So much attention is devoted by scholars to Caravaggio’s art and to his mysterious life that it has been called the Caravaggio industry. It is, undeniably, a very productive industry. If it is not quite true to say that new discoveries are made every year, we certainly know more about him than we did two decades ago. For example, during the 1970s Mia Cinotti published the Roman police reports with the details of his nightlife, while during the 1980s other historians revealed the Marchesa di Caravaggio’s unsuspected role, the unsavory reputation of Captain Ranuccio Tommasoni, and the papal dispensation that enabled Caravaggio to become a Knight of Malta. One day they may even be able to tell us the identity of his enemy, the unknown knight, and the real reason he was put in the Birdcage.
Caravaggio fascinates, and not only because of his wonderful pictures. It is thirty years since Kenneth Clark described him as “like the hero of a modern play,” meaning, of course, an antihero. He had all the qualities needed for the part. A portrait drawing of him by Ottavio Leoni looks very like the face of a certain type of modern antihero, sulky and resentful, with puzzled, unreliable eyes and a sneering mouth. However anachronistic, this resemblance to an antihero may perhaps explain why he casts so powerful a spell at the end of the twentieth century.
APPENDIX:
WHERE TO SEE CARAVAGGIO’S PICTURES
Caravaggio is exceptional among great artists of his period in that so many of his works can be seen in the churches or palaces for which he painted them. A comprehensive list of his pictures, and of others attributed to him with varying degrees of plausibility, is A. O. della Chiesa, L’Opera completa del Caravaggio (Milan, 1981), but for obvious reasons it needs updating. The following are Caravaggio’s most important paintings. It should be remembered that they are sometimes removed for restoration or on loan to exhibitions.
Italy
ROME
San Luigi dei Francesi (Contarelli Chapel): Calling of St. Matthew, Martyrdom of St. Matthew, and Inspiration of St. Matthew (St. Matthew and the Angel)
Santa Maria del Popolo (Cerasi Chapel): Conversion of St. Paul and Crucifixion of St. Peter
Sant’ Agostino: Madonna di Loreto
Palazzo Barberini: Judith and Holofernes and St. John the Baptist
Galleria Borghese: David and Goliath, Madonna dei Palafrenieri, St. Jerome, St. John the Baptist, Boy with a Basket of Fruit, and Bacchino Malato
Galleria Doria Pamphili: Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Mary Magdalene, and St. John the Baptist
Odescalchi Collection: Conversion of St. Paul
Palazzo Corsini: Narcissus
Pinacoteca Capitolina: Il Pastor Friso
Vatican Gallery: Entombment of Christ
FLORENCE
Uffizi: Bacchus, Head of Medusa, and Sacrifice of Isaac
Palazzo Pitti: Sleeping Cupid and Portrait of a Knight of Malta
MILAN
Pinacoteca di Brera: Supper at Emmaus
Pinacoteca Ambrosiana: Basket of Fruit
NAPLES
Palace of Capodimonte: Seven Works of Mercy and Flagellation
Banco Commerciale: Martyrdom of St. Ursula
Sicily
MESSINA
Museo Nazionale: Resurrection of Lazarus and Adoration of the Shepherds
SYRACUSE
Church of Santa Lucia: Burial of St. Lucy
Austria
VIENNA
Kunsthistorisches Museum: Madonna of the Rosary
Britain
LONDON
National Gallery: Supper at Emmaus, Salome with the Head of St. John Baptist, and Boy Bitten by a Lizard
France
PARIS
Louvre: Death of the Virgin and Grand Master Alof de Wignancourt
Germany
BERLIN
Gemäldegalerie: Amor Vincit Omnia
Ireland
DUBLIN
National Gallery of Ireland: Talking of Christ
Malta
VALLETTA
Church of St. John: Beheading of St. John the Baptist and St. Jerome
Spain
MADRID
Prado: Salome with the Head of St. John the Baptist
Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection: St. Catherine
United States
NEW YORK
Metropolitan Museum: Concert of Musicians and Denial of St. Peter
CLEVELAND
Cleveland Museum of Art: Crucifixion of St. Andrew
DETROIT
Detroit Institute of Arts: Conversion of the Magdalene
FORT WORTH
Kimball Arts Museum: Cardsharps
HARTFORD
Wadsworth Atheneum: Ecstasy of St. Francis
KANSAS CITY
Nelson Gallery: St. John the Baptist
Throughout Europe and the United States there are other paintings said to be Caravaggios. Some may be genuine.
SOURCES
The main contemporary, or near contemporary, sources are:
Baglione, G. Le vite de’ pittori, scultori et architetti… Rome, 1642. Facsimile, ed. V. Mariani, Rome, 1935.
Bellori, P. Le vite de’ pittori, scultori e architetti moderni. Rome, 1672. Ed. E. Borea, Turin, 1976.
