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Before I lost it,
I never gave a fig for liberty.
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00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,200
Liberty, the great unknowable.
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00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:14,440
Intangible.
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00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:15,600
Invisible.
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00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:17,280
Unbreathable.
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00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:28,400
We are born free...
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and we think it's forever.
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I took the liberty
of dropping the name Michelangelo,
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the name my parents baptized me with.
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00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:54,160
I chose...
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00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:55,880
Caravaggio...
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00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:04,720
the name of the place
from where my family hails.
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00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:06,560
A place and a world that I fled...
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in pursuit of a dream...
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00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:15,320
the dream of liberty.
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00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:20,040
I have not protected that dream from my
own true self, from my own excess.
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00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,560
And now that my liberty has been taken
away from me,
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00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:30,960
liberty is all I can think of.
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00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:41,600
Only now, would I be able
truly to feel it,
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to see it...
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00:02:44,120 --> 00:02:45,240
to love it.
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00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,000
Only now, could I defend my liberty
tooth and nail...
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00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:54,440
even at the cost of life itself.
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00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:26,880
Caravaggio's life has
always been cloaked in mystery.
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00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:34,000
In 2007, an extraordinary
discovery shook the art world.
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00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:37,480
The birth certificate of
Michelangelo Merisi
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00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,680
was discovered in the
Diocesan Historical Archive in Milan.
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00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:44,920
He was baptised
on the 30th of September, 1571
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00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:47,800
in the church of
Santo Stefano in Brolo, Milan,
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00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:50,880
not in Caravaggio,
as was previously believed.
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00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:54,040
He was born the day before,
on the 29th of September,
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00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:56,240
the feast of St. Michael the Archangel...
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00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:58,920
hence his name "Michelangelo."
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00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:15,720
At six years old,
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00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:18,760
Caravaggio had the first traumatic
experience of his life.
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00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:23,960
To escape the plague,
the Merisi family left Milan,
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00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:27,280
and returned to
his parents' birthplace, Caravaggio.
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00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:31,880
But his father, grandfather,
and uncle did not survive.
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00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:34,000
All three died.
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00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:42,440
At the end of the epidemic, in 1584,
Caravaggio returned to Milan
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00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:45,720
to study painting in the workshop of
Simone Peterzano,
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00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,520
an illustrious master
who had been Titian's pupil in Venice.
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00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:54,960
Caravaggio was just 13 years old.
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00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,640
With Peterzano he learned to paint
in the typical style of Lombardy,
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00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:00,200
a region in northern Italy,
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inspired by the Venetian School,
with its focus on light,
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00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:05,240
and the depiction of reality.
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00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,440
He studied under the master
for a number of years,
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00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,080
but nothing is
known of his works of that period.
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00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:27,960
However, recent research has uncovered
a remarkable event.
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00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:34,240
A previously unpublished manuscript
by Gaspare Celio, dated 1614...
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00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:39,400
recounts that the painter
fled Milan, after killing a man.
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00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,880
People say there is no
need to reproduce reality as it truly is.
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00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:05,280
Perhaps the opposite is true.
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00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:08,840
I can do this.
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00:06:09,280 --> 00:06:10,600
Reality is my lifeblood.
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00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:12,640
I know of nothing beyond reality.
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00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:18,720
From eye to mind, from mind to hand,
from hand to heart...
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00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:23,800
reality, like painting, often thrives
on deception,
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or, better, on creating illusion.
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00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:37,680
As an artist,
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Caravaggio spent
his formative years in Milan.
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00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:47,840
He must have studied Leonardo Da Vinci's
Last Supper in Santa Maria delle Grazie.
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00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:57,560
Peterzano probably advised his pupils
to draw inspiration from this masterpiece.
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00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:01,840
A few years later, when Caravaggio painted
The Basket of Fruit,
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00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:03,560
now at the Ambrosiana in Milan,
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00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:07,280
he took inspiration from the still life
on the table of The Last Supper,
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00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,600
which today,
has sadly almost entirely faded from view.
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00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,760
The Basket of Fruit,
painted for Cardinal Federico Borromeo,
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00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:20,760
is an example
of Caravaggio's early style of painting.
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00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:25,760
It is a serene scene...
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00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:29,240
a wicker basket
filled with fruit and vine leaves
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is set against a completely
neutral background,
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almost a non-place.
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It already indicates what later became
a fundamental characteristic of his work,
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the elimination of
the surrounding environment.
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Caravaggio neutralises the space around
what he depicts,
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as if the images
were in a metaphysical space.
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He creates a contrast in our perception,
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nothingness against the dramatic presence
of the painted subject.
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We could almost reach out and touch
those apples,
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those bunches of grapes,
those figs and leaves.
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The basket protrudes slightly and,
in seeming to move towards us,
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invites us to move closer to it.
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His art is seductive...
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it acts like a magnet.
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It was in Rome that the 25-year-old
Caravaggio got his breakthrough.
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His early days there,
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as a penniless young man,
can't have been easy.
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Giovanni Pietro Bellori,
an early biographer,
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described him as "bisognoso et ignudo,"
"needy and naked."
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00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:52,920
He found a place to stay with Monsignor
Pandolfo Pucci, a priest at St Peter's,
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in the hope of making contact with the
Papal Court.
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"Monsignor Salad,"
as Caravaggio called him,
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referring to the meagre,
monotonous diet he was served...
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made him paint devotional copies,
works of scant importance,
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and treated the artist with condescension.
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Caravaggio couldn't bear this, and left.
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Now living in poverty,
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he became so ill
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00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:25,160
that he ended up in
the Hospital of Consolation.
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00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:29,160
Could that be his face
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00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:32,400
in the Young Sick Bacchus,
today in the Galleria Borghese?
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00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:52,120
For his debut on the Roman scene,
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Caravaggio chose the
ancient god of wine and revelry.
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This is an ambivalent subject
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00:10:01,560 --> 00:10:05,440
which can be interpreted as a pagan image,
the god Bacchus...
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00:10:07,560 --> 00:10:09,040
or as a Christian image...
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00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:11,880
the prefiguration of Jesus Christ.
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00:10:19,480 --> 00:10:23,680
The grapes in his hand recall the
wine drunk by Jesus at The Last Supper...
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while the ivy may allude
to the cross and the Passion.
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00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:33,480
The work is intimate yet,
at the same time, disquieting.
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00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:36,480
It feels as if we could
reach out and touch
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00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:40,200
this looming figure, but the evasive
expression in his cold eyes
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00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:41,960
pushes us away.
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00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:47,280
Today, we picture Caravaggio
as the typical solitary genius,
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always focused on his work,
far removed from everyday life.
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00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:53,280
Yet this is far from accurate.
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00:10:53,720 --> 00:10:54,720
In reality,
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00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:58,880
Caravaggio was very much
involved in society and life at the time
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00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:01,520
and enjoyed close relationships
with his colleagues.
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00:11:02,560 --> 00:11:04,120
Then, when he came to Rome,
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00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:07,400
he tried to carve out a place
for himself on the city's art scene.
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Rome was the capital of the arts,
and Caravaggio went to work
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at the most important studio in the city,
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00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:17,240
the workshop of Giuseppe Cesari,
the Cavalier d'Arpino.
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He set the young artist to work
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00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:25,040
painting flowers and fruit, but Caravaggio
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was very unhappy about this,
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00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:28,960
as we know from
detailed contemporary accounts.
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00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:40,880
Without good fortune,
willpower has no power.
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00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:49,280
Is it not true that success
seeks the helping hand of fortune?
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00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:54,600
Fortune...
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00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,400
fleeting as a sudden bolt of lightning
against a blackening sky.
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Unpredictable. Untameable. Elusive.
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00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:14,440
I have challenged fortune so many times,
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00:12:14,920 --> 00:12:17,480
and so many times has fortune defeated me.
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00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:29,120
I will not give in. I come back
to the table and I raise the stakes.
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00:12:35,320 --> 00:12:38,840
I am not afraid to bet it all
against the toughest odds...
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00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:46,000
in life, and in my paintings.
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00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:53,200
My art will amaze you.
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Its power will change you.
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00:13:06,680 --> 00:13:08,360
Rome was booming in those years.
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00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:12,120
Three million pilgrims arrived in 1600,
Jubilee year,
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00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,720
and Caravaggio divided his time between
painting and revelry.
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"When he had worked
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00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:21,480
for a couple of weeks,
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00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:24,016
he then gadded about for
a month or two with his sword at his side
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00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:25,440
and a servant behind him...
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00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:28,920
going from one game of royal tennis
to the next,
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00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:31,720
much inclined to duelling and brawling."
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00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:35,120
So recalls Karel van Mander,
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00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:38,760
a 17th century Flemish
historian and art critic, who describes
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00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:40,440
a dissolute and dangerous Rome.
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00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:45,600
"I would urge you to go if I did not fear
it would lead you astray,
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because Rome
is the capital of schools of painting,
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00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:54,040
but also a place where spendthrifts
and prodigal sons squander all they have."
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00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:04,360
Caravaggio navigated this world,
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populated by cardsharps, prostitutes
and people of ill repute,
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00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:09,800
with remarkable ease.
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00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:18,360
A number of documents confirm
a certain propensity
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00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:19,640
for restlessness.
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00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,400
His many legal entanglements include
a lawsuit against him
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00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:26,080
on the 19th of November, 1600,
for aggression...
167
00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:30,000
a summons to court by his
future biographer,
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00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:33,120
Giovanni Baglione,
on the 28th of August, 1603...
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00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:35,160
and, a year later,
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00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:38,120
an accusation made by a serving boy
at an inn...
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00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:42,440
that the painter threw
a plate of artichokes in his face.
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00:14:57,520 --> 00:15:01,280
In the inns and taverns of Campo Marzio,
Caravaggio was well-known...
