 23
Head
of St Catherine, 282; St Michael the

Archangel, 305
Rhodes,
341, 343
Ribera, Jusepe de, 218
Richeome, Louis,
231-2, 289;
286
Pilgrim of Loreto,
Porta Orientale, Santa Babila
Rizzo, Pietro, 368

Rocca, A.: Treatise for
Porta Seriola, Caravaggio,
Adoration of
parish, Milan, 22
the Shepherds,
24; The
Deposition, 24; Resurrection,
24
Portland
Vase,
Petrella Salto fortress, 160
Monsignor
Fantin, 78,
Philip
King of Spain,
II,
2, 14, 18,
40, 133
Philip III, King of Spain, 319, 364
Philostratus, 71; Imagines, 200, 202-3
and for
Roman
346
Messina, 370
Propertius, Sextus,
Protestantism,
(1592),
2, 10, 15, 39,
40, 48,
381;
Piazza Borghese, Rome, 90

Piazza Carita, Naples, 324
Pucci,
Piazza dei Santissimi Apostoli,
Pudens, Pudenziana,
38,
121
56, 57
54, 80, 103, 224,
The
Cestius,
Rome,
105
described,
170;
grants,
Piazza Missori, Milan,
Radolovich, Niccolo, 327, 328

Rados, Giuseppe: View of the Corso
139, 156,
Piazza
Rome,
38, 54, 72,
229, 266, 298, 299, 348
Salviati,
Rome, 159
Romne,
Piazza Sant'Angelo,
38
Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni,
Comte,
211
Pietra Santa, Gregorio Cervina da,
Milan,
131,
Pincio,
Rome,
Pio
Monte
59, 66, 67, 74, 76,
Year (1600),
171, 179, 180, 181, 198, 275,
in,
286;
104-9; palaces, 42, 43;
105; poverty,
Disputa,
35; School
of Athens, 35; The
Lombardy,
3,
of
44, 45, 46,
virtu, 102, 114;
23; naturalistic,
on, 49-50, 96,
115
Rijn, 263
21, 23, 25,
76, 89, 109,
289;
Renaissance,
1,
207; renews her power,
3,
38, 138,
2;
sacked (1527),
53, 57;
Borromeo and,
50,
prostitution, 6,
41, 139-44, 145-6;
Rappresentazione di Judith Hehrea, La,
342; art,
434
223; Jubilee
23-4, 154, 158, 163, 167, 168, 170,
private academies for the practice
Renaissance, 225; architecture, 174,

311
133,
immi-
itinerant population,
55;
186, 208, 209, 226, 240, 245, 292;
Rembrandt van
della Misericordia
church, Naples, 327

Pioveni, Francesco, 310,
gaming, 90; history painting,
pilgrimage to the seven basilicas,
51, 52,
52; Paleotti
Pino, Captain, 298
156, 157;
77, 85, 97, 146, 158, 173, 174, 184,
24; in
Pinelli family, 131
Early
Raphael,
religious art: Carlo
34, 38
36, 38-9;
music
Reggi, Raffaellino da, 39
Piisimi, Vittoria, 87
C's first
luxury, 43-4, 50; medieval, 138;
Jj
167
132
city, 34;
Raleigh, Sir Walter, 385
Tranfiguration, 178
Pietropaolo (barber's apprentice),
the
52;
39; creation
1,
67; homosexuality, 144;
44-6,
dei Servi,
flees
flooding (1599), 160, 198; Forty

Hours, 75-6; French population,
Quamvis Infirma (papal bull of
Piazza Navona,
work, 57-8; C's poverty, 55, 78;

culture of honour, 142-3;
1587). 45
Quirinal, Rome, 56
13
34;
of the Popes,
297, 309
Piazza di San Salvatore, Rome, 78
Piazza Firenze, Rome, 295
138,
arrives in
of Christian
the centre of the
Christian churches,
jj
161
Piazza di San Lorenzo, Rome,
attempts to
(1606), 251, 310, 312, 314-16,
of a modern
181
52,
the centre
power,
city
181
St, 157
Holy Family,
33, 51;
Counter-Reformation,
181
Pulzone, Scipione,
Pyramid of
Piazza di Ponte Sant'Angelo,
Rome,
Monsignor Pandolfo,
226; The Crucifixion, 243, 244;
98, 159
Piazza della Signoria, Florence,
48
return (1610), 388-9, 390;
from
Pudens, senator,
157
apocalyptic fears, 50;