Mancini, G. Considerazioni sulla pittura… Rome, c. 1617—1630. Ed. A. Marucchi & L. Salerno, Rome, 1956—1957.
Mander, K. van. Het Schilder-boek. Haarlem, 1604.
Sandrart, J. von. Academie der Bau, Bild, und Mahlerey-Künste von 1675. Ed. A. R. Peltzer, Munich, 1925.
Susinno, F. Le vite di’ pittori messinesi… Ed. V. Martinelli, Florence, 1960.
No satisfactory English translations exist of any of these works, while, although useful, the English versions of key extracts given in Howard Hibbard’s Caravaggio (New York, 1983) are not invariably reliable.
The following notes refer to material other than the main sources.
PAGES
ix “with none for decent living.” Bernard Berenson, Del Caravaggio: delle sue incongruenze e della sua fama. Florence, 1951 (translated as Caravaggio: His Incongruity and His Fame, New York, 1953).
1 his brother Giovan Battista. M. Calvesi, La realtà del Caravaggio. Turin, 1990.
1 Mancini, Considerazioni sulla pittura.
2 Just over forty kilometers. R. Ziglioli, Il Caravaggio … a Caravaggio, in Roma, in Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio: La vita e le opere attraverso i documenti (ed. S. Macioce), Rome [1997].
3 “the garden of Italy.” Thomas Coryate, Coryate’s Crudités. London, 1611.
3 “level Lombardy.” Henry James, Italian Hours. London, 1909.
3 Fermo’s duties. F. Liberati, Il Perfetto Maestro di Casa. Rome, 1658.
4 his wife, Donna Costanza Colonna. Calvesi, La realtà del Caravaggio.
4 “Milan is a sweet place.” Diary of John Evelyn. London, 1955.
6 Borromeo. E. Ginex Palmieri, San Carlo. L’uomo e la sua epoca. Milan, 1984.
10 His master. E. Baccheschi, “Simone Peterzano,” in I Pittori bergameschi dal XIII al XIX secolo. Il Cinquecento. Bergamo, 1978.
11 Brescia, Cremona, Lodi, and Bergamo. M. Cinotti, “La Giovinezza del Caravaggio. Ricerche e scoperte,” in Novità sul Caravaggio. Milan, 1975.
13 “The black mummified corpse.” Henry James, Italian Hours.
14 The fathers of the council. E. Male, L’Art réligieux après le Concile du Trente. Paris, 1932.
15 What gave the council’s decrees such force. H. O. Evenett, The Spirit of the Counter Reformation. Cambridge, 1968.
17 why Caravaggio left Milan. Calvesi, La realtà del Caravaggio.
18 Milanese rapiers were famous. E. Valentine, Rapiers. London, 1968. 18 botta lunga. E. Castle, Schools and Masters of Fencing. London, 1892.
20 “nothing but a sepulchre.” M. de Montaigne, Journal de Voyage. Paris, 1906.
21 “shewed us all the monuments.” Thomas Nashe, The Unfortunate Traveller. London, 1594.
25 only recently elected. L. von Pastor, The History of the Popes, vol. 23, Clement VIII (1592–1
605), London, 1933.
27 The Oratorians. C. Ponelle and L. Bordet, Saint Philippe Neri et la société romaine de son temps. Paris, 1929.
32 a French picture dealer. The dealer may not have been Valentin but Costantino Spata, whose shop was next door. S. Corradino and M. Marini, “The Earliest Account of Caravaggio in Rome,” The Burlington Magazine, January 1998.
34 something of an enigma. Z. Waźbiński, Il cardinale Francesco Maria del Monte (1549–1626). Mecenate di artistici, consigliere di politici e di sovrani. Florence, 1994.
34 Chacon’s massive history. A. Chacon, A. Oidoino et al., Vitae et res gestis pontificum et SRE cardinalium. Rome, 1677.
36 his complex, subtle patron. F. Haskell, Patrons and Painters. London, 1980.
36 Examination of Ameyden’s avvisi. C. Gilbert, Caravaggio and His Two Cardinals. University Park, Pa., 1995.
37 a taste for girls. L. Spezzaferro, “La cultura del cardinale del Monte e il primo tempo del Caravaggio,” Storia dell’arte 9, 10, 1971.
38 “halls, withdrawing rooms, chambers and antechambers.” F. Borsi, Palazzo Madama. Rome, 1960.
39 “the easy sybaritic existence.” Hibbard, Caravaggio.
40 The earliest Known description. Corradino and Marini, “The Earliest Account of Caravaggio in Rome.”
42 “the last sodomite.” D. Jarman, Caravaggio (film script and commentaries). London, 1986.