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00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,840
and his sword, hanging from his belt,
was his loyal companion.
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00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:10,480
The city of Rome's underbelly,
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00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:13,960
so dear to the painter,
can be glimpsed in two of his works
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00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:16,160
that evoke the allure of the slums.
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00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:24,480
In Cardsharps, the faces of the two
young men around the table are remarkable.
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00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:28,560
They seem to be the same person, but
with opposite traits and attitudes.
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00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:30,920
One is naïve and calm...
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00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:33,480
the other sly and tense.
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00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:42,720
The theme of deception is handled
with amusement, as described by Bellori:
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00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,560
"He portrayed a simple-minded
young man holding some playing cards.
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00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:50,440
Opposite him,
in profile, a fraudulent youth
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00:15:50,600 --> 00:15:52,520
leans with one hand
upon the gaming table...
185
00:15:53,120 --> 00:15:56,160
while with the other, he draws a fake card
from his belt.
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00:15:56,640 --> 00:16:00,600
A third figure, near the duped boy,
looks at the markings on the cards
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00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:04,640
and, extending three fingers,
reveals them to his crony."
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00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:13,040
Another painting on
the subject of deception
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00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:14,280
is The Fortune Teller.
190
00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:19,400
Here, a gypsy charms the hapless youth
with her intense and impudent gaze.
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00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:24,560
And, while reading his palm, robs him
by slipping off his ring with impunity.
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00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:29,080
This is
a theatrically constructed painting
193
00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:30,440
where the real action,
194
00:16:30,600 --> 00:16:32,760
that is the deception
carried out by the gypsy,
195
00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:35,360
is only apparent on close observation.
196
00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:43,480
These paintings greatly impressed
Cardinal Del Monte,
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00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:45,400
a discerning collector
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00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:46,960
and great supporter of the arts.
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00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:54,560
The Cardinal is so
enthusiastic about Caravaggio
200
00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:57,080
that he takes him home to work
in his house,
201
00:16:57,560 --> 00:16:59,320
where there is another artist's workshop.
202
00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:02,840
The Cardinal hosted a circle of artists
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00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:06,720
at his home, with
musicians, actors, painters, sculptors...
204
00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:09,120
and documents from the time,
205
00:17:09,600 --> 00:17:12,520
tell us that Caravaggio organised
a kind of committee...
206
00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:18,240
a bit like Andy Warhol's so-called
"Factory" in New York in the 1960s...
207
00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:23,360
where artists all types and from
all walks of life literally came together.
208
00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:27,240
They lived together and worked together,
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00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:30,080
each producing work
to the best of their ability.
210
00:17:33,760 --> 00:17:35,336
Under the Cardinal's protection,
211
00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:37,440
Caravaggio seemed to lose some
of his restlessness...
212
00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:41,680
but new events
would soon shake up his life again.
213
00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:03,560
I have made so many mistakes.
214
00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:05,640
And I have many more to make.
215
00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:13,120
With each mistake,
I learn that life is made of change.
216
00:18:23,200 --> 00:18:24,480
Work after work...
217
00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:26,520
the painting helps me...
218
00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:28,280
to improve.
219
00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:41,920
In my paintings, I can see myself,
failings and all.
220
00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:48,400
At least, I get to see them clearly.
221
00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:52,520
Like holding a mirror up to myself.
222
00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:05,240
Like a crystalline water jug
that reflects its surroundings.
223
00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:19,720
A kind of magic...
224
00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:23,520
because in there it's me.
225
00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:25,160
Always...
226
00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:26,600
always me.
227
00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:46,640
Caravaggio considered
his ability to reproduce
228
00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:49,400
transparencies and reflections in water
229
00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:52,720
to be his greatest talent,
as one of his first biographers,
230
00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:55,680
Giovanni Baglione, noted when describing
his Lute Player,
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00:19:56,400 --> 00:20:00,040
which Caravaggio himself pronounced
"il più bel pezzo che facesse mai"...
232
00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:01,680
"my greatest ever work."
233
00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:11,480
A boy plucks the strings of a lute,
234
00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:15,000
looking towards the viewer with such
an emotional expression...
235
00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:18,200
that his eyes
seem to be brimming with tears.
236
00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:28,800
Caravaggio masterfully combines
reality and beauty.
237
00:20:29,800 --> 00:20:33,360
He brings the astonished viewer
right into the scene itself...
238
00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:38,800
while his rendering of transparency...
239
00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:40,840
attracts like a magnet.
240
00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:47,680
This degree of artistic
sophistication had rarely been seen.
241
00:20:55,560 --> 00:20:57,080
This is the seduction of art...
242
00:20:57,920 --> 00:20:59,080
according to Caravaggio.
243
00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:13,480
No work by him is more poised
244
00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:16,800
between the sacred and the profane
than his Bacchus...
245
00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:18,920
painted for Cardinal del Monte,
246
00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:20,360
and now at the Uffizi.
247
00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:26,720
Bacchus looks directly at the viewer,
with a sweetly ironic expression...
248
00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:29,800
proffering a tempting glass of red wine.
249
00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:40,040
Next to him is a still life and a carafe
of almost black wine...
250
00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:42,360
with a few bubbles on the surface...
251
00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:44,320
a touch of realism
252
00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:48,240
that makes the moment captured
by the painting seem even more lifelike.
253
00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:50,840
This is a far cry from the setting
254
00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:53,840
that a classical painter
would have used to depict Bacchus...
255
00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:58,240
who seems to be sitting on a straw
mattress covered by a white sheet.
256
00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:02,040
As if the artist had forgotten
to arrange the drapery beforehand.
257
00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:15,680
Baglione gives us
a fascinating detail about
258
00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:17,560
Caravaggio's technique:
259
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:22,600
his first paintings were
"drawn from reflections in a mirror."
260
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:26,240
Caravaggio, he claims, used a mirror.
261
00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:28,520
A device that isolated the subject...
262
00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:31,520
and helped him focus
exclusively on reality,
263
00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:34,560
on the space where nothing else exists.
264
00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:42,000
The god pours the wine with his left hand.
265
00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:46,120
This detail supports the theory
that it is, in fact, his right hand,
266
00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:47,680
reflected in a mirror.
267
00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:56,440
It is even more surprising to learn
that Caravaggio not only used a mirror,
268
00:22:56,600 --> 00:23:00,840
but actually transformed
his studio into a huge pinhole camera.
269
00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:05,480
He arranged his models here,
illuminating them with light
270
00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:07,200
filtered through a hole in the ceiling,
271
00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:12,920
then projecting their image
onto the canvas using a lens and a mirror.
272
00:23:27,040 --> 00:23:30,200
"An angel of the Lord appeared
to Joseph in a dream and said,
273
00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:34,920
'Rise, take the child and his mother,
and flee to Egypt,
274
00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:37,000
and remain there until I tell you,
275
00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:40,040
for Herod is about to search
for the child,
276
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:41,520
to destroy him'."
277
00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:45,160
So reads the Gospel of Matthew...
278
00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:47,720
which inspired
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt,
279
00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:50,320
today in the Doria Pamphili Gallery.
280
00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:58,560
This is one of Caravaggio's
most fascinating works
281
00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:01,000
because of the presence of
this beautiful angel,
282
00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:03,520
with whom the artist seems
to have fallen in love.
283
00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:11,920
This really is a central figure
284
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:16,560
and as such, it represents an important
concept in terms of realism,
285
00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:21,800
but also as regards the composition,
as it forms the axis of the picture.
286
00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:37,000
Caravaggio's fame began
to spread.
287
00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:40,200
Marquis Vincenzo Giustiniani,
288
00:24:40,360 --> 00:24:43,040
an important collector,
commissioned the painting
289
00:24:43,640 --> 00:24:45,240
Amor Vincit Omnia.
290
00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:49,600
"Love conquers all.
291
00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:52,280
Let us, too, yield to Love,"
292
00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:54,880
states Virgil in his Eclogues.
293
00:24:58,000 --> 00:24:59,680
It is a strange subject,
294
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:04,080
a winged Cupid-like boy with
a series of objects at his feet:
295
00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:08,240
musical instruments...
296
00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:10,280
arms...
297
00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:12,160
symbols of power.
298
00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:20,600
This audacious subject prompted
the marquis to keep the painting
299
00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:22,200
concealed behind a curtain...
300
00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:24,680
partly so as not to diminish
301
00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:26,600
the other works in his collection.
302
00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:54,240
They say
I am unable to depict action.
303
00:25:56,440 --> 00:25:57,720
Beyond his reach...
304
00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:00,400
slander the envious.
305
00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:03,920
But I have gone further.
306
00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:12,640
I have learned to translate
action into pure expression.
307
00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:23,680
To paint faces in which
raw reactions depict the seen...
308
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:26,400
and the unseen.
309
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,360
My Medusa says more in one glance
than ten books of words.
310
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:38,760
The pain etched onto her face
is pain I have felt so many times.
311
00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:42,560
You can read it in the
marks of my very own face.
312
00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:45,760
Medusa and I have much in common.
313
00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:48,400
She can turn the living into granite.
314
00:26:50,240 --> 00:26:52,680
And I can paint the living into eternity.
315
00:27:06,720 --> 00:27:08,680
Caravaggio's fame grew
at the same pace
316
00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:10,440
as the criticism he attracted.
317
00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:13,440
Every success sparked objections...
318
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:16,080
principally about "action."
319
00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:19,680
The power of his figures was clear,
320
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:24,200
but they were criticised for their
lack of "movement, affections and grace."
321
00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:35,000
These accusations were silenced by
his Shield with the Head of Medusa,
322
00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:36,720
now on display at the Uffizi.
323
00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:40,400
Again, this work refers to nature.
324
00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:45,720
The writhing snakes on Medusa's head
look truly alive.
325
00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:51,120
The face is choked in a silent cry.
