Not a very "Christmasy" post tonight, but since I'm not in a holiday mood, I stumbled upon this article about the exhumation of Caravaggio's bones to study and try to find out how he really died. Was he poisoned, or did he die of natural causes? I have been thinking of the real Caravaggio since I resurrected my review below. I read a bio of Caravaggio once, and came away even more puzzled by his life and how little we know, and how much is left to the biographers imagination. Why are we so interested? Yes he was a great artist, still in high standing in art historical terms (for the amateur that I am). But I think it is because he led a rather turbulent life, a sordid life we think, and even after all this time we are attracted by the "gossip" of that life. We are always puzzled and intrigued how someone of genius led such an untidy life. It was an interesting life.
A quote from the article:
Caravaggio pioneered the Baroque painting technique known as chiaroscuro, in which light and shadow are sharply contrasted.
But it was his wild lifestyle that has captured just as many imaginations as his art the years.
He was famed for starting brawls, often ended up in jail, and even killed a man.
He was allegedly on his way to Rome to seek a pardon when he died.
If you haven't seen Jarman's film, or know about the real Caravaggio,
spoiler below....
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The man he killed was Rannuncio Tommasoni, played by Sean Bean in Jarman's film.
Below is the link to the entire article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8426166.stm.
Did I mention that after the study his remains will go on display in Rome's Borghese gallery?
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