43 The cardinal would have regarded them as images of platonic love. M. Marini, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, “pictor praestantissimus.” Rome, 1987.
44 girlish, Adonis-like looks. Gilbert, Caravaggio and His Two Cardinals.
44 “his owne boy or servant that laid with him.” M. Beal, A Study of Richard Symonds. London, 1984.
51 bringing back its luminous quality. R. Vodret, “Il restauro del ‘Narciso,’ ” in Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (ed. Macioce), Rome, 1997.
52 beginning to be recognized all over Rome. “The Roman World of Caravaggio,” in The Age of Caravaggio (exhibition catalogue). New York, 1985.
53 This painting, rediscovered in 1969. Calvesi, La realtà del Caravaggio.
54 The killing of Count Cenci. C. Ricci, Beatrice Cenci. Rome, 1923.
60 He shaves the monster’s skull. Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, Canto XV.
61 “it is too natural.” C. C. Malvasia, Felsina pittrice. Vite de’ pittori bolognesi. Bologna, 1841.
62 “Beheading is significant.” C. G. Jung, Mysterium Coniunctionis. London, 1963.
64 still at San Luigi dei Francesi. G. A. Dell’ Acqua and M. Cinotti, Il Caravaggio e le sue grandi opere da San Luigi dei Francesi. Milan, 1971.
65 King Hyrcanus of Ethiopia. Jacobus de Voragine, Legenda Aurea. Dresden, 1846.
65 “savage blood-lust.” J. A. Symonds, The Renaissance in Italy: The Catholic Reaction. London, 1886.
66 the Neoplatonist heretic. F. A. Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition. London, 1964.
68 the brothers Cardinal Girolamo Mattei and Marchese Ciriaco Mattei. Gilbert, Caravaggio and His Two Cardinals.
69 the brothers shared a palace. S. Danesi Squarzina, Caravaggio e i Giustiniani, in Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (ed. Macioce).
71 to signify inspiration. R. Serracino-Inglott, Caravaggio: The Symbolism of a Realist, in Caravaggio in Malta (ed. P. Farrrugia Randon). Malta, 1989.
71 “death as illumination.” P. Askew, Caravaggio’s Death of the Virgin. Princeton, 1990.
73 he seems to have read Baronius’s Roman Martyrology. A. Zuccari, Storia e tradizione nell’ iconographia religiosa del Caravaggio, in Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (ed. Macioce).
74 If he really did paint Baronius. J. T. Spike, “Un ritratto del Cardinale Baronio agli Uffizi di Firenza,” in La regola, 1995.
74 the Cupid’s homoerotic quality. “a boy of the streets and an object of pederastic interest,” Hibbard, Caravaggio.
76 the sinister robber gangs. R. Bassani and F. Bellini, Caravaggio assassino. La carriera di un ‘valenthuomo’ fazioso nella Roma della Controriforma. Rome, 1994.
77 rooms in the Campo Marzio. R. Bassani and F. Bellini, “La casa, le ‘robbe,’ lo studio del Caravaggio a Roma. Due documenti inediti del 1603 e del 1605,” Prospettiva 71 (1993).
78 a disorderly private life. Dell’ Acqua and Cinotti, Il Caravaggio e le sui grandi opere da San Luigi dei Francesi.
80 A Florentine Knight of Malta. As a Tuscan, Fra’ Ainolfo may have been acting on Grand Duke Ferdinand’s instructions. S. Corradini, “Nuove e false notizie sulla presenza del Caravaggio in Roma,” in Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, ed. Macioce.
82 Passignano’s picture was “terrible.” F. Baldinucci, Notizie dei professori del disegno da Cimabue, vol 3. Florence, 1847.
83 a prostitute. Piazza Navona was where prostitutes plied for hire.
83 “had had commerce with her.” Hibbard, Caravaggio.
83 brought before the magistrates not less than eleven times. S. Corradini, Caravaggio. Materiali per un processo. Rome, 1993.
85 a tiny brick building. The latest research indicates that the masonry is Galilean, even if this does not prove the house arrived supernaturally. N. Monelli, La Santa Casa a Loreto—La Santa Casa a Nazareth. Loreto, 1992.
91 the mild-mannered, gentle-seeming Cardinal Borghese. L. von Pastor, History of the Popes, vol. 25, Paul V (1605–1621). London, 1934.
91 “a peculiarly rugged disposition.” L. von Ranke, History of the Popes (trans. G. R. Dennis), vol 2. London, 1908.
94 the kind of lighting fashionable in films of the 1920s. K. Clark, Civilisation. London, 1968.
96 a mixture of rage and fear. Tasso, Gerusalemme liberata, canto XII, stanza 55—“Non schivar, non parar, non ritirarsi….”
97 the reverse was true. S. Macioce, “Attorno a Caravaggio. Notizie d’ archivio,” Storia dell’Arte 55 (1987).