326
00:27:51,760 --> 00:27:53,840
In the moment immediately
after decapitation...
327
00:27:54,520 --> 00:27:57,400
captured in the final act
of unstoppable vitality.
328
00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:00,560
The gaping mouth shows her wet tongue...
329
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:02,880
her eyes are wide open,
330
00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:05,680
her muscles contracted beyond
all normal limits,
331
00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:07,280
her eyebrows knitted,
332
00:28:08,120 --> 00:28:11,120
and the tangle of snakes twist as if they
have gone mad
333
00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:13,920
while spurts of blood ooze from her neck.
334
00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:20,200
It is an expression of authentic pain...
335
00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:24,080
like that of The Boy Bitten by a Lizard,
in the National Gallery...
336
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,560
of which there is another masterful
version in the Fondazione Longhi.
337
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:35,840
The painting shows the reflex action
338
00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:39,200
of a boy who is drawing back his hand
339
00:28:39,600 --> 00:28:42,720
from the animal that appears
in the foreground.
340
00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:49,360
His involuntary response is concentrated
in the wonderful expression of his face,
341
00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:53,000
in his half-closed mouth
and knitted brow...
342
00:28:54,920 --> 00:29:00,360
an extraordinary detail and
a further example of Caravaggio's interest
343
00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:02,760
in depicting fleeting expressions.
344
00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:12,600
The boy's expression of shock
as he recoils from his hidden assailant
345
00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:15,960
has given rise to an interpretation
of the painting as a "vanitas,"
346
00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:21,160
a reflection on the pitfalls encountered
by those who give in to worldly pleasures.
347
00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,680
This focus on facial expressions is even
more apparent
348
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:31,720
in The Sacrifice of Isaac.
349
00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:40,560
The dramatic nature of the event
can be seen in the desperation of
350
00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:45,400
the victim, Isaac, whose father, Abraham,
is prepared to sacrifice his son
351
00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,040
in order to submit to the will of God.
352
00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:52,120
This remarkable painting is poised between
353
00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:55,320
Caravaggio's younger
and more mature phase,
354
00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:58,080
and it also has a rather rare feature.
355
00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:02,160
A significant portion of
the work is given over to the landscape.
356
00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:08,720
And landscape is not a common feature
of Caravaggio's work.
357
00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:12,920
The overall composition of the painting
358
00:30:13,080 --> 00:30:16,920
is extremely balanced,
while remaining highly realistic.
359
00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:19,760
This ability to reconcile
360
00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:25,200
a vivid sense of reality with
cultural references is a key element of
361
00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:27,600
Caravaggio's artistic genius.
362
00:30:34,040 --> 00:30:37,640
Caravaggio's life continued
to veer from success to desperation...
363
00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:39,680
from darkness to light...
364
00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:42,880
constantly tormented by his demons.
365
00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:45,040
He was twenty-eight...
366
00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:48,480
and his greatest opportunity
was waiting in the wings.
367
00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:13,240
I carry the name of
an Archangel...
368
00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:15,840
the name of a great artist.
369
00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:26,560
Inside me rages the clash of
an imperfect character.
370
00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:28,960
I cannot tame it.
371
00:31:35,160 --> 00:31:36,520
I wish I could break free...
372
00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:41,560
still this rebellious spirit,
calm this wild instinct.
373
00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:54,560
If only I could see the light!
374
00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:02,080
Light... that sweeps away darkness...
375
00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:07,080
clear light that frees
the blind and ravening mind.
376
00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:13,680
A light that I can represent...
377
00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:15,440
and yet cannot see.
378
00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:33,200
The 23rd of July, 1599,
was a unique day.
379
00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:35,040
Unrepeatable.
380
00:32:36,600 --> 00:32:40,840
Caravaggio signed a contract for two large
canvases to be hung on the side walls
381
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:43,720
of the Contarelli Chapel
in San Luigi dei Francesi:
382
00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:47,720
The Calling, and
The Martyrdom of St. Matthew,
383
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:49,360
his first public works.
384
00:32:56,000 --> 00:33:00,200
This was a prestigious commission in view
of the imminent Jubilee in 1600...
385
00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:04,800
in which numerous artists had been engaged
to help bring Rome up to date
386
00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:08,400
and celebrate the triumph of
the Catholic Church over Protestantism.
387
00:33:17,160 --> 00:33:21,320
Cardinal Matteo Contarelli had entrusted
the executors of his will
388
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:24,160
to commission the decoration of
his private burial chapel
389
00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:27,920
with a series of paintings telling
the story of the apostle Matthew,
390
00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:29,520
his namesake.
391
00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:40,920
After various failed attempts
by other artists,
392
00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:44,120
Caravaggio was now given the opportunity
to prove himself
393
00:33:44,280 --> 00:33:47,240
in the public arena
of large-scale religious painting.
394
00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:52,320
He had never painted canvases
more than 150 centimetres wide...
395
00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:57,360
and he was now confronted with
over three metres from side to side.
396
00:33:59,960 --> 00:34:03,200
In the Contarelli Chapel,
Caravaggio encountered a major problem.
397
00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:07,320
He was commissioned to paint some enormous
canvases very quickly.
398
00:34:07,880 --> 00:34:11,000
They had to be populated by
a series of characters,
399
00:34:11,240 --> 00:34:13,920
which did not chime with
his artistic nature.
400
00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:15,440
What's more,
401
00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:19,440
it was his debut on the Roman art scene,
where he was not viewed favourably.
402
00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:34,880
In The Calling of St Matthew...
403
00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:38,920
a scene previously immersed in gloom
is illuminated by light.
404
00:34:39,920 --> 00:34:42,160
Yet this light
does not come from the enormous window,
405
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:46,040
but it seems to enter the picture
as if driven by the arm of Christ...
406
00:34:47,640 --> 00:34:50,440
whose forward gesture reminds us of that
of God the Father,
407
00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:55,080
painted by the other great Michelangelo
on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
408
00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:00,520
While Christ singles out Matthew,
the tax collector...
409
00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:03,520
some of those around the table
do not even notice
410
00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:05,520
that he has entered the room
with St. Peter.
411
00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:18,960
One of the men sitting at the table
looks towards Christ...
412
00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:24,400
and seems to gesture with his hands,
as if to say "Am I the chosen one?"
413
00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:30,600
This interpretation has, however,
been hotly debated over the years.
414
00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:35,080
Some argue that Matthew must be
the young man avidly counting money.
415
00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:43,400
The many differences of opinion about
The Calling of St. Matthew,
416
00:35:43,560 --> 00:35:47,120
sparked by admiration and envy,
contributed to its status
417
00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:50,760
as perhaps one of the
most celebrated of all Caravaggio's works.
418
00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:58,800
In the Contarelli Chapel,
Caravaggio developed and refined
419
00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:01,720
a new technique.
He substituted the light ground
420
00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:05,280
he had always applied to the canvas
with a dark ground,
421
00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:10,000
so now the traditional sketch on the bare
canvas he had used as a guide
422
00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:11,520
was no longer visible.
423
00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:16,480
He needed to find another way to outline
his composition on a dark canvas.
424
00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:23,080
So, instead of drawing,
he developed a kind of etching technique.
425
00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:26,040
He evidently used a pointed tool,
426
00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:28,600
some think he might have used
the end of his brush,
427
00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:31,680
to engrave
lines in the still fresh ground.
428
00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:39,840
He also used this ground to create
the dark background of his paintings...
429
00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:43,200
as well as for all the parts in shadow.
430
00:36:44,160 --> 00:36:46,400
In fact, from the Contarelli Chapel on,
431
00:36:46,720 --> 00:36:50,360
Caravaggio only painted figures in light
or half-light.
432
00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:54,400
Anything not in the light or half-light
was not there;
433
00:36:54,560 --> 00:36:56,040
it simply no longer existed.
434
00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:09,800
The canvas of The Martyrdom
contains a fascinating detail.
435
00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:15,000
In the background on the left, we glimpse
a fleeing figure...
436
00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:18,040
horrified by the violence
he is witnessing.
437
00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:28,360
This is a self-portrait of Caravaggio...
438
00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:32,200
who shows his fearful
and almost disgusted reaction
439
00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:33,800
to the work he himself has produced.
440
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:39,120
A unique example
in the history of western painting.
441
00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:48,160
Bellori wrote that Caravaggio
442
00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:50,200
painted this Martyrdom twice.
443
00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:53,360
This previously unsubstantiated claim
444
00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:55,760
was only confirmed
in the twentieth century,
445
00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:59,520
when researchers used X-ray analysis
to show how the artist
446
00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:03,240
continued to change idea
about how best to compose this scene.
447
00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:25,480
The two Contarelli paintings
are authentic figurative clashes.
448
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:30,880
A reflection of Caravaggio's inner spirit,
in a state of permanent agitation.
449
00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:41,400
Caravaggio also painted
the altarpiece in the chapel,
450
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:43,840
which shows St. Matthew
writing the Gospel,
451
00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:46,600
guided by an angel
who has descended from Heaven.
452
00:38:48,040 --> 00:38:50,800
However, this canvas conceals
an unresolved mystery.
453
00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:03,640
Baglione reminds us that
Marquis Vincenzo Giustiniani
454
00:39:03,800 --> 00:39:06,200
purchased a canvas
of a certain St. Matthew
455
00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:09,680
that Caravaggio had previously painted
for the altar at San Luigi,
456
00:39:09,840 --> 00:39:11,160
but which no one liked.
457
00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:15,840
This is the first version of
St. Matthew and the Angel.
458
00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:18,760
it ended up at the Berlin State Museums
459
00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:22,200
and was destroyed during an air raid
in the Second World War.
460
00:39:24,920 --> 00:39:27,840
A photograph of the lost work shows
the apostle
461
00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:31,520
curiously characterised as
an ancient philosopher or wise Jew...
