La formazione culturale del Caravaggio : "Io non me deletto de compor versi ne volgari ne latini"

This essay ponders what could have been the cultural formation of the young Michelangelo Merisi, often described in the past as essentially illiterate and uncouth. His educational path is unknown, but we are aware that some of his maternal progenitors (the Aratori family), unlike his paternal ones (the Merisi), conducted activities of a certain cultural level, such as the profession of surveyor and notary. During his formation, the young Merisi had the occasion to get in contact with the variegated artistic-literary culture of Milan, and in particular with the important Accademia della Val di Blenio, led by Giovan Paolo Lomazzo. His early paintings hint that he was aware of the literary topoi, especially those of Petrarchan origin, which were part of the common cultural heritage of the time. There is no record showing that Caravaggio engaged in poetic activities, even if we know that he had the opportunity to write a very polemic rhyme against his rival painter Giovanni Baglione.