Caravaggio's Shadow

The plot takes place in Italy in the year 1610. Caravaggio is one of the best living painters but he is also considered a rebel for the Catholic Church, which decides to secretly investigate him. Meanwhile, Pope Paul V considers whether to grant him clemency for murdering a rival. A complete tour of the exciting life of one of the best painters of all time.

For more than fifty years, Michele Placido has wanted to transfer the life and work of Caravaggio to the big screen. Since he arrived in Rome in the late 1960s, he imagined a theatrical script in which the rebellious painter of the 17th century met the heretic philosopher who was burned at the stake.

Finally, we are lucky to be able to attend this meeting that the 76-year-old director, actor and screenwriter born in Apulia has held on the figure of Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio, one of the most revolutionary artists and influential in the history of art and all time.

The models of this genius were the prostitutes and outcasts who could be found in the underworld of Rome, whom he transfigured into saints and virgins in his paintings, provoking the disapproval of the Academy and, above all, , of the church. It was precisely the decision of the Church, with all its counter-reformist values, to investigate the life and work of Caravaggio to decide his fate.