In the year 1600, Rome abounds with artists and powerful religious leaders, street violence is common and the Inquisition is still in full force. Caravaggio, a significant painter historically and famous in his own time, violently kills a man in a brawl and finds a bounty put on his head by the dead man’s family and the Vatican itself. He is forced to flee to the isolated island of Malta, where he is taken in by the local order of knights and accepts a commission to a paint a portrait of the devoutly religious Grand Master of the Order of Malta. Another brawl forces Caravaggio to escape once more, this time to Naples where he seeks refuge with his artistic nemesis, the famous Annibale Carraci. Tortured, and with his life hanging in the balance, Caravaggio discovers in his exile inspiration that causes a dynamic change in his art. Through his suffering and search for God, he creates the style of art we now call Baroque.
Andrea Piedimonte, Showbiz a.p.s., Rome, Italy