151
154, 165, 166, 177, 181, 222, 236,
Pudens, Praxedis,
Empire,
Martyrology,
Romanino de Sanctis, Fabbio, 313

Rome: ancient decorative art, 67;
Priory of Maltese Knights,
Pudenziana,
the
of
of property
dice players,
Roman
dal,
248, 282, 286, 306
134
and
Poussin, Nicolas,
Piatto, Cardinal Flaminio, 61
Rome,
against card
Pourbus, Frans, 339
Piacenza, 2
Piazza del Duca, Rome, 90

Piazza del Popolo, Rome, 36,
the health
the preservation
89-90
97
Prato, 228, 298
313
soul
Roccasecca, Galeazzo, 299

Rodriguez, Loise, 325
Pozzo, B.
84
Petronio, Capt.,
Iconologia, 67, 86,
97, 192-3, 194, 228, 257, 308
and goods
Port'Ercole, 388, 389, 390
Posilippo, 381
Petrarch, 216
Petrignani,
12, 13, 19
of Goliath,
282, 284, 2<5j, 385; The Martyrdom
Peterzano, Simone,
21-5, 28, 268;
38,
284; David
the
Peter Martyr, St, 334

Peterzano, Angelica, 22
Parto Supposito, 91
180-81, 182, 223, 225
3,
102, 218, 252, 253,
Ripa, Cesare, 88;
II
35,
1,
279-85, 291-2, 296; The Crucifixion
Ponte
Porta del Popolo, Rome, 36

Porta Folceria, Caravaggio, 19, 28
Moral, 91;
Peter, St,
nee
spe,
138,
Ponte Sant'Angelo, Rome, 9, 38

Pontono, Cesare, 313
Pontono, Lavinia, 313
Pontono, Plautilla, 313
Popolano, Giovan Ambrogio, 15
Pordenone, II (Giovanni Licinio de
Peiresc (scholar), 338
nee
princely popes,
133;
1-2, 33;
urbanisation,
studios,
35; villas,
42;
violence, 50, 132-3
Roncalli, Cristofero, 62-3, 104, 114,

218, 229, 253, 267, 268, 270, 271,
280, 305
Rosary, 333-5
Rossi,
Giacomo,
13,
19
Ind
Rossi, Giovanni Vittono
see
Entreo,
Giano Nicio
Rotolanti, Gregono, 266, 267
Rottgen, Herwarth:
Ricerche
Rubens, Peter Paul,
Sansovino, Francesco: Origine
54, 114, 218,
Doria, 301
con
la descrittione
Virgin
Conscente,
Sant'
Santa
Sacra Rappresentazione, 167
Sacri
Monti, Lombardy, 245
St John Lateran cathedral,
Rome, 285
282
281,
177,
155, 163,
Santa Croce, Gerusalemme, 34

Santa Lucia church, Syracuse, 368
monastery,
('Mao'), 252, 258,
Mattia da, 375

Salviati, Anton Maria, 42-3
Rome,
36, 180,
Rome,
church,
Hospital
Iconologia,
Naples,
of,
Rome, 67-8
334, 335,
Santa Maria della Vittoria, 10
334,
San Giovanni
Rome,
in
Rome,
Conca
church,
13
Gottardo church, Milan, 14

Lorenzo church, Damaso, 149
Lorenzo church, Rome, 138
Lorenzo in Lucina parish,
Rome,
55
San Luigi dei Francesi church,
Rome,
San Pietro
in
Montorio church,
Rome,
9,
157, 159
Sandrart, 152-3, 175, 217, 254, 272,

310, 342,
356-7
Sandys, George, 340, 342-5, 347,

363, 366,
369
241
34,
12,
28,
I,
10, 13
Siciliano,
Lorenzo,
57,
60
364-
Sicily, 2, 7, 162, 340, 360, 363,
80, 383
Sillani, Felice, 134, 139
Sistine Chapel, Vatican, 52, 69, 1089, 175, 179, 210, 211,
basilica,
214
Sixto-Clementine Bible, 166

