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An appreciation of the artistic genius of the seventeenth century Italian painter Caravaggio (1571-1610) requires focusing on death-haunted themes that reflect two traumatic events of his life—the death of his father when he was 6 years old, and his murder of a man in 1606 when he was 35. It is the thesis of this paper that a life-long oedipal conflict with prominent castration anxiety is evident periodically in his artwork, and that it was heightened after the act of homicide.
Available historical records indicate that Caravaggio was born in 1571, and that his father, grandfather, and uncle died in the plague that swept Milan in 1577. Caravaggio's later life was filled with conflicts with authority figures, as we learn from police and legal records. He habitually carried a sword, and used one to kill a man following an argument over a sports wager after having been wounded in the head. His last 4 years were his most productive, when he painted in a dark introspective style, apparently using memory rather than fresh models, with references to the tragic events that pursued him.
Two themes stand out as a reflection of a continued castration complex: Beheadings which can be seen as symbols of castration anxiety (Schneider, 1976); paintings in which the central character is condemned to be killed because he interfered in the sexual relationships of a powerful male authority. Both characteristics underwent further change after Caravaggio's conflicts led him to kill a man. In particular, he used artistic devices to identify with the victim, and to affirm his need for self-punishment. In addition, we get the emergence of seemingly chance details or hidden images, presumably from the unconscious that relate to the theme of beheading as it is revived following the act of murder.