Caravaggio's Private Patronage in Sicily

This chapter will consider paintings by Caravaggio in Sicily that are now lost to account for a greater output than the surviving altarpieces. These include one privately commissioned painting which was documented as completed and delivered to its patron. Other paintings attributed to Caravaggio during this period are more problematic as there is no documentation to account for their patronage. In some cases, copies after presumed lost originals exist in Sicily and beyond, but in other cases, the paintings were either created by Caravaggio at different times and in another place, or their attribution to him is questionable. This chapter will tackle one of the goals of the book to push against the notion that Caravaggio’s time in Sicily was not as important as others in his life and that the paintings he created there are anomalies. A better understanding of the cultural and religious atmosphere of early modern Sicily will help situate these works more comfortably among the paintings Caravaggio created elsewhere to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the artist’s life and oeuvre during his time in Sicily.