Michelangelo Merisi (1571–1610), better known as Caravaggio, continues to fascinate international tourists in Rome.

Caravaggio’s masterpieces can be viewed at the convent and church of Santa Maria Della Concezione, the church of San Luigi Dei Francesi, the church of Sant’ Agostino, the church of Santa Maria Del Popolo, and important art collections in palaces and museums, such as the Borghese Gallery, Ludovisi Lodge, Barberini Palace, Doria Pamphilj Gallery, the Capitoline Museum Art Gallery, Corsini Gallery, and the Pinacoteca (picture gallery) in the Vatican Museums.

My third ‘in situ’ Caravaggio learning experience was in the Pinacoteca (Picture Gallery) in the Vatican Museums with art historian Enrico Bruschini. Until his retirement from the embassy in 1998, he served as its fine art curator. He is the author of 2001-best seller "In the Footsteps of Popes" (Wm, Morrow Publishing), "The Vatican Masterpieces," "Rome and the Vatican," and wrote the Forward to International Best Seller "The Sistine Secrets" (Harper Collins 2008) that Roy Doliner co-authored with Rabbi Benjamin Blech. In fact, these books remain the standard reference work for art for tour guides in the Vatican Museums and Rome.

Caravaggio was commissioned to paint The Entombment of Christ, better known as The Deposition(1600–1604). Bruschini explains how the figure of Jesus Christ is very powerful. “Look how his arm is brushing against the stone, which appears to come out of the painting," and to depict the “naked calves and ankles of Nicodemus, so close to the body of Jesus, was considered ‘indecorous,” explains Bruschini (Vatican Masterpieces, 2004).

According to the Vatican Museums website, the burial of Jesus is not depicted in the traditional way of being laid in the tomb but being taken off the cross and people with him.

On my fourth “in situ” visit with my colleague and tour guide, Andrea Stoler, we looked at this a bit more together.

Stoler’s approach reveals the Judeo-Christian tradition is based on Jewish customs, and this scene shows this. The Romans used crucifixion as capital punishment against Jewish laws. However, the Jews did not hesitate to bury crucified bodies in accordance with Jewish tradition.

The tradition of burying the dead on the day of their death was handed down from before the time of Moses, who warned that if this tradition was not followed, “their enemies will slay them, and their unburied bodies will be food for birds and animals” (Deut 28:25–26).

For instance, Stoler makes reference to "that they took down those that were condemned and crucified and buried them before the going down of the sun” (Jewish War 4.5.2), and within 24 hours of death, in order to preserve ritual purity. In fact, there was nothing in the Mishnah that prevented Jews from burying crucified relatives together with others of their family. Roman law states that the bodies of those who are condemned to death should be given to their relatives for burial, as seen here, explains Andrea Stoler, an American Jewish tour guide in the Vatican Museums.

The Romans used crucifixion as capital punishment against Jewish laws. However, the Jews did not hesitate to bury crucified bodies in accordance with Jewish tradition. The tradition of burying the dead on the day of their death was handed down from before the time of Moses, who warned that if this tradition was not followed, “their enemies will slay them, and their unburied bodies will be food for birds and animals” (Deut 28:25–26).

Roy, would you like to comment more about this law and the scene that Caraviaggio is showing here?

The Roman treatment of those condemned to die was as cruel as possible. Under the mad Emperor Hadrian's command, over a quarter of a million Jews in Judea suffered execution by crucifixion. The Jewish treatment of the dead, on the other hand, was as merciful and respectful as possible, including care of the corpse, washing and guarding the corpse, and burial (whenever possible) within 24 hours of death.

Caravaggio was not a great philosopher or religious thinker like Michelangelo or Leonardo; rather, he was devoted solely to his art and his nightly rowdiness. He certainly did not know Judaic wisdom or Neoplatonism as the Florentine artists under the De' Medici family did. This is clearly evidenced in The Deposition by the bare hands that are touching Jesus' dead body, which is strictly forbidden by Judaism. If you look at Michelangelo's Vatican Pietà or Raphael's Deposition, you will plainly see the dead Jesus being handled with cloth, according to Jewish practice.

In your book "Caravaggio: A Light in the Shadows,” you point out that there still remain many mysteries about Caravaggio.
Although I have learned directly from you here in Rome and have read your book, Without going into great detail, what can you share with us about what happened to Caravaggio’s preparatory sketches? How was he able to work so fast? Why does he paint such dark backgrounds? And which paintings are his?

There are very few or no preparatory sketches in Caravaggio's work, since he had learned in his early apprenticeships that the faster he worked, the more money he could earn. That money went to supporting his rowdy nightlife. This is reminiscent of the actor George Raft, when asked what happened to the $10,000,000 he earned in his lengthy, fabulous career: "Part of the loot went for gambling, part for horses, and part for women. The rest I spent foolishly.”

Caravaggio did indeed become one of the fastest painters of the age, using every method he could, from the earliest forms of footlights to camarae obscurae and even his own primitive version of photography! These astonishing techniques - mostly unknown until my findings - are revealed at length in my book.

His love of commedia dell'arte also influenced his style, as evidenced by the costumes, dark backdrops, and red theatrical curtains often seen in his works.

Attributions of paintings to Caravaggio are often disputed since he had so many imitators who came to be called "Caravaggisti." The only work he signed with his name (instead of a self-portrait or other visual clues) is his largest work, the Beheading of St. John the Baptist (1608), displayed in the Concathedral in La Valletta on the Isle of Malta. According to tradition, the suffering fugitive artist used his own blood for the signature. Still, he left us enough masterpieces that continue to influence art to this very day.

As a licensed tour guide in Rome, I often make reference to what I have learned under your guidance, which includes referencing your books: The Sistine Secrets, which you co-authored with the prominent Rabbi Benjamin Blech, Hidden Beneath The Beauty, and Caravaggio: A Light in the Shadows. Now that guided tours of Caravaggio are in demand, might you suggest when your engaging manuscript that you have shared with me, Caravaggio: A Light in the Shadows, might be available to the public?

That is a great question. Sadly, since the untimely passing of my dear friend and literary agent extraordinaire, Don Gastwirth, I am still seeking the proper representation. Ora pro nobis - stay tuned!