Today your tour guide in Rome returns to talk to you about Caravaggio , as I have already done in the past (try clicking here). I also intend to return to the Borghese Gallery, a treasure chest full of artistic treasures of various origins, such as this canvas by Titian, a fundamental stop for any self-respecting tour of Rome. In particular, in this article I would like to describe one of the six canvases by Caravaggio, all exhibited in a single room, which are part of the permanent collection of the Galleria Borghese: the so-called Bacchino Malato.

The canvas represents one of Caravaggio's early works, perhaps the first created by the painter since his arrival in Rome, which dates back to around 1595. The work has a lot to tell, starting from the subject represented. The ivy shoots on the forehead and the bunches of grapes, in addition to the clothing, suggest that the figure in front of us is Bacchus, God who, among his peculiar characteristics, according to Greco-Roman mythology, taught men how to produce wine. The grape symbolizes lust and the loss of libido, while the ivy, in the iconography of that time, instead represented the two lovers with their bodies entwined, just like this specific plant does. But, seeing the work from a less pagan and more Christian point of view, the wine and the ivy can also represent Jesus. The wine is his Blood, therefore a symbol of Sacrifice, while the ivy represents his own passion and suffering, the harshness of the punishment suffered. A parallel, therefore, to how tiring and difficult it is to eradicate ivy. But there is more to this extraordinary work. First of all, some sources tell us that, deep down, we are actually seeing a self-portrait of Caravaggio himself. If this were the case, however, why did he let himself be portrayed like this? Like a God, however you want to look at him, so suffering? Try to see his look and the grimace that comes out of his lips. It seems like a mix of melancholy, resignation and pain. Tired and almost vacant eyes, dull look and almost lost in thought. What is Caravaggio thinking? We all know about his difficult life, and how he, with his group of friends, often became the protagonist of various brawls and scuffles. According to the news, in one of these he was wounded in the leg. He took refuge in the Cavalier d'Arpino's shop, where he worked at the time. And, perhaps, as he apparently was wont to do, he began to paint himself. Seeing his own reflection in the mirror he managed to immortalize a moment of great suffering for him. We are indeed seeing a painting from life, with a real human model but, at the same time, this is nothing more than the ephemeral reflection of a mirror. Reality and fiction that mix in this extraordinary painting which, last curiosity, has ended up being part of the collection of the current Borghese Gallery in a… roundabout way! It seems, in fact, that the sick Bacchino was part of the personal collection of the Cavalier d'Arpino (strange, given that the master did not look favorably on Caravaggio, either as a man or as an artist). Due to legal troubles (Cavalier d'Arpino was accused of having disfigured one of his rivals), his entire collection was confiscated into the assets of the Church and of the pope of the time, Paul V Borghese. It is curious to think that this expropriation occurred not due to the accusation of disfigurement, but due to an alleged tax evasion by the Cavalier d'Arpino who, according to the news, had hidden very little money from the treasury. Could Paul V's nephew, Cardinal Scipione Borghese, owner of the villa, have cast his eye on this fantastic work by Caravaggio? What if the cardinal had claimed, through this judicial game, to come into possession of the master d'Arpino's collection?

Considering the almost fatal attraction that the famous cardinal, first owner of Villa Borghese, had towards art and Caravaggio in particular, let's not be surprised if, in the end, the Bacchino Malato is right here, exhibited at the Borghese Gallery in Rome. This, after all, is just one more example of how Caravaggio was an artist sui generis. Certainly not the model of the master of the art of the late sixteenth century, and equally certainly not a model of man to refer to. But for the art world his arrival on the scene was a real shock, a reversal of common rules which, however, was not appreciated at the time. Caravaggio, after all, was only truly appreciated and studied for a little over a century. In any case, if you want to enter into intimate contact with him, Bacchino Silato is for you.