On February 20th, 2019 a London art gallery officially announced that a 5 ft. tall x 6 ft. wide painting (shown above) that was found encrusted with grime and dust as well as stained by a water leak in the attic of a house in Toulouse, France in 2014 was a piece created by the man believed by many to be the most important artist from the Italian Renaissance, the master painter known as Caravaggio.

In 2010, a similar themed story emerged about the master painter that was far more personalized, given another find that was intimately associated with the life of this incomparable artist was re-discovered that year – his actual body.

In honor of the rediscovery of all and any things Caravaggesque, I re-present my 2010 piece written about exhuming the remains of both the master painter and those of the masochistic saint, Rose of Viterbo.