CARAVAGGIO THE KNIGHT OF MALTA: TRADING ART FOR A MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE

In the early 1600's, Michelangelo Merisi, called Caravaggio, a celebrated painter based in Rome, was charged with manslaughter after killing a man in a violent brawl. The altercation is said to have been triggered by a dispute over a tennis match. The artist escaped, hid out in Naples and later found refuge on the island of Malta. There, he hoped to receive a knighthood from the Order of St. John, which, if granted, could overturn the charges against him. Pressed by the order's Grand Master, the Pope facilitated Caravaggio's induction, but only six months after his investiture as a Knight of Magistral Obedience the artist was defrocked in absentia by his fellow brothers of the order. This paper aims to highlight the intriguing connections that link the biblically documented hospitality of Malta with its late medieval role as the home of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John. It notes Malta's role as a bulwark of Christian defense against Muslim expansion. Woven into this narrative is the life and work of Caravaggio who, supported by his art as well as kinship and patronage, successfully breaches the restrictive admission requirements of Europe's most exclusive militant order. Reflecting the shiftfrom Renaissance synthesis to Baroque dynamics, Caravaggio's presence, his sudden departure, and the art he produced while in Malta serve to explain the extraordinary attention Caravaggio has gained in popular culture today.