Sixtus V, Pope, 34,
288
35,
44-6,
52, 56,
78, 89, 98, 144, 154, 159, 181,
246
Slovenia, 136
Santa Marinella
castle,
389
Song of Songs, 125, 127
Santa Prassede, Rome, 68, 279

Santa Prisca church, Rome, 181
Spada, Lionello,
Santa Pudenziana church, Rome,
Spain: fights for dominance in
181
Rome, 270
Sant'Angelo
Rome, 227
Lombardi church,
1;
Henry IV
(1595), 39;
declares
war
peace with France
between
French and Spanish factions
(1598), 136, 171; riot
1605), 297; settlement
with France
(1559), 2; struggle
for political
domination over the
Papacy, 39
Spampa, Girolamo, 256-7
338
Sant' Anna dei Palafrenien church,
Rome,
on
(Rome,
district,
175, 197, 280, 281
Spada, Paolo, 299

Italy,
Santa Susanna church, Rome, 158

Santa Trinita dei Monti, Rome, 38
Sant' Anna dei
162
San Sebastiano church, Rome,

227
San Severo castle, 389
San Stefano Rotondo church,
39,
Santafede, Fabrizio, 325
179, 246, 256
Rome,
280
Santa Trinita dei Pellegrini church,
38, 68, 102, 145, 170, 171-2,
11,
Sicca, Marsilia, 205
basilica,
Santa Maria monastery, Aracoeli,
39
Piazza Missori, Milan,
San
San
San
San
Santa Maria di Loreto
Leone, 373
Santa Maria Maggiore
Caravaggio, 20
San Giovanni dei Fiorentini
12, 363
Shakespeare, William: Julius Caesar,
monastery church, Borgo San
38
279
Sforza, Fabrizio,
Sforza da Caravaggio family,
38
Santa Maria La Concezione
Battista church,
13
54
Sfondrato, Cardinal Paolo Emilio,
Santa Maria di Constantinopoli
Rome,
San Fedele church, Milan, 24

San Francesco Grande, 26
San Giacomo degli Spagnoli
Servite monastery, Milan,
10, 12, 13
Santa Maria in Vallicella church,
336
336-7
Sforza da Caravaggio, Francesco
church, Tolentino, 273
335
San Domenico monastery, Naples,
Sebastiano del Piombo: The
56, 163
Santa Maria dell'Anima church,
Rome,
Spiritual
46, 226
Conflict,
64, 65, 162,
Trastevere, 227, 246, 247, 249
55
Sforza Colonna, Muzio,
386
San Andrea
San Carlo church, Milan, 13

San Domenico church, Naples,
e Scrivere,
21
servitu particolare,
55
Santa Maria della Scala church,
delle Fratte parish,
//
253
Sersale, Cesare, 328
182
Santa Maria della Sanita church,
361
Caravaggio,
Flagellation of Christ,
370
Sampierdarena, near Genoa, 301
Rome,
della Pittura,
Sellitto, Sebastiano, 325
Santa Maria della Consolazione,
Salviati family,
church,
Microcosmo
Sellitto, Carlo, 325, 338
Sicily, 375
Santa Maria della Consolazione
Salo,
San Giovanni
Scanelli, Francesco, 193, 214;
Scupoli, Lorenzo:
162
Santa Maria del Popolo church,
262-7, 270-73
Rome,
277
67
Scarpellino, Francesco, 266
Santa Maria Concezione
Caravaggio, 20
church,
35, 52,
Scuola di Leggere
181, 278, 279, 304-8

St Peter's Square, Rome, 155
SS Fermo e Ristico church,
Rome,
Rome,
Onofno monastery, 96
Anna dei Lombardi church,
Rome,
St Paul,
Placido, 373, 375;
(police), 137-8,
Scala Santa, St John Lateran,
Rome, 229
Schiavone, Andrea, 192
209
of, 339
Sampen,
97
Rome, 210, 227

Santa Cecilia in Trastevere church,
66, 67, 158, 173, 181,
48
Sammut, Edward,
179
del,
124, 185, 379

sbirri
Naples, 386
Dominican church
Tommaso
de',
Santa Caterina dei Funari church,
35, 52,
Salini,
Andrea
Rome,
St Paul,
monks of, 266

