At the Lupa tavern: Michelangelo’s first friends in Rome.
Caravaggio in comics, episode 2 of 12. In episode 1 Michelangelo arrived in Rome and walked into a tavern. This time: his first night in Rome.
Review of episode 1. «Ce l’abbiamo fatta!» (we made it!) · «Ci penso io.» (leave it to me) · «Sono nato nel ’71.» (I was born in ’71)
It’s the story of a single night. Michelangelo has been in Rome for only two hours. In that short time he finds his first friends, hears a prophecy, meets a dangerous man and, by candlelight, paints his first picture in Rome. This one night already holds his whole life: friendship, fights and, above all, light.
The printable sheet — the whole dialogue of this episode, scene by scene. Keep it in front of you on Wednesday:
Caravaggio_2_La_prima_notte_a_Roma_en.pdf
1. The first friends
That evening at the tavern Michelangelo meets his first friends in Rome: an architect, a painter and a Sicilian boy. And he immediately asks the most important question: where can I work?
Il vecchio Lui è Onorio Longhi, architetto. Lui è Prospero Orsi, pittore.
Minniti E io sono Mario Minniti.
Caravaggio Anch’io sono pittore. Sono a Roma da due ore e cerco una bottega.
Orsi Io lavoro dal Cavalier d’Arpino. Ma forse ti conviene cominciare da una bottega più piccola.
Minniti Io sono apprendista da Antiveduto Gramatica. Se vuoi, chiedo a lui.
Words
Sono a Roma da due ore. — I’ve been in Rome for two hours.
Present tense + «da» = “for (a time), and still now”. «Studio l’italiano da un anno» (I’ve been studying Italian for a year).
bottega — workshop
The workplace of a painter or craftsman, where the master and his pupils worked together.
Ti conviene… — You’d better…
“It’s in your interest to…, you’d better…”.
apprendista — apprentice
Someone who learns a trade by working alongside a master.
The real history. Onorio Longhi, Prospero Orsi and Mario Minniti really existed, and they will matter in Caravaggio’s life. Longhi, an architect from Lombardy, becomes a loyal friend. Orsi, a painter of “grotesques” (fanciful decorations), is one of the first to make his work known. Minniti, from Syracuse in Sicily, becomes his friend and his model.
2. The fortune-teller
A fortune-teller reads his future. She says she sees a “black light” around him, and gives him a strange warning.
La zingara Lui è molto più grandissimo pittore di Cavalier d’Arpino!
Caravaggio Caschi male con me, zingara: non ho neanche un baiocco.
La zingara Io vedo grande luce nera attorno a te. Tu è figlio di tenebra!
“I see a great black light around you! You are a child of darkness!”
La zingara Guardati dal sole! Il sole ti ucciderà!
Caravaggio Me lo ricorderò!
Words
Tu è · molto più grandissimo — deliberate mistakes
These are deliberate mistakes: the woman comes from a faraway land, so she speaks Italian like someone still learning it. The correct forms are «tu sei» and «molto più grande» (or «grandissimo»).
baiocco — an old small coin
A low-value old coin of the Papal States. «Non ho un baiocco» = I’m flat broke.
Guardati dal sole! — Beware of the sun!
«guardarsi da…» = to beware of…
zingara — gypsy woman (old word)
The comic uses the words of the time. Today «zingaro» can be an insult, so people say «rom» (Roma).
The real history. Manara plays with the fortune-teller’s words: “child of darkness”. Caravaggio’s paintings, made of deep darkness and sudden light, would later be called precisely “tenebrism” (from «tenebre», darkness).
3. The wine and Ranuccio
From the floor above, someone spills wine on his head. Michelangelo storms upstairs in a rage, where the Tomassoni brothers are carousing. Ranuccio tells him to punish the girl who spilled the wine. But what Michelangelo sees is not the quarrel: it’s the light on the girl. Longhi stands up for him, Ranuccio draws his sword, and his friends drag him away.
Caravaggio Chi è lo stronzo che mi ha versato il vino addosso?
Ranuccio È stata lei. Su, prendi la cinghia e dalle una lezione!
La ragazza No, Ranuccio! Non voglio più essere battuta!
