Caravaggio was the first incarnation of one of the favourite myths of modern art: the violent outsider who bursts the conventions and suddenly changes the language. We're at the end of the legend of the avant-garde, but Caravaggio helped to start it.
His life is one of the most colourful in the history of art-constantly in trouble with the law, a brawling, violent bandit of a man, he was often painting on the run. Caravaggio died alone in 1610 on a lonely beach in Porto Ercole. He was in flight from hired assassins, banned by Papal Edict from Rome, escaped from jail, suffering from malaria, convinced that all his possessions were lost, alone and friendless - and not quite 39 years old.
Yet throughout his violent life, he left masterpieces wherever he went. All his most important paintings were filmed for this programme from the originals in Paris, Leningrad, Malta, Sicily, and elsewhere, and are seen in unusual detail and faithfulness of quality. Robert Hughes - author and Time magazine's art critic - illuminates the style and subjects of Caravaggio's work and unfolds the story of his life and career. Written and narrated by ROBERT HUGHES
Readings by TONY CHURCH
Film editor MARTIN CRUMP Director LORNA PEGRAM
(Tony Church is a member of the nsc) Preview: page 17