Peter's, Rome, 9, 34,
Fabio
Sarto,
Savoldo, Giovanni Girolamo, 28,
285
Sant' Eustachio,
Rusticucci, Cardinal, 143, 158
280, 317
Sartis,
Saul, conversion of, 183-4
and
Sant' Alessandro church,
Ruffetti, Andrea, 196, 304, 308
21,
Saraceni, Carlo, 156, 250, 252, 278,
de
deU'isoU
143, 340, 351,
Sant' Agostino church,
Austria,
26
St
et dell'Elba,
Sansovino, Jacopo, 79;

Child,
Emperor of
II,
Malta
352
241, 253, 263, 317, 339; Gian Carlo
Rudolf
cavalieri
di
Rome,
Sapienza, University of
4i. 133
305
// Caravaggio:
Intcrpretazione,
Sannesio, Cardinal Giacomo, 182,
Spata, Caterina (nee Gori), 78
Spata, Costantino, 78, 84, 131-2
305
Rome, 56
Nereo ed Achilleo church,
Rome, 158, 163
Santi Apostoli church,
Spinola family, 102
Santi
Spon, Jacob, 42
Stadium of Domitian, Rome, 38
Santi Pietro e Paolo church,
Caravaggio,
Stella, Jacques, 192

Stelluti,
13
Santori, Cardinal Giulio,
64
still life,
435
Francesco, 41
as a novel form of
art,
66
A Lif
Rome,
Stock, St Simon, 250
Tor
Strozzi, Giulio, 142, 145, 196, 391
Torriglia, fra' Orazio, 371
Studio Padovano, Padua, 79, 80
Toste, Robert, 100-101
Suetonius, 56
Suleiman the Magnificent, 340
Susinno, F., 145, 360-61, 369-72, 375,
Trajan column, Rome,
Savella,
Trastevere,
Swiss Guards, 162

Syracuse, Sicily,
361, 363-7,
Tarquinio (of Rome),
56,
369
284
Aminta, 107, no; Gerusalemme
204
Rome,
90,
276
93, 132,
Tavern of the Tower, Rome,
276
Tavern of the Turk, Rome, 93, 132
Tavern of the Wolf, Rome, 132
Tempesta, Antonio, 42, 197, 267-8;
(1597),
Tronserelli, Ottavio: L'Apollo, 88-9
Tuccio, Stefano: Crtspus,

163; Judith,
46, 47,
Tufo, Giovanni Battista del, 71-2,
Turks,
river, 9, 126, 139, 160,
and marvels of
Tibullus, Albius,
198
Mary
Baptist
the
2, 9, 10, 39,
333,
Grand Duke
232
127-8, 118, 130
Villa Mattei,
Rome,
Magdalene, 97,
Urban Vin, Pope (Maffeo

219,
79
42, 57,
279
325, 338, 339
113
102, 114
Vittrice, Alessandro, 88,

Vittrice,
242
-J
Gerolamo, 242
242
Vittrice, Pietro,
274
Urbino,
Rome,
Vittorio, 61
Barberini), 94, 127, 132, 195, 201,
of St John the
105
Virgil: Eclogues, 211

virfii,
University of Pisa, 82
54, 79, 80,
Volpato, Giovanni: The Farnese
97
Usimbardi (Cardinal Ferdinando
Gallery,
Rome,
Z06
Webster, John: The Duchess of
de' Medici's secretary), 80-81
Madonna, 114
Malfi,
190
Tolentino, the Marches, 273

Tomassoni, Alessandro, 137, 275,
Wignacourt, Alof
Vaga, Perin del, 229

Valier, Cardinal Agostino, 39, 44,
Tomassoni, Giovan Francesco,
137,
297, 298, 309, 310, 312-13,
314. 39 1
348, 349, 351-6, 358, 383
Works of
288-9
Valletta, Malta, 342-3, 343, 344,
de, 344-5, 346,
Willaert, Adrian, 79, 105
222; Dialogue on Christian Joy,
297, 298
351,
San
St Peter's (Fabbrica di
Pietro), 172
354
Lodovico, 137
Lucantonio, 137,
Mario,
Vallicella,
311
137, 312
Ottavio, 137
Ranuccio, 136-42, 194,
Rome,
family, 136-7, 138, 142,
Zacchia, Prudenzia, 141-2
Van Dyck, Anthony, 263