462
00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:35,480
while the angel
is androgynous and very sensual.
463
00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:42,400
We do not know for certain
why this first version was rejected,
464
00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:44,960
but it could have been due to
its lack of "decorum."
465
00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:52,000
The saint would appear to be illiterate
466
00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:55,080
able to write only
what is dictated to him,
467
00:39:55,720 --> 00:39:57,440
and guided by the angelic hand.
468
00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:12,280
The Contarelli Chapel became
a prestigious calling card for Caravaggio.
469
00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:41,200
I am a man of value,
470
00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:44,520
and as a man of value,
I know a fine painter.
471
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:47,440
I admire them. I appreciate their art.
472
00:40:48,120 --> 00:40:50,880
I can distinguish the good from
those who vainly
473
00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:52,040
claim to be good.
474
00:40:52,840 --> 00:40:53,840
Such men...
475
00:40:54,520 --> 00:40:55,520
simple bores.
476
00:40:56,320 --> 00:41:00,520
To be a man of value is to deeply
understand painting, like me...
477
00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:02,800
to be able to reproduce reality...
478
00:41:03,520 --> 00:41:04,520
the natural.
479
00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:07,720
I leave the boast of empty words
to others.
480
00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:10,680
I let my works do my talking for me.
481
00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:31,120
What we know about Caravaggio
does not only come from his works...
482
00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:34,440
but also from written documents...
483
00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:38,160
many of which are court papers.
484
00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:43,480
The invaluable reports preserved
in the State Archive in Rome...
485
00:41:45,160 --> 00:41:46,480
give us a vivid sense of
486
00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:48,280
Caravaggio's life and troubles.
487
00:41:53,240 --> 00:41:56,000
The minutes of
the Baglione trial in 1603...
488
00:41:56,520 --> 00:41:59,520
describe alliances
and envy among artists...
489
00:42:00,600 --> 00:42:03,560
but, above all,
reveal Caravaggio's theory of painting.
490
00:42:07,000 --> 00:42:08,640
"A real artist of worth
491
00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:11,560
knows how to paint well
and imitate nature."
492
00:42:13,080 --> 00:42:16,880
And Caravaggio knew that
in this he was better than anyone else.
493
00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:23,600
Caravaggio was summoned to court
by Baglione...
494
00:42:24,520 --> 00:42:27,840
because he and his friends,
Onorio Longhi and Orazio Gentileschi,
495
00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:32,680
had circulated a series of offensive
verses about his future biographer...
496
00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:34,520
who was also a painter.
497
00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:46,640
At the same time as this latest
brush with the law...
498
00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:49,800
he was offered a great opportunity:
499
00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:53,680
to work in
the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo.
500
00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:10,400
Here, on his arrival in Rome,
501
00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:14,280
Caravaggio had probably admired
the frescoes by Pinturicchio...
502
00:43:18,320 --> 00:43:20,400
and the chapel designed by Raphael.
503
00:43:29,080 --> 00:43:31,680
He was commissioned to paint two pictures
on wooden panels,
504
00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:34,960
to be placed on either side
of the altar in the Cerasi Chapel.
505
00:43:44,840 --> 00:43:47,920
Caravaggio signed the contract
while working on the Contarelli Chapel...
506
00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:50,440
which clearly indicates the immediate
507
00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:53,360
and striking success
of his first public works.
508
00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:58,760
The Cerasi episode,
however, was a very troubled one.
509
00:44:00,120 --> 00:44:02,760
Baglione recalls
that these oil paintings on wood
510
00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:04,920
were initially finished in another style,
511
00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:07,600
but because they did not meet with
the Patron's pleasure,
512
00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:09,600
they were taken by Cardinal Sannesio.
513
00:44:10,560 --> 00:44:13,080
So, Cerasi rejected
the two paintings on wood.
514
00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:16,400
Caravaggio had no other option
than to start again...
515
00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:19,000
this time using his favourite technique,
516
00:44:19,400 --> 00:44:20,400
oil on canvas.
517
00:44:21,240 --> 00:44:22,800
The result was surprising.
518
00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:31,680
In The Crucifixion of St. Peter,
519
00:44:32,080 --> 00:44:36,280
the executioners lifting Peter's cross
are depicted as if they were frozen,
520
00:44:36,680 --> 00:44:37,800
like blocks of stone.
521
00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:50,600
But The Conversion of St. Paul is
the undisputed masterpiece of the chapel.
522
00:44:51,600 --> 00:44:53,000
There is no background scene
523
00:44:53,440 --> 00:44:57,040
and Caravaggio concentrates
his artistic focus on the depiction of
524
00:44:57,200 --> 00:44:58,200
the individual figure...
525
00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:01,120
eliminating everything superfluous...
526
00:45:02,120 --> 00:45:05,840
and reducing the canvas to
its bare essentials.
527
00:45:12,240 --> 00:45:14,400
The soldier,
who has fallen from his horse,
528
00:45:14,720 --> 00:45:16,400
lies with his arms open wide
529
00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:19,760
as if to welcome the heavenly light
into his very being.
530
00:45:25,880 --> 00:45:27,080
In the Historia,
531
00:45:27,400 --> 00:45:30,320
the narrative line of the work,
there is no action...
532
00:45:31,040 --> 00:45:33,280
because
it captures a definitive gesture...
533
00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:36,920
that conveys a sensation of
absolute immobility...
534
00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:42,000
giving rise to a powerful contrast
between deep shadow...
535
00:45:42,800 --> 00:45:43,960
and blinding light.
536
00:46:09,000 --> 00:46:12,400
Another work for public display,
and another absolute masterpiece
537
00:46:13,160 --> 00:46:14,640
is The Deposition from the Cross...
538
00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:16,760
now in the Vatican Museums.
539
00:46:23,520 --> 00:46:27,240
Caravaggio immortalises the moment
prior to Christ's burial...
540
00:46:28,040 --> 00:46:29,480
the descent to the tomb.
541
00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:33,320
His death is depicted
with implacable realism.
542
00:46:34,840 --> 00:46:36,400
His body is cold and pale,
543
00:46:36,680 --> 00:46:39,720
his limp right arm hangs,
lifeless, at his side.
544
00:46:42,720 --> 00:46:46,680
At this moment, Christ is the stone
discarded by history.
545
00:46:47,200 --> 00:46:49,840
He is dead, defeated, lost.
546
00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:56,400
His disciples have abandoned
and denied him.
547
00:46:58,880 --> 00:47:01,960
His promise of utopia seems to
have ended on the cross...
548
00:47:03,400 --> 00:47:06,280
and will now
be dissolved forever in the tomb.
549
00:47:30,280 --> 00:47:31,800
For the women I've met...
550
00:47:42,920 --> 00:47:44,280
For the women by my side...
551
00:47:55,800 --> 00:47:57,680
For the ones who got away...
552
00:48:01,160 --> 00:48:02,320
For the women I've loved...
553
00:48:06,640 --> 00:48:08,840
For those who have hated me...
554
00:48:11,160 --> 00:48:12,720
The ones I've exploited...
555
00:48:14,280 --> 00:48:15,800
For the women I've painted...
556
00:48:22,280 --> 00:48:24,240
For those I am yet to meet...
557
00:48:27,280 --> 00:48:29,400
and those still to come...
558
00:48:38,360 --> 00:48:41,240
For all these women do I live!
559
00:48:59,920 --> 00:49:02,920
An intense yellow drape
falls across the legs
560
00:49:03,080 --> 00:49:04,240
of the Penitent Magdalene.
561
00:49:05,880 --> 00:49:08,040
An impalpable shawl, also yellow,
562
00:49:08,480 --> 00:49:10,600
covers the shoulders of
The Madonna of Loreto.
563
00:49:15,400 --> 00:49:16,400
This is no coincidence.
564
00:49:17,760 --> 00:49:20,040
Prostitutes were forced
to wear yellow garments
565
00:49:20,320 --> 00:49:21,920
in order to identify themselves.
566
00:49:24,880 --> 00:49:27,320
And Caravaggio's
models were often prostitutes.
567
00:49:35,440 --> 00:49:37,080
The two he used most frequently
568
00:49:37,560 --> 00:49:40,240
were Anna Bianchini
and Fillide Melandroni...
569
00:49:40,920 --> 00:49:43,800
who may well have posed
as Martha and Mary Magdalene.
570
00:49:49,440 --> 00:49:53,000
Caravaggio wanted to highlight
the difference between the two figures,
571
00:49:53,240 --> 00:49:55,800
the difference in their social status,
I mean.
572
00:49:59,040 --> 00:50:01,960
Notice the simplicity of the woman
on the left...
573
00:50:02,600 --> 00:50:05,240
and the luxury, the stunning clothes...
574
00:50:05,960 --> 00:50:08,520
and elaborate sleeve
of the central figure.
575
00:50:15,560 --> 00:50:18,800
The painting is known as
The Conversion of Mary Magdalene,
576
00:50:19,440 --> 00:50:22,040
who is about to mentally step away
577
00:50:22,400 --> 00:50:25,800
from her life of sin, luxury,
and pleasure.
578
00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:30,560
She listens to the words
of the woman next to her...
579
00:50:31,800 --> 00:50:33,800
and the position of her hands
580
00:50:34,280 --> 00:50:37,400
shows that she is trying
to persuade her sophisticated
581
00:50:37,560 --> 00:50:40,160
young companion to change her ways.
582
00:50:45,160 --> 00:50:48,440
Anna Bianchini may also have
lent her face to The Penitent Magdalene.
583
00:50:51,320 --> 00:50:53,280
Caravaggio must have thought
it was opportune
584
00:50:53,440 --> 00:50:56,600
to portray a real-life "sinner"
in the guise of the converted saint...
585
00:50:57,640 --> 00:51:01,160
a secular and simple way of interpreting
the religious subject.
