Editing Caravaggio (section)

==== Return to Naples ====

[[File:CaravaggioSalomeMadrid.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (Caravaggio, Madrid)|Salome with the Head of John the Baptist]]'', [[Royal Palace of Madrid]]]]

After only nine months in Sicily, Caravaggio returned to Naples in the late summer of 1609. According to his earliest biographer, he was being pursued by enemies while in Sicily and felt it safest to place himself under the protection of the Colonnas until he could secure his pardon from the pope (now [[Paul V]]) and return to Rome.<ref>Baglione says that Caravaggio in Naples had "given up all hope of revenge" against his unnamed enemy.</ref> In Naples he painted ''[[The Denial of Saint Peter (Caravaggio)|The Denial of Saint Peter]]'', a final ''[[John the Baptist (Caravaggio)|John the Baptist (Borghese)]]'', and his last picture, ''[[The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula (Caravaggio)|The Martyrdom of Saint Ursula]]''. His style continued to evolve—[[Saint Ursula]] is caught in a moment of highest action and drama, as the arrow fired by the king of the [[Huns]] strikes her in the breast, unlike earlier paintings that had all the immobility of the posed models. The brushwork was also much freer and more impressionistic.

[[File:David with the Head of Goliath-Caravaggio (1610).jpg|thumb|upright=.8|''[[David with the Head of Goliath (Caravaggio, Rome)|David with the Head of Goliath]]'', 1609–1610, [[Galleria Borghese]], Rome]]
In October 1609, he was involved in a violent clash, an attempt on his life, perhaps ambushed by men in the pay of the knight he had wounded in Malta or some other faction of the Order. His face was seriously disfigured and rumours circulated in Rome that he was dead. He painted a ''[[Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (Madrid) (Caravaggio)|Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (Madrid)]]'', showing his own head on a platter, and sent it to Wignacourt as a plea for forgiveness. Perhaps at this time, he also painted a ''[[David with the Head of Goliath (Caravaggio, Rome)|David with the Head of Goliath]]'', showing the young David with a strangely sorrowful expression gazing at the severed head of the giant, which is again Caravaggio. This painting he may have sent to his patron, the unscrupulous art-loving Cardinal [[Scipione Borghese]], nephew of the pope, who had the power to grant or withhold pardons.<ref>According to a 17th-century writer, the painting of the head of Goliath is a self-portrait of the artist, while David is ''il suo Caravaggino'', "his little Caravaggio". This phrase is obscure, but it has been interpreted as meaning either that the boy is a youthful self-portrait or, more commonly, that this is the Cecco who modeled for the ''Amor Vincit''. The sword-blade carries an abbreviated inscription that has been interpreted as meaning Humility Conquers Pride. Attributed to a date in Caravaggio's late Roman period by Bellori, the recent tendency is to see it as a product of Caravaggio's second Neapolitan period. (See Gash, p.125).</ref> Caravaggio hoped Borghese could mediate a pardon in exchange for works by the artist.

News from Rome encouraged Caravaggio, and in the summer of 1610, he took a boat northwards to receive the pardon, which seemed imminent thanks to his powerful Roman friends. With him were three last paintings, the gifts for Cardinal Scipione.<ref>A letter from the [[Bishop of Caserta]] in Naples to Cardinal Scipione Borghese in Rome, dated 29 July 1610, informs the Cardinal that the Marchesa of Caravaggio is holding two John the Baptists and a Magdalene that were intended for Borghese. These were presumably the price of Caravaggio's pardon from Borghese's uncle, the pope.</ref> What happened next is the subject of much confusion and conjecture, shrouded in much mystery.

The bare facts seem to be that on 28 July, an anonymous ''[[avviso]]'' (private newsletter) from Rome to the ducal court of Urbino reported that Caravaggio was dead. Three days later, another ''avviso'' said that he had died of fever on his way from Naples to Rome. A poet friend of the artist later gave 18 July as the date of death, and a recent researcher claims to have discovered a death notice showing that the artist died on that day of a fever in [[Porto Ercole]], near [[Grosseto]] in [[Tuscany]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Drancourt|first1=Michel|last2=Barbieri|first2=Rémi|last3=Cilli|first3=Elisabetta|last4=Gruppioni|first4=Giorgio|last5=Bazaj|first5=Alda|last6=Cornaglia|first6=Giuseppe|title=Did Caravaggio die of ''Staphylococcus aureus'' sepsis?|date=17 September 2018|journal=The Lancet|volume=18|issue=11|page=1178|doi=10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30571-1|pmid=30236439|doi-access=free}}</ref>