Michele is distraught about Beatrice Cenci but at this point, there is nothing he can do. He confides in Costanza Colonna, who warns him to keep his ideas to himself.

Michele returns to the palace but the Cardinal is not happy. Beatrice is on trial at the papal court and is trying to defend herself.

Michele is at dinner at Fillide's home. The conversation turns to a grim story of patricide involving someone he knows and he can't let it go. Things get out of hand.

Michele finishes his painting of Fillide and they have a moment to get to know each other better.

Caravaggio (as he begins calling himself) and Ranuccio play real tennis. Who's going to win?

Michele goes back to the tavern Ranuccio and Fillide frequent. He challenges Ranuccio.

We learn of the death of Francesco Cenci from a conversation between the Cardinal and one of his guests. Michele arrives too, at a reception, where his latest painting is on display. He makes an impression as someone who speaks his mind.

Young Michele thus enters into the service of Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, man of culture and art connoisseur. All he has to do is what he does best: paint.

Word seems to be getting around that Merisi is a very talented painter. In bed with malaria, Michele himself is the last one to hear about it.

Michele and Mario are having a hard time. But Michele can't bring himself to paint things he doesn't believe in, even at the risk of going hungry.

Prosperino tries to sell Michele's painting of the "boy bitten by a lizard," and attempts to be professional. The three friends get their hopes up, but soon have to face reality. Michele and Mario quickly lose their patience and become belligerent.

Caravaggio manages to sell one of his paintings and decides to leave d'Arpino's workshop. His friend finds him a room, and he starts working on a painting, now known as"Boy bitten by a lizard".

Michele gives one of his works to the girl in the carriage. She is Beatrice Cenci and is chained to her seat. Later, Michele is seriously wounded while loading a piece of art onto a horse-drawn cart.

After a night of drinking and brawling, Michele is finishing a painting outside the workshop. Baron Cenci shows up and likes what he sees on the easel. The Baron's daughter is in the carriage and exchanges a few words with Michele.

Caravaggio meets Onorio Longhi, Italian architect and poet, and a bit of a bohemian. Longhi takes him to meet his friend Cesare D'Arpino, who is looking for assistants in his workshop.

Caravaggio falls ill and makes the acquaintance of Mario Minniti who becomes a friend to him. He takes him to the hospital of the church of Santa Maria della Consolazione in Rome.

Once in Rome, Caravaggio looks for work in the studios of 2 Italian painters who were well-known at the time. Nobody seems very interested in his work.

Michele goes back home after his mother dies and there, he spends some time with his childhood friend, Costanza Colonna. He tells her about his plans to go to Rome, the artistic center of the universe.

Michele manages to find a home for his painting, and receives something in exchange. Still at Maestro Simone's workshop, he grows up into a man and ends up trying to defend a young apprentice from being abused as he had been.

Michele has a rough time of it in Master Simone's workshop. It's clear, however, that he has talent. A Knight of Malta comes into the workshop to have a look.

Some years have passed, and Michele's widowed mother has had some difficult decisions to make regarding her children. One of these is to send 12-year-old Michele to Milan to be an apprentice at the workshop of the well-known artist, Simone Peterzano. Michele has no desire to leave home and family.

Caravaggio is a TV mini-series based on the life of the Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. It opens in 1577 when the painter was 5 years old. The plague had just hit and people who were still alive were burning their household possessions.

Anna and Marika tell us the story of Rosina, who in the midst of deception and intrigue, ends up getting married. But to whom? The one she loves, or the one who wants her at all costs?

"Quelli che" (those who...), written and performed by the great Enzo Jannacci, lends its ironic and humoristic verses to the soundtrack of Lina Wertmüller's film,"Pasqualino Settebellezze" [Seven Beauties] starring Giancarlo Giannini, and nominated for best foreign film at the 1976 Oscars.