586
00:51:02,720 --> 00:51:04,840
Yet it turned out to be
a very risky move...
587
00:51:05,880 --> 00:51:07,520
the first in a long series.
588
00:51:13,960 --> 00:51:18,320
Fillide, meanwhile, is the model who poses
in J udith Beheading Holofernes,
589
00:51:18,760 --> 00:51:22,600
a work of disconcerting violence,
now in the Barberini Palace.
590
00:51:24,720 --> 00:51:27,720
The biblical subject is
a parable of subjugated virtue
591
00:51:28,120 --> 00:51:29,880
triumphing over tyrannical power.
592
00:51:33,680 --> 00:51:36,720
The Jewish heroine seduces
the cruel Assyrian general,
593
00:51:37,200 --> 00:51:40,160
and then, with a sword she kills him.
594
00:51:49,040 --> 00:51:53,600
Holofernes, lying naked on the sheets,
has made a terrible mistake.
595
00:51:54,840 --> 00:51:57,600
Judith brutally grips his hair
and pulls back his head...
596
00:51:58,480 --> 00:52:00,600
so that the blade
can cut his neck more easily.
597
00:52:03,200 --> 00:52:06,000
Concentrating ferociously,
she knits her brow...
598
00:52:07,440 --> 00:52:13,560
while he, waking just in time to realise
his fate, lets out a final atrocious cry.
599
00:52:49,280 --> 00:52:50,680
And perhaps yet another prostitute,
600
00:52:51,200 --> 00:52:52,360
Maddalena Antognetti,
601
00:52:52,720 --> 00:52:55,880
described in many accounts as
"Lena, Michelangelo's woman,"
602
00:52:56,400 --> 00:52:58,400
is the model for The Madonna of Loreto...
603
00:52:59,360 --> 00:53:02,760
destined for the Cavalletti Chapel
in the Basilica of Sant 'Agostino...
604
00:53:04,000 --> 00:53:06,560
where prostitutes,
themselves, often went to pray.
605
00:53:09,760 --> 00:53:11,560
The work caused a real scandal.
606
00:53:12,600 --> 00:53:16,680
It was for public display and, therefore,
merited greater "decorum."
607
00:53:19,080 --> 00:53:23,480
Two such filthy, wretched pilgrims
had never been seen in painting before.
608
00:53:26,280 --> 00:53:28,760
Caravaggio focused his attention
on base humanity.
609
00:53:30,720 --> 00:53:34,320
It was the conditions of
the dregs of society, of the dispossessed,
610
00:53:34,720 --> 00:53:36,920
that he found the most worthy
subject for painting,
611
00:53:37,280 --> 00:53:38,800
because it was the most real.
612
00:53:59,160 --> 00:54:01,560
"And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
613
00:54:01,920 --> 00:54:03,840
and between your offspring
and her offspring.
614
00:54:04,280 --> 00:54:05,720
He shall crush your head...
615
00:54:06,520 --> 00:54:08,160
and you shall strike his heel."
616
00:54:11,560 --> 00:54:12,680
This passage from Genesis
617
00:54:13,080 --> 00:54:15,120
inspired The Madonna and Child
with St. Anne...
618
00:54:16,520 --> 00:54:19,600
a canvas measuring almost three metres
high and two metres wide,
619
00:54:20,040 --> 00:54:22,920
commissioned by the
Parafrenieri di Sant'Anna confraternity...
620
00:54:23,800 --> 00:54:26,400
as an altarpiece in St. Peter's Basilica.
621
00:54:30,480 --> 00:54:33,920
The Virgin, in whose face we can
once again see the features of Lena,
622
00:54:34,200 --> 00:54:38,280
the Child and St. Anne
are engaged in a battle against pure evil.
623
00:54:40,320 --> 00:54:42,240
Together, the Madonna and Christ Child
624
00:54:42,560 --> 00:54:44,880
crush the head of a serpent
beneath their feet.
625
00:54:46,200 --> 00:54:48,280
While the heinous creature
is twisting in agony...
626
00:54:49,040 --> 00:54:51,720
St. Anne watches
the scene in solemn contemplation.
627
00:54:54,440 --> 00:54:56,560
The fascination of the Virgin
is evident...
628
00:54:57,720 --> 00:54:59,240
especially if compared to the saint...
629
00:55:00,280 --> 00:55:02,680
who is portrayed as an old, fragile woman.
630
00:55:07,520 --> 00:55:10,760
Caravaggio delivered the work
on the 8th of April, 1606...
631
00:55:11,520 --> 00:55:13,120
giving the Dean of the confraternity
632
00:55:13,280 --> 00:55:16,320
the only extant statement written
in his own hand,
633
00:55:17,200 --> 00:55:21,120
in which he declares himself
"happy and satisfied" with the painting.
634
00:55:25,600 --> 00:55:28,960
The Madonna and Child with St. Anne
remained above the present-day altar
635
00:55:29,120 --> 00:55:33,160
in the chapel of St Michael the Archangel
in St. Peter's for only a few days.
636
00:55:33,720 --> 00:55:35,920
The verdict came... rejected.
637
00:55:36,080 --> 00:55:40,120
There could be no appeal,
and the painting was swiftly removed.
638
00:55:41,840 --> 00:55:43,000
Today, we can only imagine
639
00:55:43,160 --> 00:55:45,800
the great scenic impact the painting
would have made...
640
00:55:46,680 --> 00:55:49,120
had it been allowed
to remain in its original position.
641
00:56:00,240 --> 00:56:02,960
Rumours soon began to spread that
Scipione Borghese,
642
00:56:03,400 --> 00:56:05,120
the nephew of Pope Paul V,
643
00:56:05,280 --> 00:56:08,240
had urged that The Madonna and Child
with St. Anne should be rejected,
644
00:56:08,400 --> 00:56:10,120
so that he could buy it for a good price.
645
00:56:10,800 --> 00:56:13,960
Obsessed with art, the cardinal sought
to gain possession of the finest works
646
00:56:14,120 --> 00:56:15,760
by any means available.
647
00:56:16,520 --> 00:56:18,880
As he formed what would become
the collection now on display
648
00:56:19,000 --> 00:56:20,040
in the Borghese Gallery...
649
00:56:20,720 --> 00:56:22,400
where you can still admire the work today.
650
00:56:36,840 --> 00:56:40,200
The artist's life, at the time
of this painful rejection,
651
00:56:40,360 --> 00:56:41,840
became complicated again...
652
00:56:42,640 --> 00:56:45,320
and the courts
were required to untangle another knot.
653
00:56:46,840 --> 00:56:51,000
Prudenzia Bruni, owner of the home
in the Vicolo del Divino Amore,
654
00:56:51,440 --> 00:56:54,320
complained that the painter
had not been paying his rent.
655
00:56:55,400 --> 00:57:00,000
After being summoned to court,
all his assets in the house were seized.
656
00:57:01,080 --> 00:57:03,800
These were the objects
that can be seen in his paintings...
657
00:57:05,600 --> 00:57:08,840
his "props"...
which were listed in a sort of inventory.
658
00:57:12,840 --> 00:57:13,840
During this period,
659
00:57:14,000 --> 00:57:17,280
Caravaggio was working on one of his
most controversial pieces,
660
00:57:17,880 --> 00:57:19,080
The Death of the Virgin.
661
00:57:26,680 --> 00:57:29,680
Caravaggio perhaps expected
too much of himself.
662
00:57:30,680 --> 00:57:32,920
This happens when people
are too successful.
663
00:57:33,800 --> 00:57:36,240
At a certain point,
he must have thought that
664
00:57:36,520 --> 00:57:40,680
he was in a position to do things
that no other artist had ever dared to do.
665
00:57:41,680 --> 00:57:44,360
That is, to go against
his clients' instructions.
666
00:57:46,920 --> 00:57:49,320
Above all, in The Death of the Virgin
667
00:57:49,480 --> 00:57:50,720
he did something terrible,
668
00:57:51,000 --> 00:57:53,520
he omitted
a detail that is key to the Church.
669
00:57:54,040 --> 00:57:58,240
On her death, the Virgin was raised up
to Heaven, and this is illustrated
670
00:57:58,400 --> 00:58:00,360
in all depictions of
the death of the Virgin
671
00:58:00,520 --> 00:58:02,320
produced over the previous centuries.
672
00:58:02,760 --> 00:58:05,320
We see the dead Virgin,
the mourning apostles,
673
00:58:05,800 --> 00:58:07,640
and, above, in the Kingdom of Heaven,
674
00:58:07,960 --> 00:58:10,360
we see the Virgin
who has entered Paradise,
675
00:58:10,840 --> 00:58:14,040
where she is welcomed by Christ
and appointed Regina Caelorum.
676
00:58:16,080 --> 00:58:19,400
But here, the Regina Caelorum
is missing from the painting.
677
00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:21,960
And Caravaggio's model for the Virgin,
678
00:58:22,120 --> 00:58:25,160
people rightly said,
was the body of a dead woman,
679
00:58:25,760 --> 00:58:28,320
probably a prostitute who had drowned
in the Tiber.
680
00:58:29,000 --> 00:58:32,840
In fact, she does look slightly puffy,
as if still bloated with water.
681
00:58:33,480 --> 00:58:35,960
He just laid her out
on that awful surface,
682
00:58:36,120 --> 00:58:40,160
a morgue slab, and did not
add any religious connotations.
683
00:58:43,280 --> 00:58:46,640
And this immediately
created a scandal, a real scandal.
684
00:59:03,040 --> 00:59:04,040
I must stop.
685
00:59:04,120 --> 00:59:05,920
Stay thee, hand!
686
00:59:06,640 --> 00:59:07,680
Quell thee, anger!
687
00:59:10,680 --> 00:59:12,440
I cannot hold back the irrepressible
688
00:59:12,600 --> 00:59:14,800
and ever more impetuous forces inside me.
