By Ella Boyd
I, Caravaggio, Eugenio Volpe’s debut novel modernizing the internal narrative of the iconic and infamous Italian painter Caravaggio, reads more conceptual thought experiment than fictional story. Through a fragmented and deeply personal narrative from Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Volpe explores a variety of grand philosophical themes, including faith, art, identity, meaning, and human consciousness, which prove surprisingly progressive, challenging, and insightful for a novel set in seventeenth-century Rome.
Volpe’s writing style is unique: Simultaneously prose-like and abrupt, profanity and poetic language flow from the protagonist all in one fell swoop. One of Volpe’s choices for modernizing Caravaggio includes using the word fuck on the second line of the very first page (and on many pages afterward). While the cursing humanizes Caravaggio and makes him easier to empathize with despite his flaws, it can also, at times, be distracting from the overall story. Despite the abundance of swearing and sometimes overindulgent descriptions, the novel is extremely immersive and intense.
For example, the overt—and constant—sexuality displayed and thought about by the narrator serves as an important gateway into social issues equally relevant then and now. Sexuality is used more as a tool to explore other themes, such as morality and the grappling with social conventions, as opposed to a smut-like, self-indulgent thrill. Due to the era and setting of the novel, the influence of the Catholic Church is crushing and widespread. Surprisingly, instead of approaching sex in a critical or one-dimensional fashion, as would be expected by a young man living in seventeenth-century Rome, musings and conflicts involving sex have, like the dialect, been updated to reflect the nuances of personal identity.
Power and control are also brought into question often, especially as issues of objectification emerge as they pertain to artistic study. The scenes, depictions, and descriptions of women are reminiscent of characters found in the poems of Charles Bukowski. Luckily, the female characters in I, Caravaggio do have agency and exercise it throughout the story. Like any challenging artwork (or, in this case, written piece), it is up to the reader to decide for themself if the narrator is acting ethically toward their current love interest and how to interpret the characters outside of the novel.
Caravaggio also, importantly, explores relationships with both male and female counterparts throughout the novel: His young male lover Cecco and his female muse Lena each represent different aspects of his own personal identity. This brings on a plethora of conflicts with the Catholic Church, which simultaneously praises Caravaggio’s artwork while condemning Caravaggio, the artist.
Given the current political climate, I, Caravaggio may seem over-the-top at first glance, but upon closing the pages of this novel, readers will agree that this story, and the questions it provokes, are both timely and important.
Ella Boyd is a writer and photographer based out of San Clemente, California. Originally from Maine, she received her B.A. in philosophy and media studies from Scripps College. She now works as a freelance writer for The Inertia and SURFER magazine, among others; as the surf columnist at the San Clemente Times; and as an editorial assistant to Matt Warshaw at the Encyclopedia of Surfing. Her work has appeared in Powder magazine, DAYBREAK magazine, The Surftime Journal, and ROVA magazine, among others. Last year, she was shortlisted for the Follow the Light Surf Photography Grant Program, and in 2024 received honorable mention for two photographs in the Flow Trip Photo Contest. She mostly logs, but rides a surf mat or kneeboard if the conditions call for it.
Comments