157 “life was dominated by the Inquisition.” Hibbard, Caravaggio.
159 the Marchesa di Caravaggio’s palace on the Riviera di Chiaia. V. Pacelli, “La morte di Caravaggio e alcuni suoi dipinti da documenti inediti,” Studi di Storia dell’Arte 2 (1992).
160 or pouring mercury into their mouths as they slept. Christopher Marlowe, Edward the Second. London, 1594—Lightborn’s speech, “I learn’d in Naples how to poison flowers.”
161 a letter to Prince Marcantonio. F. Bologna and V. Pacelli, “Caravaggio, 1610: la “Sant’ Orsola confitto dal Tiranno” per Marcantonio Doria. 1. Le evidenze documentarie…,” Prospettiva 23 (1980).
163 an Annunciation. Now in the Musée des Beaux Arts, Nancy. Could this commission have come through the duke of Lorraine’s son, the Comte de Brie, who had been his contemporary in the novitiate on Malta?
164 one foot still inside the grave. L. Scaramuccia, Le finezze de’ penelli italiani. Pavia, 1674.
165 A recently discovered report. Pacelli, La morte di Caravaggio.
166 a fishing hamlet guarded by a fort. Hare, Days Near Rome.
167 a document. M. Marini, “Caravaggio: l’ultima spiaggia. Port’ Ercole… un nuovo documento,” Il Tempo, July 18, 1995.
168 wrapped in a knight’s choir mantle. By custom, even today, the knights are buried in their choir mantles instead of in shrouds.
168 an official fabrication … to conceal his murder. V. Pacelli, “Una nuova ipotesi sulla morte di Michelangelo Merisi di Caravaggio,” in Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (ed. Macioce).
169 a document. O. H. Green and D. Mahon, “Caravaggio’s Death: A New Document,” The Burlington Magazine, June 1951.
170 Marino… published some affectionate verses. The poem’s full text, taken from Bellori, is in Hibbard, Caravaggio.
170 “such strange behavior.” Haskell, Patrons and Painters.
170 ultimately, he would triumph over sin and death. S. Rossi, “Peccato e redenzione negli autoritratti del Caravaggio,” in Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (ed. Macioce).
171 “Caravaggists.” B. Nicholson, The International Caravaggesque Movement. Oxford, 1990.
172 He was going out of favor. R. E. Spear, “The Critical Fortunes of a Realist Painter,” in The Age of Caravaggio.
173 The Nativity. F. Watson, The Caravaggio Conspiracy. London, 1980.
About the Author
Desmond Seward was born in Paris and educated at Ampleforth and St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. He is the author of many books including The Monks of War: The Military Religious Orders, The Hundred Years War, The Wars of the Roses, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry V as Warlord, Josephus, Masada and the Fall of Judaea (da Capo, US, April 2009), Wings over the Desert: in action with an RFC pilot in Palestine 1916–18 (Haynes Military, July 2009) and Old Puglia: A Portrait of South Eastern Italy (Haus August 2009).
Caravaggio: A Passionate Life Page 19