Slapende Cupido

1606

Flight from Rome to the Colonna estates and Naples

His patrons could no longer protect him, and Caravaggio fled first to the Colonna family's estates south of Rome and then to Naples, where Costanza Colonna Sforza kept a palace. Beyond the reach of the Roman authorities, the most famous painter in Rome became the most famous in Naples.

29 May 1606

Kills Ranuccio Tomassoni

In a brawl or a sword duel at Campo Marzio Caravaggio killed — possibly unintentionally — Ranuccio Tomassoni; rumour spoke of a gambling debt over a game of pallacorda, or of jealousy over the courtesan Fillide Melandroni. The artist was sentenced to beheading and an open bounty was decreed: anyone who recognised him could legally carry out the sentence.

1607

Sails for Malta

Unexpectedly, Caravaggio set off for Valletta, the capital of Malta, still seeking a papal pardon. His arrival was facilitated by Fabrizio Sforza Colonna, a Knight of Malta and general of the Order's galleys.

late August 1608

Arrest in Malta and escape from prison

Probably after yet another brawl — this time with an aristocratic knight, who was seriously wounded after the door of a house was battered down — the Knights imprisoned Caravaggio in Valletta, but he managed to escape.

1610

A last voyage, towards a pardon

On learning that Cardinal Gonzaga had begun negotiating his pardon with Pope Paul V, Caravaggio hired a felucca and sailed from Naples to await it closer to Rome. According to the papal nuncio's letters, which not all scholars trust, he was detained at the fortress of Palo, the felucca sailed on, and he set off on foot for Porto Ercole, where he died on 18 July, reportedly of fever.

18 juli 1610

Died