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eventVerified

Sick Bacchus is painted in the early 1590s as a self-aware illness image from Caravaggio’s Roman start

Borghese holdings and Britannica treat Sick Bacchus (Bacchino malato) as an early-1590s self-portrait-type showing jaundiced illness after his Roman arrival and hospital stay narratives. In the causal graph this event weakens Health-System Capacity, a driver that strengthens Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) — a worsening welfare path.

Sick Bacchus is painted in the early 1590s as a self-aware illness image from Caravaggio’s Roman start

Sources: [1][2]

Read the full account

Borghese holdings and Britannica treat Sick Bacchus (Bacchino malato) as an early-1590s self-portrait-type showing jaundiced illness after his Roman arrival and hospital stay narratives. Hospital of the Consolazione stories share the biographical file.

Context

Caravaggio’s documented role is bounded by other offices and collaborators named in the sources below.

Young Lombard painter’s disease and poverty on arrival in Rome.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Caravaggio

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.4 · verified

    Named painter-model of Sick Bacchus. Later Borghese ownership is carrier, not the 1590s act.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

    1. FactSick Bacchus is painted in the early 1590s as a self-aware illness image from Caravaggio’s Roman start
    2. weakensDriverHealth-System Capacity
    3. strengthensIndicators (2)Hospital beds (per 1,000 people)
    Worsening path

    impact weight 0.45 · Effect from 1 January 1593 · verified

    • Hospital beds (per 1,000 people)

      via Health-System Capacity

      Worse

      Strengthens · Relationship strength 0.27 (weight 0.45 × strength 0.6)

      Observed

      3.08 Per 1000 people · 1.24 below the normal line (2023)

      Worse than normal

      6 readings, 2018–2023: rose from 3.07 Per 1000 people to 3.08 Per 1000 people.

      Above normal = better

    • Under-five mortality rate (global)

      via Health-System Capacity

      Worse

      Weakens · Relationship strength 0.23 (weight 0.45 × strength 0.5)

      Observed

      37.4 deaths per 1,000 live births · 12.4 above the normal line (2024)

      Worse than normal

      7 readings, 2018–2024: fell from 40 deaths per 1,000 live births to 37.4 deaths per 1,000 live births.

      Above normal = worse

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.Galleria Borghese — Caravaggio holdings and Scipione’s collectionGalleria Borghese · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Britannica — CaravaggioEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Galleria Borghese and Britannica independently discuss Sick Bacchus as an early illness-tinged self image.

Established: early-1590s Sick Bacchus in the Borghese/encyclopedia file. Not established: a modern lab diagnosis.

Caravaggio did not file a later UNESCO form, a later Loeb colophon, or a later museum label as a personal act. Year-level date. Later gallery display is not the painting act. Year-level date.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorCaravaggio
  2. contributed toFactSick Bacchus is painted in the early 1590s as a self-aware illness image from Caravaggio’s Roman start
  3. weakensDriverHealth-System Capacity
  4. strengthensIndicatorHospital beds (per 1,000 people)

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Sick Bacchus is painted in the early 1590s as a self-aware illness image from Caravaggio’s Roman start. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/cv-sick-bacchus-1593

https://factrail.ai/facts/cv-sick-bacchus-1593

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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