DNA TESTS COULD SOLVE MYSTERY OF CARAVAGGIO'S DEATH

THE MYSTERY SURROUNDING THE DEATH OF BAROQUE MASTER CARAVAGGIO MAY SOON BE RESOLVED THANKS TO NEW DNA TESTS, AS LONGS AS THE RIGHT BODY CAN BE FOUND. WHAT CAUSED THE DEATH OF THE PAINTER IN 1610 AND THE WHEREABOUTS OF HIS CORPSE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN UNCLEAR. BUT A TEAM OF ITALIAN ANTHROPOLOGISTS BELIEVE THAT WHAT IS LEFT OF CARAVAGGIO'S BODY MAY BE HIDDEN AMONG DOZENS OF BODIES BURIED IN A CRYPT IN TUSCANY, THANKS TO RECENT HISTORICAL CLUES. THE TEAM, ARMED WITH A CAT SCAN AND KITS FOR DATING CARBON, PLAN TO STUDY THE PAINTER'S EXHUMED REMAINS TO DISCOVER HOW HE DIED. 'IF WE ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO FIND CARAVAGGIO'S SKULL, WE WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO SO A RECONSTRUCTION OF HIS FACE, JUST AS WE DID IN 2007 FOR DANTE ALIGHIERI', SILVANO VINCENTI, HEAD OF THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE, TOLD REUTERS. THE ONLY IMAGES OF THE ARTIST AVAILABLE UNTIL NOW HAVE BEEN VARIOUS SELF-PORTRAITS. SCHOLARS HAVE PUT FORWARD MANY THEORIES ABOUT CARAVAGGIO'S DEATH. THE MOST POPULAR ARE THAT THE PAINTER WAS ASSASSINATED FOR RELIGIOUS REASONS OR COLLAPSED WITH MALARIA ON A DESERTED TUSCAN BEACH.
HOWEVER, IN 2001 AN ITALIAN RESEARCHER CLAIMED TO HAVE FOUND THE PAINTER'S DEATH CERTIFICATE, WHICH ALLEGEDLY PROVED THAT HE DIED IN HOSPITAL. 'THIS HISTORICAL DOCUMENT SHOWS CARAVAGGIO DID NOT DIE ALONE ON THE BEACH BUT AFTER THREE DAYS IN HOSPITAL, WHICH MEANS THE BODY MUST HAVE BEEN BURIED IN THE SAN SEBASTIANO CEMETERY', SAID VINCETI, REFERRING TO A TUSCAN TOWN NEAR THE CITY OF ROSSETO. BUT IN 1956, BODIES BURIED AT THE TINY SAN SEBASTIANO GRAVEYARD WERE MOVED TO A NEARBY TOWN, PORTO ERCOLE, AND SCHOLARS HOPE THAT THE REMAINS OF CARAVAGGIO WILL BE AMONG THEM. THE TEAM, FROM THE DEPARTMENTS OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND CULTURAL HERITAGE CONSERVATION AT THE UNIVERSITIES OF RAVENNA AND BOLOGNA, WILL HAVE TO EXHUME THE BONES OF BETWEEN 30 AND 40 PEOPLE, SELECTING THOSE THAT BELONG TO YOUNG MEN WHO DIED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 17th CENTURY.