Caravaggio criticism and popularity

For many years, Caravaggio’s popularity with the lower class led seicento classicists to disparage his work, a persisting negative bias evident in the work of scholars in later centuries who neglected his work. It has been only within the last sixty years that scholars have taken this Lombard artist’s work more seriously. Seicento critics’ negative opinions of realism parallel that of Michelangelo when he criticized Flemish realism.

The Tuscan artist said it would appeal to the devout:

“to women, especially to the very old and the very young, and also to monks and nuns and to certain noblemen who have no sense of harmony.”

Caravaggio’s contemporaries noted his popularity with the common person, reflecting the paintings’ and the artist’s lack of decorum and slavish dependence on a model. Many perceived Caravaggio’s bold naturalism to be unrefined.

Now, let see some deep facts about this “homme maudits”

Caravaggio had a reputation for a short temper and was quick to fall into bar or street brawls. He committed relatively light but bizarre infractions, such as swearing at a constable or roaming with an unlicensed sword. In one instance, he cut a hole in his ceiling to allow more natural light while painting; this impromptu carpentry gave his landlord cause to throw him out. Beyond this, he was brought to trial for significant crimes at least eleven times, including scarring a guard and throwing a plate at the face of waiter because he believed his undercooked artichokes were an insult.

As punishment for Tomassoni’s murder, Caravaggio was issued a death warrant, which could be executed at any time in Rome. He fled to Naples, where he hid in the homes of noble families including the Sforzas and the Colonnas, and to Malta, an independent sovereignty that welcomed him safely. Throughout his exile he continued working, traveling to Sicily to paint some of his most beloved and influential works, including The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist.

In 1969, Caravaggio’s Nativity with St. Francis and Saint Lawrence was stolen from the Oratory of Saint Lawrence in Palermo. Although the work has never been found, members of the Italian mafia have claimed that the painting was often on display at major meetings and gatherings of high-ranking mafia members, but that it had been damaged and subsequently destroyed. The work was valued at approximately $20 to 25$ million.

In 2010, human bones were found in Porto Ercole that scientists have concluded are likely those of Caravaggio. The bones reflected a toxic level of lead, is  almost certainly from the paint with which he worked quite physically and messily could have killed him. The artist’s reputation for erratic and violent behavior, which is a common symptom of lead poisoning, bolsters this theory.

He has an epic epitaph.

Caravaggio’s epitaph, composed by his friend Marzio Milesi, reflects a beloved artist: “Michelangelo Merisi, son of Fermo di Caravaggio – in painting not equal to a painter, but to Nature itself – died in Porto Ercole – betaking himself hither from Naples – returning to Rome – 15th of August – in the year of our Lord 1610 – He lived thirty-six years nine months and twenty days – Marzio Milesi, Jurisconsult – Dedicated this to a friend of extraordinary genius.”

we can call this master  painter an homme maudit with a tragic destiny.