1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:05,640 Speaker 1: Hello, and happy Saturday, everybody. Back when we were planning 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: our live show at the National Gallery of Art, which 3 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:10,840 Speaker 1: was a few months ago, we were brainstorming ideas about 4 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:13,319 Speaker 1: art history mysteries and one of the topics that came 5 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: up was Caravaggio and the murder of his rival Renuccio Thomasny. Obviously, 6 00:00:18,880 --> 00:00:22,599 Speaker 1: we went in an entirely different direction from that for 7 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: the show. We went with our mysteries of the color blue. 8 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: But also prior hosts Sarah and Bublina had already done 9 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:32,559 Speaker 1: a whole episode on Caravaggio back in March, so we 10 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:38,800 Speaker 1: are sharing it today. Everyone enjoying. Welcome to Stuff You 11 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:41,800 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class, a production of I Heart Radios 12 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 13 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: Sarah Dowdy and I'm Deblane chokerate Boardy And around this 14 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: time last year, Um, Katie and I did an episode 15 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,160 Speaker 1: on the artist michel Angelo. And it's a good been 16 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: that michel Angelo. He's one of the most famous artists 17 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: in history. But according to the art historian Peter Solm, 18 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: michel Angelo has been surpassed and at least one head 19 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:14,040 Speaker 1: to head competition. Uh and again at least in terms 20 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: of what's being written about him. Nobody's looking at the 21 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: art show attendance or something here. But that raises the 22 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:25,319 Speaker 1: question who is the upstart? Interestingly, it's another michel Angelo, 23 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: except this one who's named michel Angelo Maurice and he's 24 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:32,520 Speaker 1: better known as Caravaggio and some who works at the 25 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: University of Toronto. He has studied books, catalogs and scholarly 26 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: papers about the two men published in the last fifty years, 27 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:43,400 Speaker 1: everything kind of in that time range. And over time 28 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:46,679 Speaker 1: the Caravaggio related work did in fact outpaced the writings 29 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: on Michelangelo, especially since the mid nineties or so. Yeah, 30 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:56,560 Speaker 1: so Caravaggio is apparently quite popular right now. And um, 31 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: if the obsession has been growing for the past fifty years, 32 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: it's really reached new heights this year and last year, 33 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: which was the anniversary of the artist's death. But so 34 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: far we've had to art world controversies. This is in 35 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: the past year too, art world controversies which have played 36 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: out in really dramatic headline fashion. We're going to just 37 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:23,240 Speaker 1: read off a few of these headline counterheadlined selections for you. 38 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:27,960 Speaker 1: One is from the BBC Vatican reveals caravaggio painting found 39 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:31,880 Speaker 1: in Rome, and then later Vatican paper dismiss his own. 40 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: Caravaggio claims it's a little embarrassing. We have another one 41 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: from the BBC Church Bones quote belonged to Caravaggio, researchers say, 42 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: but also unearthing doubts about Caravaggio's remains. Yeah, we're gonna 43 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:48,239 Speaker 1: be talking about that one a little bit more because 44 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: obviously it's an exhimation of related point. We're going to 45 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:56,239 Speaker 1: cover that. Um. There have also been two big exhibits 46 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:59,079 Speaker 1: though on the artists in the past year and this 47 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: year as well. One was of Caravaggio's art at the 48 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: Scuttieri Quirinale and the other was of his police trail 49 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:10,519 Speaker 1: at the Italian State Archives. And that's really the catch 50 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:15,240 Speaker 1: of this episode, and probably the appeal of Caravaggio in general. 