In his short and violent life, Michelangelo Merisi, known as Carvaggio, changed art forever. In this biography, the author's approach is like that of a detective - piecing together what happened during Carvaggio's short, brilliant, violent and ill-documented life with meticulous research and an instinct about human nature. He evokes early 17th-century Italy and the cities where Carvaggio lived and painted, in all their seething, crude, riotous and dangerous colour.