The art of surgery
, Published online in Wiley Online Library (www.bjs.co.uk). DOI: 10.1002/bjs.10863 In times when art usually depicted perfection, Caravaggio (1571-1610) painted everyday reality. He used people walking the streets of Rome to represent holy figures. Caravaggio loved many women. He killed a man in a duel and had to flee from Rome to avoid being 'beheaded by anybody who saw him'. In this biblical scene he painted, Judith Beheading Holofernes, Judith is a portrait of Fillide Melandroni, the reason for the duel. Holofernes is a self-portrait.