51 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: He's not just a compelling figure because he's so masterful 52 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:24,360 Speaker 1: an artist, and he's not just compelling because he has 53 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: this realist style that is well before his time. And 54 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: he's not just interesting because he almost seems more like 55 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:36,840 Speaker 1: a photographer than a painter who lived centuries ago. He's bad. 56 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,520 Speaker 1: He's a really bad guy. He's a bad boy. That's 57 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: a good way to describe him. And the documents relating 58 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: to his life are police documents and court documents, legal statements, 59 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,960 Speaker 1: things like that. He did leave quite a paper trail, 60 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: and it does not really paint a pretty picture. Yeah, 61 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: and so I guess that new paper trails will focus 62 00:03:57,720 --> 00:03:59,680 Speaker 1: on the most But first we'll go back to the 63 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:02,600 Speaker 1: begin inning. He was born in fifteen seventy one and 64 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: he was the son of an architect and a majordomo 65 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: for the Marquis of Caravaggio. He was apprentice later at 66 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: age eleven to painter Simone Patrizano in Milan, and it 67 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:15,480 Speaker 1: was sometime in his teens when he was sent off 68 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:19,040 Speaker 1: to Rome, and that's where he settles into this bohemian underworld. 69 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,320 Speaker 1: He's really poor and working for painters at that time 70 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: who were less able than him. They're less talented. Yeah, 71 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:28,480 Speaker 1: definitely struggling. And these are kind of the lost years 72 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: as far as his record goes, which I guess with 73 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: Caravaggio that's a good thing, um, But they're not lost 74 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: years as far as his work goes. He painted about 75 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: forty pieces during this period, including Boy with a Fruit Basket, 76 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:43,479 Speaker 1: and the Young Bacchus. Those are probably two of his 77 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 1: most famous works. And finally, in Fi, works like that 78 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:52,360 Speaker 1: must have caught the attention of certain eyes, because he 79 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:55,159 Speaker 1: sets out on his own and he's brought to the 80 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:59,719 Speaker 1: attention of Cardinal Francesco Damante, who was a big shot 81 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: in papal court. So this is his inn into the 82 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:06,599 Speaker 1: more elite world of Rome, and he's soon invited to 83 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 1: live at the cardinals palace, and uh, he's got room 84 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: and board and all these commissions. And by seven he 85 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: has a commission to decorate the Contrally Chapel in Rome, 86 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: which really puts him into the big league. He's only 87 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:23,360 Speaker 1: twenty four years old, so he put in his his 88 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: difficult years early. Yeah. And it's not a really totally 89 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:30,480 Speaker 1: smooth road all the way though. His work for the chapel, 90 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:34,160 Speaker 1: which included scenes from the life of Saint Matthew, they 91 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:36,919 Speaker 1: cost quite a stir at the time, and that's because 92 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 1: these scenes he painted, they weren't idealized in any way. 93 00:05:39,520 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: Matthew basically looks like a laborer off the street, a 94 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: common person, not a very pretty saint. Yeah. And from 95 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,680 Speaker 1: there on out, though he does stick with these religious 96 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: subjects though that's mostly what he's working on. But um, 97 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: I mean, like you mentioned, the Matthew thing gives a 98 00:05:55,960 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 1: pretty good foreshadowing of this. His His work isn't pretty, 99 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:13,560 Speaker 1: it's violent, and it's dark. Stylistically, he supposedly would use 100 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:16,480 Speaker 1: a lantern hung in a dark studio to achieve this 101 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: really dramatic lighting effect. I mean, if you've, I'm guessing 102 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: probably most of you, if you're listening to this episode, 103 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: you've seen Caravaggio paintings, but they often look like a 104 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: photo where there's a big, strong beam of light shining 105 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:32,960 Speaker 1: on the subject from one direction. Um. And another thing 106 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: he would do is pick poor models, so maybe st. 107 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: Matthew was right off the street. Um. He would use 108 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 1: laborers and and just people he ran into, perhaps even prostitutes, 109 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:48,600 Speaker 1: which obviously that's gonna sometimes cause some trouble for him. 110 00:06:48,760 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: And sometimes his work was consequently rejected by its original commissioners. Yeah. 111 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: The Caramel Lights, for example, thought that his death of 112 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,719 Speaker 1: the Virgin looked a little too common and also a 113 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:03,000 Speaker 1: little too dead. Yeah. They didn't want her to look 114 00:07:03,160 --> 00:07:06,280 Speaker 1: like a normal woman who had just died. They wanted 115 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: her to be shooting