22 February 2013
2 Comments
On Caravaggio’s trail
I went all over Europe and North America, tracking Caravaggio’s works and the places that touched his life for my novel A Name in Blood. But in particular I spent a great deal of time in Rome, Naples and Malta.
On one of my Rome sojourns, an exhibition showed C’s use of mirrors to project images (over which he painted). He used his own head, probably in a convex mirror, to paint his “Medusa,” now in Florence at the Uffizi. The Rome exhibit made a nice mock up. Life size, as you see.
C lived most of his time in Rome in the palaces of wealthy patrons. For a brief period, he rented this house in a tiny street in Rome’s historic center. Then he fell behind on the rent, lost the place, got drunk and went around to break his landlady’s windows.
Lena lived on the Via dei Greci. In the heart of what used to be the Ortaccio, or Evil Garden, where only whores and the very poor lived. And artists, of course. Both places are now very expensive spots. But they’re still redolent of C’s time. At night, they’re dark and empty. Though not spooky. I never get spooked in Rome. Too damned happy there.
Father John Critien is the only Knight of Malta who currently lives in Castle Sant’Angelo on Valletta’s harbor in Malta. C was imprisoned here, and made a dramatic escape. Father John and I spent a delightful afternoon examining all the spots where C might’ve been held. Many think it was in a hole in the rock called the guva.
The site of the Ceriglio Tavern, Naples, where C was attacked on his way out. He got a scar, probably to teach him a lesson, and an injury to his eye, which can be seen in his last work. I noticed that for much of the afternoon anyone headed toward C’s digs at the Palazzo Cellamare would be blinded by the sunlight. A good time for an attack.
My friend Ugo Somma showed me around Naples. Here he is in conversation with a fellow named Rosario who works for the Knights of Malta in Naples. At first Rosaria wouldn’t let us look around the Knights’ church. But when I told him he looked like Caravaggio, he relented and even introduced me to his sister…But that's another story.
At the Knights’ Priory in Naples, these fellows were hanging around in the courtyard looking like mafia capos waiting to rub someone out. A non-Neapolitan had been named that morning as the new Prior. They were, as the Italians say, “arrabiati.” Mad as hell. Their expressions and demeanor gave me an idea for a plot twist in A NAME IN BLOOD.
They say, “See Naples and die.” Unfortunately for C, that’s how it worked out, quite literally. Naples is magical, lively, putrid and beautiful. From the Spanish Palace looking at San Francesco, here’s one moment when I thought: Matt, you lucky fellow, isn’t “research” great?
Finally 'Amadeus' has a successor. Read the secrets of the great composer's mysterious death. 
Matt's ground-breaking award-winning 
Matt's stunning new novel. The mystery of Italy's most compelling painter: Caravaggio.
Download 
“I never get spooked in Rome. Too damned happy there.”
Oh, I know exactly what you mean!! Last September I travelled to Florence and Rome with a friend and tacked on one extra week of “me time” in Rome, just so I could roam Caravaggio’s old streets and discover his paintings in situ to my heart’s content (and without boring my friend to death). I particularly liked the Vicolo Del Divino Amore / Via di Pallacorda area. At one point it occurred to me how creepy – or at least uninviting – these little, dark alleys would look to the uninitiated, particularly at night. My mother would’ve probably had a stroke if she could have seen me.
And yet I felt as happy as a bug in rug. I don’t usually believe in such a thing as past lives, but the way I feel in Rome – or about Caravaggio, for that matter 
– does make me wonder sometimes …
Matt, did you eat at the Osteria La Lupa and have a look at their menu?? If not, I’m happy to send you a photo of it.
PS: I must *really* get around to finally reading your Caravaggio novel. It’s been sitting on my shelf and calling my name for months now!!
I hope you enjoy the novel, Sabrina! I didn’t eat at La Lupa; I’ll check it out next time I’m there. …The via di Pallacorda is wonderful; it’s also probably also the street on which Caravaggio was playing tennis with Ranuccio when they got into the argument that led to their fatal duel…