Who Killed Caravaggio? A BBC Documentary

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Who Killed Caravaggio? BBC Documentary

When Caravaggio died in 1610 , he was 39 years old, the most famous painter of his age and an exile from Rome after killing a man in a street fight. But his death has always been a mystery, with no bod
autograph of the painter Caravaggio
autograph of the painter Caravaggio (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
y, no grave site, and conflicting stories of what happened.

In 2001, art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon went in search of the true story of the extraordinary life and mysterious death of one of the greatest painters in western art, travelling from Rome to Naples to Malta and Sicily, meeting experts and scouring archives on the way. He uncovered the painter's criminal record, a trail of violent incident, sexual intrigue and conspiracy, and came face to face with some of the most profoundly spiritual paintings ever painted.

Graham-Dixon has been researching and working on the story of the artist ever since. Caravaggio's art has never been more popular, and now he thinks he may have found some of the answers.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio ( 29 September 1571 -- 18 July 1610) was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on the Baroque school of painting.