98 “under guard.” Corradini. Caravaggio. Materiali per un processo.
101 the summer of 1606. A. Banti (ed.), Europa mille seicentosei. Diario di viaggio di Bernardo Bizoni. Rome, 1942.
101 she had often been in Rome. Calvesi, La realtà del Caravaggio.
102 “till near sunset.” Augustus Hare, Days Near Rome. London, 1875.
103 Fra’ Orazio Giustiniani. F. Ashford, “Caravaggio’s Stay in Malta,” The Burlington Magazine, June 1935.
106 he was paid two hundred ducats at Naples. V. Pacelli, “New Documents Concerning Caravaggio in Naples, The Burlington Magazine, December 1977.
106 Fabrizio Sforza Colonna. B. Dal Pozzo, Historia della Sacra Religione Militare di San Giovanni Gerosolomitano, vol. 2, Verona, 1716.
107 it seems likely that Caravaggio called on the cardinal. Z. Wazbinski, “Il Viaggio del Cardinale Francesco Maria Del Monte a Napoli negli anni 1607–1608,” in Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, ed. Macioce.
108 Naples the pleasantest of cities. George Sandys, A Relation of a Journey begun An. Dom. 1610. London, 1615.
110 “received with great acclaim.” M. Gregori, “Caravaggio in Naples,” in Painting in Naples 1606–1705 (ed. C. Whitfield and J. Martineau). London, 1982.
110 The Seven Works of Mercy. V. Pacelli, Le Sette Opere di Misericordia. Salerno, 1984.
114 heavenly light. M. Marini, Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio “pictor praestantissimus.”
116 Ludovico Cardi. The bull for Il Cigoli’s admission into the order is in Baldinucci, Notizie dei Professori, vol. 9. He was admitted “in gradu Fratrum Militum obedientiae Magistralis”—the same grade as Caravaggio.
117 those who were Genoese. The nobility of Ottavio Costa’s sons was publicly questioned by some Italian knights. E. W. Schermerhorn, Malta of the Knights. London, 1929.
122 The first mention of Caravaggio. J. Azzopardi, “Caravaggio in Malta: An Unpublished Document,” in The Church of St. John in Valletta 1578–1978 (exhibition catalogue). Malta, 1978.
122 “the painter.” Calvesi believes the Greek painter was Mario Minniti. Calvesi, La realt
à del Caravaggio.
123 a battered if well-preserved old noble. J. Gash, “The Identity of Caravaggio’s ‘Knight of Malta,’ ” The Burlington Magazine, January 1997.
127 Alof de Wignancourt. Dal Pozzo, Historia della Sacra Religione, vol. 2.
128 “Fra’ Ippolito Malaspina.” S. Macioce, “Caravaggio a Malta e suoi referenti: notizie d’archivio,” Storia dell’ Arte 81 (1994).
128 the Comte de Brie. Dal Pozzo, Historia della Sacra Religione, vol. 2.
130 a magistral bull. J. Azzopardi, “Documentary Sources on Caravaggio’s Stay in Malta,” in Caravaggio in Malta (ed. Farrugia Randon).
136 Preti lost his temper. B. de Dominici, Vite dei Pittori, Scultori ed Architetti Napoletani, vol. 4. Naples, 1846.
140 “living grave.” D. Calnan, Knights in Durance. Malta, 1966.
141 In front of the oratory’s altar. Stone, “The Context of Caravaggio’s ‘Beheading of St. John’ in Malta.” The Burlington Magazine, January 1997.
144 Orecchio di Dionigi. A. Hare, Cities of Southern Italy and Sicily. London, 1883.
145 Minniti had become a well-established local painter. F. Campagna Cicala, “Intorno all’ attività di Caravaggio in Sicilia. Due momenti del caravaggismo siciliano. Mario Minniti e Alonso Rodriguez,” Caravaggismo in Sicilia, il suo tempo, il suo influsso (exhibition catalogue). Palermo, 1984.
147 “every chance of seeing the storm lanterns hoisted.” F. Braudel, La Mediterranée à l’Epoque de Philippe II. Paris, 1966.
149 their city’s semi-independent status. D. Mack-Smith, A History of Sicily, vol. 1 (800–1713). London, 1968.
153 the Madonna della Lettera. T. S. Hughes, Travels in Sicily, Greece and Albania. London, 1820.
153 “down every steep street.” Hare, Cities of Southern Italy and Sicily.
154 schoolmasters had a very unpleasant reputation for pederasty. Gilbert, Caravaggio and His Two Cardinals.
155 a visitor to the fair. Lithgow, The Totall Discourse of the Rare Adventures and painfull Peregrinations of long nineteen Yeares. London, 1632.
Caravaggio: A Passionate Life Page 18