Art-Caravaggio-St. Jerome

I maintain records on my trackables. They have the goal to circulate more than five years and to be moved by at least 25 cachers. That is a target rate of five drops per year for five years, or a drop every 73 days. The average drop rate of my trackables in the US is 124 days, in Europe it is 71 days. As of 26-May-24 this trackable had survived for 3.2 years and had been moved by 11 cachers, for an average drop every 107 days, or 3.4 drops per year. Please keep it moving, then drop it in a safe place!

No permission is needed to leave the U.S. While in the U.S., please drop it at an event, in a Premium Member only OR a rural cache near a busy trail or road. Do not place it in an urban, non-premium cache. Transport the bug in the original plastic bag for as long as the bag lasts; the bag keeps the trackable clean and dry, protects the number and prevents tangling with other items. Otherwise, take the trackable anywhere you wish.

This is one of a series of travel bugs made to recognize art seen and admired by the bug owner. A digital copy of this work was downloaded from the internet. The copy was reduced in size and proportions cropped to accommodate the laminating materials available to the owner. Regrettably these processes diminish the effort of the artist. One truly must see the original in person to fully appreciate the work. The text below is a mixture of my own observations and material gleaned from the internet (mostly Wikipedia and Web Gallery).

Caravaggio, byname of Michelangelo Merisi, was Italian painter whose revolutionary technique of tenebrism, or dramatic, selective illumination of form out of deep shadow, became a hallmark of Baroque painting. Scorning the traditional idealized interpretation of religious subjects, he took his models from the streets and painted them realistically.

In 1595 Caravaggio's talent caught the eye of cardinal Francesco Del Monte, who subsequently becomes his first patron. His three paintings on the life of St Matthew cause a sensation. After this success, Caravaggio took all his subjects from the New Testament.

Caravaggio's life was as turbulent as his personality. He has many run-ins with the law and is arrested on several occasions. In 1606 a bet over a game of tennis led to an argument, at which point Caravaggio brandished his sword and killed his opponent. He fled to Naples, intending to take the long way home via Malta and Sicily to Rome (where friends are lobbying for his pardon). During this wanderings he produced several masterpieces. He died (at age 37) before reaching Rome, probably of pneumonia. Several days after his death word arrives of papal absolution.

The painting on the travel bug depicts Saint Jerome, who translated the bible from Hebrew into Latin.   The original art in the Borghese Gallery, in Rome.