straight up to heaven. And this 116 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: kind of rejection, though, didn't really hurt Caravaggio's reputation. You 117 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,920 Speaker 1: would think that that having your commissions rejected would be 118 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: a bad thing, but private buyers were very eager to 119 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: snatch up the rejected pieces, and his success really continued 120 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:28,239 Speaker 1: to grow. He was moving and mingling in the highest 121 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:31,240 Speaker 1: circles of Roman society, hanging out with cardinals, hanging out 122 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: with princes. So it seemed like he had risen above 123 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:40,200 Speaker 1: that rough and tumble bohemian life that he started out in. Yeah, 124 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: but he never really totally left that hard knock life 125 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 1: behind either. It said that he was given to wrath 126 00:07:46,440 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: and riot, and probably the best way to understand him 127 00:07:49,160 --> 00:07:51,320 Speaker 1: might be to first look up some images of his 128 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 1: art and then take a look at his police record, 129 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 1: which we're going to get into a little bit right now. 130 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: It is pretty ridiculous. Yeah, it's kind of crazy. Actually, 131 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: May fourth fifteen, for example, he's arrested for carrying a 132 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 1: sword without a permit between two and three am. November nineteen, 133 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 1: six hundred, he's sued over beating a man with a 134 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: stick and cutting the guy's cape with his sword at 135 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: a three am brawl then October two, sixteen oh one, 136 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 1: he's accused of attacking a man with a sword and 137 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,680 Speaker 1: insulting him, adding insult to injury. April sixteen o four, 138 00:08:24,840 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: he was accused of attacking a waiter over an artichoke 139 00:08:28,120 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: related dispute, which, because I kind of love that one 140 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: so much, we're going to talk about it a little 141 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: more in a second October nineteenth, sixteen o four, arrested 142 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: for pelting policemen with stones. That's never good. May sixteen 143 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 1: o five he's arrested for carrying a sword and a 144 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:49,640 Speaker 1: dagger too, this time without a permit. July sixteen oh 145 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:52,760 Speaker 1: five he's accused by a Vatican notary of striking him 146 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 1: with a weapon from behind. So this gives dirty pretty 147 00:08:57,160 --> 00:09:00,600 Speaker 1: good idea of the kind of shenanigans that Caravaggi was 148 00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:03,920 Speaker 1: up to, and um the documents on view of the 149 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:06,320 Speaker 1: archives actually give us a closer look at some of 150 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:09,200 Speaker 1: these incidents. I mentioned the artichoke one. We have the 151 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: waiters statement, which it'll let you know that a lot 152 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: is based on tone, and it's kind of hard to 153 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: tell here what exactly happened, but here it goes about 154 00:09:18,040 --> 00:09:21,760 Speaker 1: seventeen o'clock lunchtime, the accused, together with two other people, 155 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:24,719 Speaker 1: was eating in the Moor's restaurant where I work as 156 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:28,040 Speaker 1: a waiter. I brought them eight cooked artichokes, four cooked 157 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 1: in butter and four fried in oil. The accused asked 158 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 1: me which were cooked in butter and which fried in oil, 159 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: and I told him to smell them, which would easily 160 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:39,560 Speaker 1: enable him to tell the difference. That's where tone is important. 161 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:42,719 Speaker 1: He got angry and without saying anything more, grabbed an 162 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: earthenware dish and hit me on the cheek at the 163 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: level of my mustache, injuring me slightly. And then he 164 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:50,600 Speaker 1: got up and grabbed his friend's sword which was lying 165 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 1: on the table, intending perhaps to strike me with it. 166 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:55,520 Speaker 1: But I got up and came here to the police 167 00:09:55,559 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 1: station to make a formal complaint. So you a guy 168 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 1: who's who's easy to anger, I guess yeah. He seemed 169 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:06,920 Speaker 1: to get riled up pretty easily. He was even accused 170 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:10,000 Speaker 1: of throwing stones at his landlady's window after she sued 171 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: him for cutting holes in his ceiling to make his painted. 