A while back we covered genius artist Caravaggio’s criminal record. What we thought was going to be a fun feature to put together over an hour or two turned into an exhausting slog. All because of the guy’s seemingly endless habit of relentless brawling.

This is Caravaggio (2016) by Annabel Howard added extra insights for us on all of that. Her work documents the man’s tumultuous life. A bizarre dichotomy of extremes—genius artist who revolutionised culture meets petty, violent hooligan.

It’s an accessible, concise, and enjoyable introduction to his work. Showing off his undoubted brilliance as an artist, whilst highlighting the madness of his behaviour. Let’s roll up our sleeves, clench a fist, and get into this.

Brawling and Drawing in This is Caravaggio

“Even while he was living, collectors of his work limited access, hoping (and failing) to prevent the copyists who flocked to emulate his innovative style. Yet the man who changed the course of 17th century art was no aesthete: he lived a life so full that it is amazing he found time to paint anything at all. Before his death, at the age of 38, 17 police reports had been filed against him, he’d committed murder, become a knight, and escaped from one of the world’s most impregnable prisons.”

Those police reports mentioned fill many, many pages. They range from petty brawling, to throwing a plate of artichokes into a waiter’s face, and pelting rocks through his landlady’s windows.

Then there’s the stuff like murder and severe physical injury (to himself and others). All of which earned Caravaggio many enemies who wanted him dead.

When not busy punching people in the face, Caravaggio was completing masterpieces just remarkably resplendent in the stunning use of light and shadow. As this video from the ever-brilliant Nerdwriter highlights.

Some of this great artist’s work is violent, with frequent and disturbing depictions of beheadings. This was, as Annabel Howard notes, quite normal for artists at the time. Nothing unique to Caravaggio.

But away from that and his most famous work is, arguably, the Basket of Fruit (circa 1595).

As stunning as this is, it was a uniquely rebellious creative act for its day. Very much in keeping with the dude in question, then, as Annabel Howard flags up.

“At the time, good painters didn’t paint fruit—it was as simple as that. Even today, 400 years after Caravaggio embraced the idea of ‘the still life’, it is easy to dismiss this painting because of its subject matter. Many of Caravaggio’s contemporaries did just that.”

Fruit was left to lowly art studio assistants just starting out. But, as you’re well aware by now, Caravaggio was not a normal bloke.

“[He] did not consider still life a straightforward transcription of the natural world. It was, for him, an intense examination of reality that led to a rare yet fundamental reimagining of the world. The sensitivity and intelligence brought to it transformed peaches and grapes from simple objects to subjects in their own right. This is not ideal fruit: it is worm-eaten, overripe. Exposed as they are to a bright light, the leaves have dried out, and the grapes are coated in a fine layer of powdery mildew.”

With that context we can see the piece as a rebellious act. A two-fingered salute to the norms of the artistic world, one which likely annoyed his contemporaries looking on baffled by the maverick in their presence.

Notes On Caravaggio’s Personality

Howard sums up Caravaggio well—he was a thrill seeker. Think of modern day hellraisers like Oliver Reed and you’re on the right path. Reed could be wildly charming and was, apparently, a very sweet man. When sober. But when loaded up with alcohol he could become ridiculous, unruly, and vicious.

Reed’s life had brilliant performances and an endless array of drunken misadventures. A classic example was him firing his shotgun at a helicopter (one bearing The Who’s Keith Moon) as it arrived at Reed’s home.

From our research we found Caravaggio, as a professional artist, spent his time painting (as you’d expect). But once a work was complete, he’d spend the next few months getting into fights.

We know that thanks to this extraordinary contemporary quote from Caravaggio’s peer Floris Claes van Dijk.

“After a fortnight’s work he will swagger about for a month or two with a sword at his side and a servant following him, from one ball-court to the next, ever ready to engage in a fight or an argument, so that it is most awkward to get along with him.”

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) perfectly fits the romantic bill of a tortured genius. One potential reason for his obvious anger issues was an outbreak of Black Death when he was just a boy. By age six, the key men in his life had all died to the awful disease (including his father).

Whatever mental health issues he was dealing with, or if he was just an outright thug for the hell of it, we struggle to think of anyone else so blessed and cursed with beautiful genius and criminal intent.

Physically, the artist was defined by distinctive eyebrows and a mass of unkempt hair. Howard notes this.

“He was short, swarthy, with penetrating black eyes under heavy brows and unruly black hair. Commentators noted with surprise that he bought only the finest materials and dressed only in black, but never replaced his clothes until they were falling apart. Sometimes his outfits were threadbare to the point he could be mistaken for a beggar.”

These detailed insights are what make This is Caravaggio so appealing to us.

It’s a brief work and one we got from Waterstones for only £5.99 (on sale). It’s packed with his incredible artwork, but also illustrations by Iker Spozio that bring to life the artist’s various midadventures.

As this work highlights, it’s difficult to separate Caravaggio’s brilliance from his hooliganism.

The Bravi and Caravaggio’s Convictions

On The Guardian recently there was a post on Caravaggio’s work. We flagged up in the comments the artist’s track record of brawling and, promptly, had the feature writer remove the comment (normally saved for something offensive).

Is this another uncomfortable cultural truth, along the lines of Mozart’s lust for scatological humour? Possibly so!

To offer context on Caravaggio’s behaviour, brawling was normal for his era—he just took it to an extreme. In his 20s he lived in Rome and hung around with a gang. These were called “bravi” and were renowned for stirring up trouble. Howard notes the motto for the gang.

“Nec spe nec metu” – “Neither hope nor fear”

These men dressed well, but roughed it up with brawls and general troublemaking. A good way to start a fight was to make a horned hand signal (“fare le corne”), which was to imply a man’s wife was unfaithful. That was considered stooping low as an insult, but the artist in question here did use it.

A contemporary account from 1590 by Cesare Vecellio notes of the bravi this.

“[They] wore on their heads high hats of velvet or silk … They frequently vary their dress, and are always duelling … They serve this or that [master] for money, swearing and bullying without provocation, and committing all kinds of scandals and murders.”

Caravaggio’s commitment to this common thuggery, and as someone described as “extremely crazy” by another peer, was what led to his early death at 38 in 1610. By that point, he was hunted across Italy with scores baying for his head.

Whilst fleeing his enemies he continued painting, with his work taking on increasingly macabre tones.

His behaviour also became more extreme. He’d sleep fully clothed whilst armed, would destroy a new painting at the slightest hint of criticism, and actively mocked other painters in his area.

Anyway, to conclude we’ll note we’re not sure why there hasn’t been a film production about this guy yet. Pity it wasn’t made in the ’60s, as Oliver Reed would’ve been the perfect man for the job.

Lacking that in all of our lives, there is instead this fine art book by Annabel Howard. A brilliant, concise starting point for anyone intrigued by this genius madman.