The rogue's gallery

He is an icon of art history, the last great painter of the Italian Renaissance - but he was also a wanted killer who perished in murky circumstances.

Now a new show at the National Gallery scrutinises Caravaggio's last years, a period in which the tortured genius painted his greatest masterpieces and made his greatest mistake - murder.

Caravaggio: The Final Years is the first major British exhibition of the artist's late paintings and will boast 15 major masterpieces.

In 1606, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, still in his midthirties, was Rome's most celebrated painter. But his powers were matched by the force of his temper and he loved duelling.

On 28 May that year, Caravaggio murdered pimp and mercenary Ranuccio Tomassoni with one jab of his sword to the femoral artery.

Some contend his rage was sparked by an argument over a tennis match, others that the artist tried to castrate Tomassoni over courtesan Fillide Melandroni, whom both men were pursuing.

Caravaggio fled the city and spent the final four years of his life a wanted man, moving between Naples, Malta and Sicily.

All but one of the pictures on display date from Caravaggio's years on the run. Curator Dawson Carr said: "This event in his life caused Caravaggio to mature beyond his normal years.

"The fall from grace was huge. It had a profound impact. He started expressing the psychological essence of the stories he is telling."

Caravaggio's torment can be seen particularly in a painting that has never been seen outside of Italy, The Adoration Of The Shepherd.