172 00:10:14,240 --> 00:10:17,120 Speaker 1: That's the best part. So you know this is this 173 00:10:17,160 --> 00:10:23,720 Speaker 1: is obnoxious behavior, violent um, potentially lethal behavior, and carrying 174 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: illegal swords around is not a good way to stay 175 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 1: out of trouble. But he reached a new level May 176 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:33,480 Speaker 1: sixteen or six when he killed a man. You can't 177 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:37,720 Speaker 1: really take that back. And um, the circumstances behind this 178 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: murder are kind of interesting. Uh. The deceased was Rernuccio Thomassini, 179 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:47,640 Speaker 1: and he was murdered on a tennis court in Rome. 180 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: And so you've probably heard that because the location was 181 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:55,440 Speaker 1: a tennis court, the dispute was somehow related to a 182 00:10:55,480 --> 00:10:59,000 Speaker 1: game of tennis, or some historians have suggested that it 183 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:02,200 Speaker 1: was related to a dispute over a woman. But either way, 184 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:05,800 Speaker 1: something that happened in the heat of the moment um. 185 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 1: You just let your passions get to you and get 186 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:11,840 Speaker 1: into a fight, and then Rernuccio is suddenly dead. But 187 00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:14,880 Speaker 1: court documents from the time show that it really looked 188 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:18,080 Speaker 1: a lot more like an organized war, not just this 189 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:22,560 Speaker 1: argument that started suddenly. Right. For one thing, it's not 190 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 1: exactly a tennis court where this happens. It's a palacorta 191 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:30,239 Speaker 1: court in the Campo Marzio area, which was Caravaggio's neighborhood. 192 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:33,040 Speaker 1: Paul Acorda is kind of like tennis, except there's somehow 193 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:35,840 Speaker 1: string involved. We're not really sure how it works. Like 194 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:41,439 Speaker 1: an explanation of Palacorta for any still practicing sport enthusiasts. Yes, 195 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:44,559 Speaker 1: email us. The other thing was there were eight men 196 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:47,079 Speaker 1: who participated in this fight, and they were chosen ahead 197 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 1: of time. They weren't just random onlookers. So as you said, 198 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:52,000 Speaker 1: it wasn't just in the heat of them moment. It 199 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:55,720 Speaker 1: wasn't people who got mad about something that happened to 200 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,080 Speaker 1: a game and decided to become part of this. It 201 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:09,520 Speaker 1: was planned. Caravaggio himself was there with three other guys. 202 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:12,600 Speaker 1: One was a captain in the Papal army, again showing 203 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 1: he does have friends in high places. And one of 204 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:19,240 Speaker 1: his friends was also badly injured and arrested after the fact. 205 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:22,839 Speaker 1: And it's during this guy's trial where it comes out 206 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 1: that the fight was probably started over a gambling debt, 207 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 1: so something that they could mull over for a little 208 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:33,520 Speaker 1: while and get their friends together. But Caravaggio is injured 209 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: in this, but he escapes. He's not injured bad enough 210 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:40,440 Speaker 1: that he's arrested. He gets out of Rome. He's terribly 211 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:43,480 Speaker 1: concerned about what will happen to him, and rightly so, 212 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:47,160 Speaker 1: because he's condemned to death and absentia by Pope Paul 213 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:50,240 Speaker 1: the Fifth. So the first place he goes is to 214 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:55,240 Speaker 1: the estate of the Marquis of Caravaggio's relative so Um, 215 00:12:55,240 --> 00:13:00,080 Speaker 1: a friend of his dad's friend. Essentially. From there it 216 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 1: goes to Naples in early sixteen and seven, and he 217 00:13:02,840 --> 00:13:06,959 Speaker 1: starts painting again. And just remember, throughout his entire flight, 218 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:09,959 Speaker 1: he's still painting, which I think is so interesting. I mean, 219 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,199 Speaker 1: obviously it's partly to make a living, but that you 220 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 1: would still have it in you when you're running for 221 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:18,840 Speaker 1: your life, right, and he has to keep moving. He 222 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 1: moves on from Naples to Malta, where he not only 223 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:24,440 Speaker 1: keeps painting, but he's received into the Order of Malta, 224 00:13:24,520 --> 00:13:26,959 Speaker 1: which is kind of confusing because it's something that requires 225 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 1: papal permission. Yeah, and the Pope has just condemned him 226 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:33,240 Speaker 1: to death. I think that's interesting. And of course, all 227 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:35,960 Speaker 1: the while his friends back in Rome we're working to 228 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: get a papal dispensation. That's the only way he could 229 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:43,560 Speaker 1: be pardoned. But I would kind of want those fouls 230 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:45,960 Speaker 1: to be handled in reverse order, I think, and and 231 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:49,080 Speaker 1: get my life spared before I received into the Order 232 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:52,560 Speaker 1: of Malta. But either way, he's expelled from the Order 233 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: of Malta not that long after, and he's jailed. He 234 00:13:55,720 --> 00:13:58,880 Speaker 1: escapes from jail and goes to Syracuse in Sicily in 235 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:01,959 Speaker 1: October sixteen eight, and from there he goes on to 236 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:06,200 Speaker 1: Messina and then to Palermo, all the while still working. 