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In Porto Ercole, where Caravaggio died in 1610,
there are monuments andthe tomb that holds his remains,
commemorating his troubled life and death.
In Porto Ercole, the place where Michelangelo Merisi —known as Caravaggio — died, unfortunately no paintings have been preserved. However, there are three monuments erected in his memory, and visitors can see with their own eyes not only the painter’s remains but also what was likely his final resting place. The first stop is a true monument: a sword, a grate, and a Corten steel hammer rest atop a Roman granite column salvaged from the waters of the harbor —a clear reference not only to the painter’s turbulent life but also to one of his iconic paintings: The Deposition of Christ. It is located along the town’s main street (not coincidentally named Viale Caravaggio), roughly at the spot where his remains were found, now preserved ina burial sarcophagus in the town cemetery.
The route then continues through the historic village of Porto Ercole, which can be reached by walking along the waterfront and climbing the Scalinata degli Spagnoli up to the Sienese Gate. Here, right at the entrance to the old town, a brass plaque is affixed that reads: “Here Michelangelo da Caravaggio, painter, ended his tormented life after the power of his genius had created one of the most brilliant expressions of the human spirit.”
This portrait likely dates back to the 1970s; in fact, it originally bore an incorrect birth date, 1573, which was later corrected to 1571 after the painter’s birth certificate was discovered in Milan. Finally, walking up the narrow streets of the village, where you can also admire the Governor’s Palace or Piazza Santa Barbara, you arrive at what was once the hospital church of Santa Croce. The building, now deconsecrated, features a limestone portal with two crosses carved into its jambs.
This is the place where Caravaggio most likely spent his final days between July 16 and 18, 1610. A death sentence hung over the painter’s head, and he was desperately searching for the felucca carrying his paintings. The three paintings were, in fact, his only hope of receiving a papal pardon. Wounded, ill, and exhausted by the heat, he fainted; he was therefore rescued and takento the hospital of the Confraternity of Santa Croce, which took in foreigners. After two days of agony, on July 18, 1610, he died and was buried in the mass grave of the San Sebastiano cemetery.