689
00:59:16,120 --> 00:59:18,520
Wrath swelling like waves on a stormy sea,
690
00:59:18,680 --> 00:59:20,360
from my guts to my sword
691
00:59:20,520 --> 00:59:22,080
where it is beyond control.
692
00:59:38,280 --> 00:59:40,000
A hair's breadth to the side,
693
00:59:41,080 --> 00:59:42,080
a less accurate blow,
694
00:59:43,440 --> 00:59:44,960
and my life would have been another.
695
00:59:53,280 --> 00:59:56,120
And now the eternal exile to which
I condemn myself...
696
00:59:56,520 --> 00:59:58,240
all my own doing.
697
01:00:17,320 --> 01:00:19,776
The rejection of
The Madonna and Child with St. Anne
698
01:00:19,800 --> 01:00:22,120
and The Death of the Virgin
were bitter blows
699
01:00:22,280 --> 01:00:24,360
to Caravaggio's already tormented mind.
700
01:00:25,800 --> 01:00:27,840
His life was growing ever darker.
701
01:00:32,120 --> 01:00:35,400
It is not difficult to imagine
his melancholy state in the morning
702
01:00:35,560 --> 01:00:37,680
as he trained his black dog, Cornacchia,
703
01:00:37,920 --> 01:00:40,200
or painted frantically in the dark room,
704
01:00:40,800 --> 01:00:43,040
or walked from one royal tennis court
to another.
705
01:00:44,680 --> 01:00:48,240
It was during a game
that something irreversible happened.
706
01:00:49,840 --> 01:00:51,480
The most terrible of days,
707
01:00:51,640 --> 01:00:53,640
the 29th of May, 1606.
708
01:00:56,840 --> 01:00:58,520
In Campo Marzio, an argument,
709
01:00:58,680 --> 01:01:02,040
perhaps about the game itself,
ended in tragedy.
710
01:01:03,920 --> 01:01:06,240
Caravaggio killed Ranuccio Tomassoni,
711
01:01:06,680 --> 01:01:08,960
with whom he had already
argued fiercely in the past.
712
01:01:11,360 --> 01:01:13,160
The consequences would have been extreme:
713
01:01:14,200 --> 01:01:15,360
permanent exile...
714
01:01:16,640 --> 01:01:18,680
or indeed the death sentence
and execution...
715
01:01:19,560 --> 01:01:20,560
by beheading.
716
01:01:25,600 --> 01:01:26,880
Caravaggio had to get away.
717
01:01:27,480 --> 01:01:29,440
Costanza Sforza Colonna,
718
01:01:29,600 --> 01:01:32,440
the Marchioness of Caravaggio,
came to his aid.
719
01:01:33,280 --> 01:01:34,480
She had already intervened
720
01:01:34,640 --> 01:01:37,480
to save the painter during
the most troubled moments of his life...
721
01:01:38,360 --> 01:01:41,080
and now helped him
find exile in her fiefdoms in Lazio.
722
01:01:43,360 --> 01:01:46,680
During this short period,
the artist painted his second version
723
01:01:46,840 --> 01:01:48,040
of The Supper at Emmaus...
724
01:01:49,000 --> 01:01:50,160
now in the Brera Gallery.
725
01:01:52,400 --> 01:01:54,440
It is a much darker and simpler scene...
726
01:01:55,040 --> 01:01:57,680
with the few objects on
the table casting long shadows.
727
01:02:11,120 --> 01:02:13,640
Hopeful of being absolved
from capital punishment,
728
01:02:14,120 --> 01:02:15,680
Caravaggio headed for Naples.
729
01:02:17,560 --> 01:02:21,760
We are in the autumn of
that fateful and inauspicious year, 1606.
730
01:02:22,800 --> 01:02:24,360
He is 35 years old.
731
01:02:29,360 --> 01:02:32,400
"For I was hungry
and you gave me food...
732
01:03:09,840 --> 01:03:10,880
I was thirsty...
733
01:03:11,760 --> 01:03:12,840
and you gave me drink...
734
01:03:19,800 --> 01:03:21,840
I was a stranger and you welcomed me...
735
01:03:24,720 --> 01:03:26,920
I was naked and you clothed me...
736
01:03:32,960 --> 01:03:35,040
I was sick and you visited me...
737
01:03:41,160 --> 01:03:44,360
I was in prison and you came to me."
738
01:03:48,680 --> 01:03:51,720
A lost man seeks refuge.
He yearns for comfort,
739
01:03:52,320 --> 01:03:53,320
an embrace.
740
01:04:00,840 --> 01:04:02,880
I flee to find a new home.
741
01:04:08,680 --> 01:04:12,440
Do not call me
murderer, ruffian or hot-head.
742
01:04:19,040 --> 01:04:22,360
I am a man. A man looking for help.
743
01:04:23,440 --> 01:04:25,920
An artist in search of mercy.
744
01:04:34,680 --> 01:04:36,880
Having left Rome
as a dangerous delinquent...
745
01:04:37,800 --> 01:04:39,560
in Naples Caravaggio discovered how far
746
01:04:39,720 --> 01:04:42,320
his fame had
spread outside the Papal State.
747
01:04:43,320 --> 01:04:45,320
Here, he was renowned as a great master.
748
01:04:47,320 --> 01:04:49,440
The Pio Monte della Misericordia,
749
01:04:49,760 --> 01:04:52,080
a charitable company
that still exists today,
750
01:04:52,360 --> 01:04:53,360
commissioned him to paint
751
01:04:53,440 --> 01:04:55,680
an emblematic picture
of the company itself:
752
01:04:56,080 --> 01:04:57,240
The Seven Works of Mercy,
753
01:04:58,040 --> 01:05:01,000
which Caravaggio was asked to illustrate
in a single painting.
754
01:05:07,760 --> 01:05:10,640
Caravaggio had strong feelings
about the issue of mercy
755
01:05:10,800 --> 01:05:11,920
at that particular time...
756
01:05:13,280 --> 01:05:15,200
as he himself was in great need of it.
757
01:05:19,720 --> 01:05:23,800
He was certainly well protected in Naples
and no one would have dared touch him...
758
01:05:24,640 --> 01:05:27,040
but the painting he produced is,
in effect,
759
01:05:27,200 --> 01:05:32,360
a grandiose elegy, a great epic poem
in which he depicts the works of mercy.
760
01:05:33,280 --> 01:05:35,840
Caravaggio depicted
the terrible inner rage
761
01:05:36,000 --> 01:05:37,360
he wanted to show the world,
762
01:05:37,760 --> 01:05:39,480
and he most certainly succeeded.
763
01:05:48,760 --> 01:05:51,360
Caravaggio used a completely new system
764
01:05:51,520 --> 01:05:53,000
to represent the works of mercy.
765
01:05:53,680 --> 01:05:57,160
Rather than illustrating individual
or isolated events...
766
01:05:57,880 --> 01:06:00,080
he painted a group of ordinary people
767
01:06:00,240 --> 01:06:02,920
in the characteristically
narrow streets of Naples...
768
01:06:04,040 --> 01:06:07,000
each of whom
represents one of the works of mercy.
769
01:06:11,120 --> 01:06:12,360
"Feed the hungry...
770
01:06:15,120 --> 01:06:16,680
give drink to the thirsty...
771
01:06:18,640 --> 01:06:19,640
clothe the naked...
772
01:06:21,680 --> 01:06:22,920
house the pilgrims...
773
01:06:24,080 --> 01:06:25,240
cure the infirm...
774
01:06:26,080 --> 01:06:27,440
visit the imprisoned...
775
01:06:27,920 --> 01:06:28,920
bury the dead."
776
01:06:37,400 --> 01:06:39,520
Perhaps the most beautiful
and moving image
777
01:06:40,200 --> 01:06:43,080
is of a woman who looks down
from the top of a building.
778
01:06:43,760 --> 01:06:46,920
She looks down,
and watches the life of the city
779
01:06:47,640 --> 01:06:49,240
as it unfolds below her.
780
01:06:50,160 --> 01:06:52,400
This is a life inspired by mercy.
781
01:06:54,880 --> 01:06:58,920
It is not clear that this is the
Virgin Mary and the child Jesus Christ.
782
01:06:59,240 --> 01:07:03,920
They appear simply as mother and son,
as he returns again to this great theme:
783
01:07:04,560 --> 01:07:06,920
mother and son and maternal love.
784
01:07:07,840 --> 01:07:09,800
Before her are two angels...
785
01:07:10,440 --> 01:07:13,280
two angelic figures of
truly outstanding beauty...
786
01:07:14,080 --> 01:07:16,040
and above all of great significance.
787
01:07:23,080 --> 01:07:25,080
They represent good and evil...
788
01:07:25,720 --> 01:07:29,160
according to a wonderful interpretation
which has emerged this century.
789
01:07:30,480 --> 01:07:31,640
They are combatants...
790
01:07:33,240 --> 01:07:36,280
two angels fighting
for the life of humankind.
791
01:07:36,880 --> 01:07:40,120
The angel of evil wants to descend
into the human world...
792
01:07:40,880 --> 01:07:43,600
while the angel of good wants
to push him away.
793
01:07:47,840 --> 01:07:51,280
While this sublime metaphysical clash
unfolds in the sky,
794
01:07:52,000 --> 01:07:55,040
the pulsating life of the city
unfolds below.
795
01:08:02,960 --> 01:08:04,136
Caravaggio received
796
01:08:04,160 --> 01:08:06,360
the considerable sum of
400 scudi for the painting.
797
01:08:07,800 --> 01:08:11,240
The value of his public works had doubled
over the previous six years,
798
01:08:11,840 --> 01:08:13,400
a clear sign of his growing fame.
799
01:08:14,920 --> 01:08:15,920
But there is more.