Caravaggio (pensa) È bellissima, con questa luce…
“How beautiful she is, in this light…”
Longhi Falla finita, Ranuccio! Il ragazzo è appena arrivato in città.
Ranuccio Non mi fai paura, Longhi!
Caravaggio Ma avete visto quanto era bella, con quella luce?
Words
versare addosso — to spill (on someone)
«Mi ha versato il vino addosso» = (someone) spilled wine on me.
stronzo — asshole
A vulgar insult (we met it in episode 1).
cinghia · dare una lezione — belt · to teach a lesson
«cinghia» is a leather belt. «dare una lezione» = to teach someone a lesson.
Falla finita! — Cut it out!
“Stop it, that’s enough.”
The real history. Ranuccio Tomassoni really existed: he belonged to the Tomassoni family mentioned in episode 1. This name will come back in Caravaggio’s life.
4. At night, by candlelight
Minniti lets him sleep in his master’s studio. But Michelangelo doesn’t sleep: he paints. At night, by candlelight, he paints Mario peeling a fruit.
Minniti Adesso? Non ti conviene aspettare domani, con la luce?
Caravaggio Mi trovo meglio a lavorare al buio.
Minniti Aveva ragione la zingara: sei una creatura delle tenebre!
Caravaggio Però cerco la luce, come le falene. Chi era quel Ranuccio?
“But I’m looking for the light. Like a moth.”
Minniti Uno dei fratelli Tomassoni, gli sgherri dei Farnese. E fa anche il magnaccia.
Minniti Io casco dal sonno. Spegni la candela, prima di dormire.
Caravaggio Dormi tranquillo: quando ho finito, la spengo.
Words
Mi trovo meglio a… — I’m better at… / I prefer…
“I do better at…, I prefer…”.
falena — moth
A night butterfly. It flies toward the light.
sgherro — (a powerful man’s) henchman
A violent armed thug in the service of a powerful man.
magnaccia — pimp
A vulgar word: a man who lives off prostitutes.
Casco dal sonno. — I’m dead on my feet.
“I’m terribly sleepy.”
The real history. The painting of that night isn’t made up. It recalls one of the very first works Caravaggio painted in Rome, the “Boy Peeling Fruit” (1592–93). The original is lost, but many copies survive. Manara shows us the moment it is born, by candlelight.
5. The next morning
In the morning Antiveduto Gramatica sees the painting and realizes at once: this young man is an extraordinary painter.
Antiveduto Sveglia, Mario! Chi ha fatto quel quadro?
Antiveduto C’è qualcosa… qualcosa di mai visto, in questo quadro…
“There’s something in this painting… something never seen before…”
Caravaggio L’ho fatto io!
Minniti Lui è Michelangelo, da Caravaggio. Vorrebbe lavorare qui, a bottega.
Antiveduto Qui? Uno che dipinge così non può stare in una piccola bottega come la mia.
Antiveduto Tu sei destinato a fare grandi cose. Devi andare in una bottega grande: la più grande di tutte!
Words
L’ho fatto io! — I did it!
Putting «io» at the end makes the answer proud and strong, like «Lo decido io» in episode 1.
qualcosa di mai visto — something never seen before
Something new that nobody has ever seen.
essere destinato a… — to be destined to…
«Sei destinato a fare grandi cose» = you are destined to do great things.
la più grande di tutte — the greatest of all
The superlative: «il più…», «la più… di tutte» (the most… of all).
The real history. Antiveduto Gramatica was a real painter too. Born in Siena, he became famous in Rome for the heads he painted at lightning speed. People called him the “great head-painter” (gran capocciante).
In the next episode
Antiveduto takes Michelangelo to the biggest workshop in Rome, the Cavalier d’Arpino’s. But the master has already decided: “Here you’ll paint flowers and fruit, and nothing else!”
Let’s read it together on Wednesday
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About the images. The panels are from Milo Manara, “Caravaggio – La tavolozza e la spada” (Panini Comics, 2015), pages 18, 19, 21, 24 and 25. Colors by Simona Manara and Milo Manara. The dialogue above is our own simplification for learners of Italian.
To be continued
