Caravaggio's Remains are Exhumed in Italy

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?  

Caravaggio - A Film and an Actor

Saw on another blog (DVD Rentals) the British Film Institute's Top 100 DVD's and one of the 100 is Derek Jarman's 1986 film Caravaggio.  I wrote a short review of the film a while back for a different purpose and I reprint it here with some edits.  Maybe worth another read?

Sean Bean working with Derek Jarman

Though known for working with directors that specialize in action films and thrillers, Sean Bean has also done his share of work seen in art house cinemas. He seems to enjoy working with directors with a singular vision. Let’s look at one director and one film as an example- Derek Jarman’s, “Caravaggio".

Derek Jarman’s film uses the barest outlines of the real life of artist Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio (1573 - 1610) as a frame for his most mainstream film. Jarman is making a larger statement about the life of the artist in society.

Audiences that have only seen Sean Bean in Hollywood movies may be surprised that as Ranuccio, he plays the lover of both Caravaggio (Nigel Terry) and his model, Lena (Tilda Swinton). For Sean Bean this was his first theatrical film and he thrives with Jarman’s semi-improvisational style, and community of actors, artists, amateurs, and crew committed to one man’s vision. The powerful impact of the young and smoldering Sean Bean when Caravaggio first sees him is unforgettable.

Film critics, both when the film was released in 1986, and recently with the release of the DVD, agree on Bean’s performance:

In Jarman's Caravaggio, actor Terry discovers Ranuccio Tommasoni (played by Sean Bean with beefy, rugged, dangerous charm) at a prizefight. Newsweek, 1986.

Bean runs away with the film, a smoldering presence that oozes sexuality and pops off the screen (I loved the final sequence with Carvaggio and Ranuccio) dvd.talk.com, 2008

In Caravaggio, a young Sean Bean demonstrated not only considerable acting talent, but also a charismatic screen presence working with experimental director Derek Jarman. They were to work again in another controversial Jarman film,  War Requiem.