Van Dyck, Floris, 66, 76
Van Mander, Carel, 76, 136;
Zagarolo,
436
of,
zingaresche,
286
71,
246, 333
86
13
121, 255,
380;
the Baptist,
Rome,
38, 52, 155, 211
74,
Idea, 75; Self Portrait, 62,
Zuccaro, Taddeo,
51, 63,
Zucchi, Francesco, 66
Zucchi, Jacopo, 66
159
39, 51, 62,
192, 228, 235, 255-8, 263, 267, 268,
270;
Vatican,
276, 298, 310
Lives of
Zuccaro, Federico,
Monte
Vasari, Giorgio, 62,
Toppa, Petronio, 309, 310-11, 312

Tor di Nona, Rome, 38-9, 159, 162,
314, 315, 334
Zeuxis, 27,
253-4
Varallo, Sacro
Varola, Gabnele,
152, 297, 309, 310, 312, 314

Tonti, Alessandro, 276
Zacchia, Catenna, 141
47, 48
Valois Kings, 2
the Painters,
297, 309-10, 311-12, 353
Tomassoni
Rome, 42
Vinck, Abraham, 324,
of, 353
Todesco, Giorgio, 267, 268, 269

Todi, Jacopone da, 127; Laudi, 224;
Tomassoni,
Tomassoni,
Tomassoni,
Tomassoni,
Tomassoni,
220, 293, 295
38, 138,
Villa Aldobrandini, Frascati, 41,
80, 97, 109, 132, 201,
Ursula, Sister, 388
138, 275,
Vicolo del Divino Amore, Rome,
Vinta, Belisario, 94,
385; The Venus of Urbino,
della
Borghese; later Paul V), 275
Villa Medici, Pincio,
Tivoli, 109
Pianto
162
Vicario, Cardinal (Camillo
Rome,
99, 154, 163,
Death of St Peter
Head
Frattina,
Villa Ludovisi, Porta Pinciana,
Uffizi, Florence, 116, 122, 145, 201,
110-11, 148; The Resurrection, 185;
Salome with
Rome, 56
Rome, 138
Giulia, Rome, 39
Margutta, Rome, 324
della Pilotta,
Villa Celimontana,
151
351, 352;
dei Tribunali, Naples, 329
109
Marco, 255-6
Tuscany,
Titian, 22, 23, 25, 79, 97, 109, 146,

Martyr, 178;
most
340-41, 344, 356, 364, 366
Tintoretto, Jacopo, 23, 25, 301
245, 301,
the
Tuscany, 2
Tiberio del Pezzo, 327, 328
Via
Via
Via
Via
Via
Vicenza, 197
Turin, 245, 246, 286
328
321,
St, 158
Tibaldi, Pellegrino, 20
Tiber
163; Flavia,
167
Turco, Angelo, 310
16,
Battista, 303
noble city of Naples, 323
299
22, 23, 28, 30, 80, 156,
Kingdom of
Vialardi, Francesco Maria, 160-61,
273
Tullio,
3,
55, 132,
324
Tertullian, 225
Theresa,
47,
Trisegni, Filippo, 264, 265, 266-7,
Testa, Antonella, 198
Theatines,
Rome,
Rome,
Trinita dei Monti,
the Greatness,
Teofilo, Sertorio,
2, 4,
Naples, 345
Veronese (Paolo Cagliari), 23, 351
131
327, 334, 381-2; Portrait or Model of
of Rome, 37, 42, 98; Scene of
Martyrdom, ljj
161
93, 97, 103, 109,
199
Venosa,
Trombini, Giovanni
132,
Vendenghini, Luigi,
Venetian art, 79-80,
Venice,
78, 80, 163, 230, 286
317.
Tavern of the Blackamoor, Strada
9, 52, 354
Vatican Pinacoteca, 184

Vecellio, Cesare, 87-8
156, 210, 255
Trinita de' Pellegrini,
107, 127, 197, 199, 209, 324, 328,
delli Greci,
Rome,
the,
Trinchieri Camiz, Franca, 6
57
Tasso, Torquato, 41, 79, 96, 105,
Liberata,
249
Treaty of Vervins (1598), 2

