Caravaggio’s Saint Catherine of Alexandria (1598) might be Rome’s most scandalous portrait.
The model was Fillide Melandroni, a famous Roman courtesan. Caravaggio painted her while she was repeatedly arrested for street brawls. He put her face on a holy martyr. And he knew people would recognise her.
Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte bought it for his private rooms. The church hierarchy entertained guests under the portrait of a known prostitute.





















