WANTED

for Homicide

   Michelangelo Caravaggio killed a man named Ranuccio Tomassoni da Terni on May 6, 1606, on the Campo di Marzo in Rome. This homicide was committed by the genius of Baroque painting after a heated argument broke out during a game of rackets (Royal Tennis).

   Caravaggio was not unknown to police, called Sbirri, prior to this crime. He was a brawler, a womanizer, and liked to drink and gamble. He frequently got locked up in Rome for his delinquent nature.

Among his many violations are:

     ~In 1600, he was charged with assaulting;
     ~1601, he wounded a guard of Castello Sant'Angelo;
     ~1603, he was accused of defamation;
     ~Apr/1604, he was locked up for starting a fight at Il Moro, (the establishment he
               frequented daily); this fight started after Caravaggio threw a plate of
               artichokes in a waiters face;
     ~Oct/1604, he was arrested for throwing stones at Roman Sbirri;
     ~May/1605- Arrested for illegal use of arms;
     ~July/1605, wounded a man in a fight over a woman;

   May 29, 1606, killed Tomassoni. Caravaggio was also wounded and could possibly have been acquitted by claiming self defense. Instead of a legal defense, the artist fled first to Naples, then to Malta, where he was knighted into the Maltese Order of Saint John. After attacking a fellow knight, he was forced to flee to Sicily. He returned to Naples, en route to Rome, while he waited for a pardon from the Pope and died of fever on the shores of Port Ercole.