800
01:08:17,560 --> 01:08:20,200
The minutes of the Pio Monte meeting of
the board of governors
801
01:08:20,360 --> 01:08:25,440
in 1613, state that the painting
must not be removed for any reason...
802
01:08:26,120 --> 01:08:27,440
or sold for any sum.
803
01:08:30,840 --> 01:08:32,120
With this new success...
804
01:08:32,840 --> 01:08:36,920
it seems that Caravaggio's restless spirit
could finally find some respite.
805
01:08:40,760 --> 01:08:43,840
A few weeks after the installation of
The Seven Works of Mercy,
806
01:08:44,400 --> 01:08:48,240
the artist was perhaps once again
at work on The Flagellation of Christ,
807
01:08:48,640 --> 01:08:51,080
today at
the Museo di Capodimonte in Naples.
808
01:08:56,520 --> 01:09:00,960
In this composition, the artist focuses on
the sinister mechanisms of evil...
809
01:09:01,480 --> 01:09:03,440
highlighting the cruelty and suffering...
810
01:09:04,840 --> 01:09:08,040
and bringing the viewer
much closer to the baleful act of torture.
811
01:09:10,640 --> 01:09:12,520
The tormentors who attack Christ
812
01:09:13,040 --> 01:09:14,960
are arranged in a circle around him,
813
01:09:15,480 --> 01:09:16,880
as in a macabre dance,
814
01:09:17,560 --> 01:09:20,120
an evocative
and tension-filled choreography.
815
01:09:27,080 --> 01:09:32,440
Jesus is immersed in light,
as if representing truth countering error,
816
01:09:32,920 --> 01:09:36,200
emphasised by the
half-light that envelops his attackers.
817
01:09:42,600 --> 01:09:44,880
When this work was
displayed to the public,
818
01:09:45,160 --> 01:09:47,600
it drew the eyes of all
the onlookers to it.
819
01:09:48,840 --> 01:09:52,880
"The new manner of that terrible style of
shading and the realism of those nudes
820
01:09:53,040 --> 01:09:54,280
left one in suspense,"
821
01:09:55,600 --> 01:09:58,720
wrote the Neapolitan historian,
Bernardo de Dominici.
822
01:10:12,320 --> 01:10:14,360
However, the apparent calm of his
Neapolitan stay
823
01:10:14,520 --> 01:10:16,440
began to concern Caravaggio...
824
01:10:17,200 --> 01:10:19,560
who was worried
that his rise was coming to an end.
825
01:10:20,960 --> 01:10:23,360
Just one year after his arrival in Naples,
826
01:10:23,520 --> 01:10:25,640
another great opportunity came his way...
827
01:10:26,560 --> 01:10:29,240
perhaps again due to the intercession of
Costanza Colonna:
828
01:10:30,120 --> 01:10:31,480
the chance to go to Malta...
829
01:10:32,240 --> 01:10:34,360
a hotbed of art and culture at the time.
830
01:10:36,240 --> 01:10:38,760
He was welcomed to the island
as a great master.
831
01:10:40,080 --> 01:10:41,920
But things did not stay quiet for long.
832
01:10:52,760 --> 01:10:54,040
Since I killed him,
833
01:10:54,480 --> 01:10:56,280
no night can bring me sleep.
834
01:11:00,640 --> 01:11:02,720
Every night I am preyed on by worry.
835
01:11:03,320 --> 01:11:05,120
Every night, I'm on the alert.
836
01:11:10,240 --> 01:11:13,720
An image sears itself into my mind's eye:
837
01:11:14,480 --> 01:11:17,040
my head, detached from my body...
838
01:11:17,960 --> 01:11:19,880
borne on a tray like a trophy.
839
01:11:26,920 --> 01:11:28,400
My own future, perhaps?
840
01:11:47,600 --> 01:11:49,520
Fear is worse than death.
841
01:12:06,800 --> 01:12:10,440
Caravaggio arrived in Malta
on the 12th of July, 1607.
842
01:12:11,960 --> 01:12:15,400
The Marquise Costanza had already made
arrangements with Alof de Wignacourt...
843
01:12:16,240 --> 01:12:18,560
Grand Master of the
Order of the Knights of Malta.
844
01:12:20,160 --> 01:12:22,120
He had been looking for
an artist to decorate
845
01:12:22,280 --> 01:12:23,880
the new cathedral under construction...
846
01:12:24,720 --> 01:12:27,240
and Caravaggio seemed the perfect choice.
847
01:12:36,600 --> 01:12:39,040
Caravaggio is welcomed with great honour.
848
01:12:39,680 --> 01:12:41,440
The Grand Master of the Order of Malta,
849
01:12:41,600 --> 01:12:45,520
Alof de Wignacourt,
receives him as a man of great merit,
850
01:12:45,880 --> 01:12:47,720
as clearly indicated in the decree
851
01:12:47,880 --> 01:12:50,240
in which Caravaggio
is knighted for his merits.
852
01:12:52,320 --> 01:12:54,840
Caravaggio did not have friends
in high places,
853
01:12:55,160 --> 01:12:57,480
he is one of the most deserving men
of his time,
854
01:12:57,920 --> 01:13:02,360
and paints a portrait of the Grand Master,
now conserved in the Louvre in Paris.
855
01:13:02,920 --> 01:13:05,080
Alof de Wignacourt was thrilled.
856
01:13:08,320 --> 01:13:09,576
Caravaggio also painted
857
01:13:09,600 --> 01:13:11,640
a likeness of the Grand Master
in another work,
858
01:13:11,800 --> 01:13:13,040
St. Jerome Writing...
859
01:13:14,320 --> 01:13:16,440
still conserved today
in the Co-Cathedral of St. John.
860
01:13:18,520 --> 01:13:21,200
But the work is destined to leave
an eternal mark on Malta
861
01:13:21,360 --> 01:13:24,520
and on the history of art was another.
862
01:13:27,800 --> 01:13:30,440
Caravaggio painted his
absolute masterpiece in Malta,
863
01:13:31,320 --> 01:13:33,000
The Beheading of St. John the Baptist.
864
01:13:45,600 --> 01:13:49,640
Caravaggio depicts the most terrible
moment in the tragedy of John the Baptist,
865
01:13:50,120 --> 01:13:51,120
who is beheaded...
866
01:13:52,760 --> 01:13:56,840
although in the artist's imagination,
the executioner's first strike
867
01:13:57,000 --> 01:13:59,760
fails to sever his head
completely from his body,
868
01:14:00,440 --> 01:14:02,120
and so he takes up a short-bladed knife,
869
01:14:02,840 --> 01:14:03,840
known as a misericorde,
870
01:14:05,920 --> 01:14:07,200
to deliver the "mercy stroke"...
871
01:14:08,120 --> 01:14:10,720
and ensure that the condemned man
did not suffer
872
01:14:10,880 --> 01:14:11,880
any more than necessary.
873
01:14:14,080 --> 01:14:16,800
He uses it to inflict
the final mortal blow,
874
01:14:17,120 --> 01:14:20,120
which freed the victim from
further torment, from pain.
875
01:14:24,480 --> 01:14:26,480
The Beheading of St. John the Baptist
876
01:14:26,640 --> 01:14:28,160
was a resounding success,
877
01:14:28,320 --> 01:14:31,680
and was considered
one of the greatest artworks of all time,
878
01:14:32,120 --> 01:14:33,120
which it is.
879
01:14:33,560 --> 01:14:36,360
But his life was
about to change dramatically.
880
01:14:40,160 --> 01:14:43,920
Sources indicate there was a fight between
the painter and another Knight.
881
01:14:44,520 --> 01:14:47,400
A Knight of Justice, that is,
a rank above his own.
882
01:15:04,200 --> 01:15:07,320
Caravaggio was
arrested and imprisoned in a guva...
883
01:15:10,600 --> 01:15:13,400
one of the underground
cells in Forte St. Angelo...
884
01:15:15,960 --> 01:15:20,120
a claustrophobic, dark frightening place.
885
01:15:29,760 --> 01:15:34,000
In this most terrible moment of his life,
he was stripped of everything.
886
01:15:34,400 --> 01:15:38,800
His knighthood was revoked, and a decree
was issued that described him as
887
01:15:38,960 --> 01:15:42,480
a "putrid and fetid man,"
a gross insult...
888
01:15:43,160 --> 01:15:44,600
especially when levied at a man
889
01:15:44,760 --> 01:15:47,680
who had just been placed
on the altars of fame and glory.
890
01:15:49,720 --> 01:15:51,456
Alof de Wignacourt placed his seal
891
01:15:51,480 --> 01:15:52,920
on the order the revoke his honours.
892
01:15:53,960 --> 01:15:56,400
Caravaggio was no longer
a Knight of Malta.
893
01:15:58,520 --> 01:16:03,360
But he was already far away.
Someone had helped him escape to Sicily.
894
01:16:16,200 --> 01:16:19,920
A chronicler of the time records
Caravaggio's arrival in Syracuse.
895
01:16:22,920 --> 01:16:25,320
He was commissioned to paint
a new great work of art
896
01:16:25,640 --> 01:16:28,960
worthy of the masterpiece
he had so recently produced in Malta.
897
01:16:30,920 --> 01:16:34,640
The commission was to celebrate
the patron saint of the city, St. Lucy,
898
01:16:34,920 --> 01:16:36,200
an early Christian martyr.
899
01:16:37,880 --> 01:16:41,560
After she converted to Christianity
she refused to give herself
900
01:16:41,720 --> 01:16:42,720
to her betrothed,
901
01:16:42,880 --> 01:16:46,080
and he, made nervous to
say the least by this situation,
902
01:16:46,640 --> 01:16:48,200
still longed to possess her.
903
01:16:48,840 --> 01:16:52,400
And, when unable to do so,
killed her or had her killed.