237 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:10,280 Speaker 1: And it's kind of interesting. Art historians have commented on 238 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 1: this work because obviously you're going to look at at 239 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 1: anything done under such for circumstances, but apparently he really 240 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 1: simplifies things and scales it down, but it's still just 241 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:28,120 Speaker 1: as skilled and well executed as ever. The only way 242 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: for him to really get arrest is to get the 243 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:34,080 Speaker 1: Pope's pardon at this point, but Caravaggio has friends in 244 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:37,720 Speaker 1: high places, like we mentioned, so they've been working on this. 245 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 1: Seems like a pardon might actually be on the horizon. Finally, 246 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,920 Speaker 1: Caravaggio ends up moving to Naples again, but when he's there, 247 00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:47,040 Speaker 1: he's attacked at the door of an inn and horribly 248 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:50,280 Speaker 1: disfigured on his face, and people even get reports that 249 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:54,240 Speaker 1: he's dead. By July six ten, though he's finally well 250 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 1: enough to sail again, so he sails for Rome, but 251 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 1: he's arrested along the way and the boat with all 252 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 1: his stuff leaves him behind while he's in jail, so 253 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:04,720 Speaker 1: he's trying to chase down this boat. He gets as 254 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:08,320 Speaker 1: far as Porto Arcole, where he dies at thirty eight, 255 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:12,560 Speaker 1: so he never reaches the boat, never gets his pardon 256 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: while he's alive. He is actually pardoned three days later. 257 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:20,760 Speaker 1: After three days later. So yeah, that's that's sad to 258 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:24,880 Speaker 1: say the least, and it's interesting though, but the circumstances 259 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 1: around his death are appropriately controversial too. He's often believed 260 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: to have died alone on the beach, which is terribly 261 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:38,640 Speaker 1: depressing and probably seems plausible right, But his first biographer, 262 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 1: Giovanni Biony, sort of made things even worse. He panted 263 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:46,080 Speaker 1: a picture um saying quote, finally having arrived in a 264 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 1: place on the beach, he was put in bed with 265 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:51,040 Speaker 1: a high fever and having no human help. Within a 266 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:53,880 Speaker 1: few days, he died as miserably as he had lived. 267 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 1: I think that makes it worse. It makes it seem like, 268 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,680 Speaker 1: not only does he die alone on the beach, somebody 269 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 1: puts him in bed and then leaves him and then 270 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,880 Speaker 1: abandons him. Then he dies alone, definitely taking it up 271 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:09,560 Speaker 1: a notch, but his death was really not quite that dramatic. 272 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:13,400 Speaker 1: Records from the archives exhibit show that Caravaggio was found 273 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:15,840 Speaker 1: delirious on the beach, but then he was taken to 274 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: the hospital and he died there two days later, presumably 275 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:22,840 Speaker 1: not entirely abandoned by everyone at the hospital. Um. It's 276 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:27,120 Speaker 1: still unclear though what killed him, right, Maybe it was malaria, 277 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: could have been that, maybe the Knights of Malta, or 278 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 1: maybe even the Pope. I mean, during his successful, though 279 00:16:33,960 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 1: very stressful career on the run, he was kind of 280 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:40,040 Speaker 1: afraid that papal hit men were after him. Yeah, it 281 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 1: was a concern of Caravaggios at least, But we also 282 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 1: have to address those bones that were supposedly Caravaggios and 283 00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:52,120 Speaker 1: identified as his last summer um. First of all, though, 284 00:16:52,480 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 1: why would this even be an issue here? You know, 285 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: presumably an artist as famous as Caravaggio would have a 286 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:02,800 Speaker 1: monument and a marker set up immediately after his death. 