Tribunal of the Governor of
Rome
Map
34, 181
Travagni, Vittorio, 179

281,
Symonds, Richard, 220
35
Vatican Logge, 63
Vatican Palace, Rome,
54, 162, 227,
Tre Fontane, church of
376
381;
Rome,
Vatican Library,
159
93,
63
227
(continued from front flap)
Helen Langdon has spent
lilet,
-/
mg
Caravaggio; through impeccable research, vivid history,
eral
and searching readings of the paintings
dozen of them
are
(sev-
reproduced here, many in
color), she brilliantly evokes the relation
between
Caravaggio
art
time. Hers
is
the definitive biography of one of the
greatest
and the
social
movements of
his
of all painters.
HELEN LANGDON
where she
has
worked
lives in
for the National Gallery, the
National Portrait Gallery, and the British
Her books
London,
include studies of Salvator
Museum.
Rosa and
Claude Lorrain, and she was editor of the
R enaissance
Italian
and Baroque sections of the Macmillan
Dictionary of Art.
JACKET AND CASE ART: CARAVAGGIO, THE MARTYRDOM OF

ST.
MATTHEW,
1600,
CONTARELLI CHAPEL, CHURCH OF SAN
LUIGI DEI FRANCESI, ROME; CARAVAGGIO, MEDUSA, CIRCA

1598,
UFFIZI GALLERY,
FLORENCE (COURTESY OF
SCALA/ART RESOURCE,
NEW YORK)
JACKET DESIGN BY LYNN BUCKLEY
FARRAR, STRAUS AND GIROUX
MOM
ENGLISH REVIEWS
ravaggio possessed a staggeringly hulane spirituality,

s
acts
of
which made
faith as
much
his altar-
as virtuoso
paiflMty performances. Carrying her wis-
dom
into the depths of that chiaroscuro
which other
master,
artists
stumblingly tried to
Langdon sharpens our apprehen-
sion of the light and charts a secure path
lN
The
keates. literary review
viole
He was
artist irradiates theffiarrative
un<
stless,
1
d as a
man
T ever
on
the
move,
deranged, described as a
madman."
In every place he
his genius,
however, working on the spot
left
tokens of
to provide images of religious suffering
and consolation.
PETER ACKROYD, THE TIMES

r
serious caravaggisti
's
Helen Lang-
biography of the tearaway painter
rd to beat.
HOMSON,
IAN THOMS
2JH E
GUARDIAN

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1

the great Italian painters, Caravaggio speaks

our time. Caravaggio 's

early paintings of cardsharps, musicians,

and fascination with

religious paintings represent, for the

the world of the poor, the suffering,

and they depict the religious ex-

perience of the individual with a directness our age

Caravaggio lived hard and died young, having

for Sicily, apparently after killing anoth-

street boys, prostitutes,

of the most colorful of any

This vivid, deeply

informed, and beautifully written biography

Caravaggio 's genius with the striking clarity of

was born in 1571 near Milan, and the

darkness of his art and character can be traced to the

where the plague

citizens to live lives

there to live a divided

protected by great cardinals, and

the streets. After a libel

charge of homicide, he spent his

and tormented, and producing work of

from the Pope, only

In his late twenties Caravaggio

and where the bishop, Carlo

Borromeo, urged the

killed his father

eventually received a pardon

to die, in mysterious circum-

aus and Giroux

By the same author

For Anthony, John and Esther

haec olim meminisse iuvabit

19 Union Square West,

New York 10003

1998 by Helen Langdon

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

First Farrar, Straus

& Windus, London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

ISBN 0-374-1 1894-9

1st Farrar, Straus

Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da,

Flowers and Fruit

Gypsy, Cardsharps and a Cardinal

Household of Del Monte

Conversion and Martyrdom:

Humility: the Imitation

Naples and Death

ILLUSTRATIONS APPEARING WITHIN THE TEXT

Caravaggio, The Crucifixion of St

S Maria del Popolo)

Caravaggio; detail from 18th-century

Giuseppe Rados, View

Milan, Civica Raccolta Stampe Achille Bertarelli)

Cesare Bonino, Carlo

brings aid to the poor (print)

Plague, 1578, (print)

Laureti, The Triumph of Religion