904
01:16:55,880 --> 01:16:58,440
The work, once again, is a titanic feat,
905
01:16:58,720 --> 01:17:01,080
on a canvas over four metres high.
906
01:17:01,840 --> 01:17:06,320
In reality, Caravaggio's final works
all focus on this dream,
907
01:17:06,760 --> 01:17:09,800
one could say, of breaking away
from normal proportions
908
01:17:10,480 --> 01:17:13,080
to produce immense works
that give the viewer
909
01:17:13,240 --> 01:17:15,760
a sensation of infinite space and time.
910
01:17:22,000 --> 01:17:23,000
Most of the painting,
911
01:17:23,040 --> 01:17:26,040
The Burial of St. Lucy,
is practically empty,
912
01:17:26,480 --> 01:17:27,560
there's nothing there.
913
01:17:28,280 --> 01:17:29,560
Her body is on the ground,
914
01:17:29,720 --> 01:17:32,920
with the bishop behind her,
blessing crucial moment...
915
01:17:34,400 --> 01:17:37,720
and the people around her are looking on
with abject horror
916
01:17:37,880 --> 01:17:39,800
and total desperation.
917
01:17:40,960 --> 01:17:44,280
But the interesting thing is
that he probably drew inspiration
918
01:17:44,440 --> 01:17:46,560
from certain monuments in Syracuse,
919
01:17:47,000 --> 01:17:50,960
archaeological monuments
a bit like catacombs, called "latomie."
920
01:17:53,960 --> 01:17:57,000
Caravaggio seems to have
depicted one of these places.
921
01:17:57,360 --> 01:18:01,080
Above the heads of
the figures is a very tall, dark wall,
922
01:18:01,360 --> 01:18:03,160
totally impenetrable to the eye...
923
01:18:03,440 --> 01:18:05,640
as if Caravaggio had in some way
924
01:18:06,120 --> 01:18:09,080
already understood the fact that,
as an art form,
925
01:18:09,440 --> 01:18:13,160
painting does not necessarily
have to represent what we see.
926
01:18:13,960 --> 01:18:16,480
It can capture the visible world, yes...
927
01:18:17,280 --> 01:18:19,680
but it can also show what we cannot see.
928
01:18:31,200 --> 01:18:34,360
But his restlessness and desire
for freedom were still too strong.
929
01:18:35,320 --> 01:18:36,800
It was time to leave Sicily.
930
01:18:37,800 --> 01:18:40,160
His next stop was, once again, Naples.
931
01:18:50,800 --> 01:18:52,920
For those whose wounds lie deep within...
932
01:18:53,480 --> 01:18:55,440
bodily wounds are easy to bear.
933
01:19:06,000 --> 01:19:07,640
There is no logic to rage.
934
01:19:12,440 --> 01:19:14,880
There is no logic, perhaps,
to hope either.
935
01:19:16,040 --> 01:19:18,680
And yet,
the power of both dwells in my breast.
936
01:19:26,760 --> 01:19:28,480
The time has come to seek peace.
937
01:19:29,600 --> 01:19:30,760
To regain my liberty.
938
01:19:32,920 --> 01:19:35,560
The time, perhaps, to die.
939
01:19:48,640 --> 01:19:50,560
Caravaggio returns to Naples.
940
01:19:51,680 --> 01:19:54,480
It seems he has found
a refuge, a safe harbour.
941
01:19:55,040 --> 01:19:57,680
Finally, life is moving along smoothly.
942
01:19:58,320 --> 01:20:01,720
He goes to Chiaia,
to live in Costanza Colonna's palace.
943
01:20:04,240 --> 01:20:07,240
He is honoured,
revered and treated very well.
944
01:20:08,520 --> 01:20:10,280
Illustrious collectors contact him
945
01:20:10,440 --> 01:20:13,480
and he seems to be experiencing
something of a renaissance.
946
01:20:13,960 --> 01:20:15,920
Life flows pleasantly by.
947
01:20:16,920 --> 01:20:20,600
What's more, there is a tavern popular
with the intellectuals of the time,
948
01:20:20,760 --> 01:20:23,360
the so-called Locanda del Cerriglio.
949
01:20:24,000 --> 01:20:26,480
Caravaggio frequented this place
which was,
950
01:20:26,960 --> 01:20:30,160
one could say, very fashionable,
to use a modern term.
951
01:20:30,480 --> 01:20:34,840
And there, something happens, yet again,
that should not have happened.
952
01:20:38,360 --> 01:20:39,600
A fight breaks out.
953
01:20:42,040 --> 01:20:43,640
We don't know how or why,
954
01:20:43,800 --> 01:20:45,080
but we do know for certain
955
01:20:45,240 --> 01:20:46,600
that Caravaggio was involved
956
01:20:46,760 --> 01:20:47,760
in a real attack...
957
01:20:48,880 --> 01:20:51,560
with his face black and blue,
beaten to the point
958
01:20:51,960 --> 01:20:55,200
that a rumour began to spread across
the city that he was dead.
959
01:20:56,840 --> 01:20:58,680
In fact, he hadn't been killed.
960
01:20:59,720 --> 01:21:02,840
But, to judge from a painting with
an Old Testament theme,
961
01:21:03,360 --> 01:21:05,480
namely David with the Head of Goliath,
962
01:21:06,320 --> 01:21:07,880
we can get an idea of what happened.
963
01:21:09,120 --> 01:21:12,840
In this memorable painting,
perhaps his final masterpiece...
964
01:21:14,480 --> 01:21:18,520
he portrays himself in the decapitated
head of the giant Goliath.
965
01:21:25,520 --> 01:21:28,680
The young David holds
the decapitated head of Goliath...
966
01:21:30,040 --> 01:21:31,520
and he shows it to the public...
967
01:21:32,840 --> 01:21:33,840
to us.
968
01:21:34,440 --> 01:21:36,160
It is the gesture of a victor.
969
01:21:40,720 --> 01:21:44,720
But he looks at it with an expression of,
how can I put it...
970
01:21:45,640 --> 01:21:46,720
melancholy...
971
01:21:47,120 --> 01:21:48,160
of compassion.
972
01:21:52,600 --> 01:21:53,440
In effect,
973
01:21:53,600 --> 01:21:57,080
Caravaggio still had a capital sentence
hanging over him...
974
01:21:58,200 --> 01:22:00,480
and this could have led
to his own decapitation.
975
01:22:02,640 --> 01:22:05,080
by showing himself in the head of Goliath,
976
01:22:05,240 --> 01:22:09,200
it is as if he is imagining the execution
of his own death sentence...
977
01:22:09,880 --> 01:22:12,360
as if he himself had been decapitated.
978
01:22:17,480 --> 01:22:20,160
Should we inflict
the death sentence on others?
979
01:22:20,640 --> 01:22:23,240
Is it worthy of man, of human nature?
980
01:22:24,120 --> 01:22:28,280
It's as if Caravaggio's painting
is an answer to this eternal dilemma.
981
01:22:29,200 --> 01:22:33,240
And the answer is that we cannot
condemn others to death...
982
01:22:33,960 --> 01:22:35,800
because death is not a punishment.
983
01:22:36,480 --> 01:22:38,400
The real punishment is life.
984
01:22:57,600 --> 01:23:01,000
The artist, disfigured
and partially blind after the attack,
985
01:23:01,360 --> 01:23:02,440
felt under siege.
986
01:23:02,960 --> 01:23:07,360
The thought of death haunted his every
waking moment and gave him no peace.
987
01:23:12,600 --> 01:23:14,040
In Caravaggio's life
988
01:23:14,200 --> 01:23:16,400
something significant
and wonderful happened.
989
01:23:17,360 --> 01:23:20,440
He received a message suggesting
that his capital sentence
990
01:23:20,600 --> 01:23:21,920
was about to be lifted.
991
01:23:24,560 --> 01:23:28,240
Finally, Caravaggio could return
to the dominions of the Church.
992
01:23:31,280 --> 01:23:35,120
He boarded a felucca,
a small boat that would take him to Rome.
993
01:23:36,840 --> 01:23:39,960
But in fact, the real tragedy began here.
994
01:23:44,120 --> 01:23:46,320
The master loaded
some paintings onto the boat...
995
01:23:46,920 --> 01:23:48,320
his most recent ones.
996
01:23:51,760 --> 01:23:53,520
But when he got to Porto Ercole,
997
01:23:54,200 --> 01:23:56,880
he was stopped
and detained, and the felucca left.
998
01:24:01,120 --> 01:24:02,120
Legend has it
999
01:24:02,200 --> 01:24:04,640
that the desperate master,
abandoned on the beach,
1000
01:24:04,800 --> 01:24:07,760
tried to follow this boat,
which he could never reach.
1001
01:24:13,000 --> 01:24:16,000
Then, historians tell us,
he was ravaged by malaria.
1002
01:24:17,560 --> 01:24:21,000
His body disappeared
without a trace, and he has no grave.
1003
01:24:21,880 --> 01:24:26,040
His life ended suddenly
on the 18th of July, 1610.
1004
01:25:03,160 --> 01:25:04,320
I see the light.
1005
01:25:22,200 --> 01:25:25,120
The light, reawakening after a long sleep.
1006
01:25:37,120 --> 01:25:39,040
I understand, at last.
1007
01:25:46,520 --> 01:25:47,520
Resist.
1008
01:25:49,280 --> 01:25:50,280
Risk.
1009
01:25:51,360 --> 01:25:52,360
Live.
1010
01:25:53,000 --> 01:25:54,000
Die.
1011
01:25:54,920 --> 01:25:55,920
Fight.
1012
01:25:57,440 --> 01:25:58,440
Seek peace.
1013
01:26:16,480 --> 01:26:19,040
I know now the shadows conceal nothing...
1014
01:26:20,200 --> 01:26:22,200
that everything lives in the light.
1015
01:26:25,440 --> 01:26:26,960
This light I choose.
85389
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