287 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:06,560 Speaker 1: But even though it's pretty hard to believe, after Caravaggio's death, 288 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:10,440 Speaker 1: he faded into obscurity almost immediately. I mean, he had 289 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:14,520 Speaker 1: an influence on later artists, but people pretty much forgot 290 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:18,439 Speaker 1: who he was until he had this big resurgence at 291 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,399 Speaker 1: the beginning of the twentieth century. So that's why we 292 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:25,080 Speaker 1: knew he definitely died in Porto Coole, but we didn't 293 00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:30,440 Speaker 1: know exactly where he was in Silvio Vincetti, who is 294 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:33,600 Speaker 1: the president of a private organization that seems to go 295 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:38,440 Speaker 1: around and I d the remains of illustrious deceased Italians, 296 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 1: which as Dante announced that his team had identified bones 297 00:17:43,440 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 1: of Caravaggio from the Porto Coole crypt. Yeah, and you 298 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:49,880 Speaker 1: may be asking how did they do this? So here's 299 00:17:49,880 --> 00:17:52,879 Speaker 1: a little bit about their method. They examined skeletons at 300 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:57,840 Speaker 1: the crypt, eliminating ones that didn't fit Caravaggio's specs. Basically, 301 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:01,400 Speaker 1: they carbon dated things down to one skeleton, and then 302 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:05,560 Speaker 1: they tested that sample against the DNA from families who 303 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: were named MAURICEI or Mauricio from Caravaggio. So they did 304 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,240 Speaker 1: this basically because Carvaggio didn't have any kids of his own, 305 00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:17,000 Speaker 1: and the committee couldn't find his actual descendants, his siblings descendants, 306 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,520 Speaker 1: I should say, So they kind of had to take 307 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:22,119 Speaker 1: their best guests. Yeah, and that's one thing that makes 308 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,960 Speaker 1: people a little uncomfortable with this spinding. But the group 309 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:31,160 Speaker 1: also concluded that the presumed Caravaggio skeleton had suffered from 310 00:18:31,240 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 1: lead poisoning, which would would also add up for an 311 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:38,960 Speaker 1: artist at the time had suffered from syphilis and had 312 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: died from sunstroke. But art historians have been really, really 313 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:48,399 Speaker 1: skeptical of this claim, to say the least. The New 314 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:52,479 Speaker 1: York Times article that we mentioned earlier had quotes from 315 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:57,719 Speaker 1: quite a few art historians with varying tone of dismissal, 316 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:01,680 Speaker 1: but I included one trim tomas So Montinari of the 317 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: University of Naples, who said, quote in the four hundredth 318 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:09,760 Speaker 1: anniversary of Caravaggio's death, this committee has concocted a compelling discovery, 319 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:15,639 Speaker 1: thinking it will attract tourists. It's all very depressing threeis yeah, 320 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:19,720 Speaker 1: so not very confidence inspiring. No, not at all. So 321 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:22,879 Speaker 1: I guess I'm hoping that we'll find out more in 322 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: the four hundred and first anniversary of caravaggias death, because 323 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:31,119 Speaker 1: I don't like my my exclimations to be depressing in 324 00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:39,440 Speaker 1: up in the air, Thank you so much for joining 325 00:19:39,480 --> 00:19:42,359 Speaker 1: us today for this Saturday classic. If you have heard 326 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:44,720 Speaker 1: any kind of email address or maybe a Facebook you 327 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:46,760 Speaker 1: are l during the course of the episode, that might 328 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:49,439 Speaker 1: be obsolete. It might be doubly obsolete because we have 329 00:19:49,520 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 1: changed our email address again. You can now reach us 330 00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:56,199 Speaker 1: at History podcast at i heart radio dot com, and 331 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:59,119 Speaker 1: we're all over social media at missed in History and 332 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:02,040 Speaker 1: you can subscribe up to our show on Apple podcasts, 333 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:05,240 Speaker 1: Google podcasts, the I heart radio app, and wherever else 334 00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:10,919 Speaker 1: you listen to podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class 335 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:13,600 Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. 336 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:16,080 Speaker 1: For more podcasts. For my heart Radio, visit the I 337 00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:19,240 Speaker 1: heart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to 338 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:20,119 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.