By Brad Miner.

I say, "Yes!"

The better question may be, however: Can a bad person make it to Heaven? The Lord alone knows that answer. One suspects, however, that this is why Purgatory exists.

There is the matter of repentance, of course: the notion, as expressed by Lord Illingworth in Oscar Wilde's A Woman of No Importance: "The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future."

I want to explore this in what we know about the lives of two great Catholic painters: Duccio and Caravaggio.

I would jump for joy were it possible to know that Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) rests in the bosom of Abraham. Despite his many sins, which included murder, Caravaggio left a legacy of sacred art that puts him in the company of the more famous Michelangelo, Rubens, and a few other Catholic artists, none of whom has been canonized, declared venerable, or become blessed - except for Fra Angelico.

In Rome, on the Via di Pallacorda, there once was a sort of tennis court - pallacorda was a precursor of the modern game. In May of 1606, Caravaggio was playing a match there against Ranuccio Tommasoni. A dispute over a wager led to conflict between the two. Caravaggio, known to be a sword-wielding brawler, killed Tommasoni on the spot. That's what some have suggested anyway. But art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon, who has studied police records in Rome and the Vatican, concludes that the fatal encounter wasn't over money or a rules violation but the affections of Fillide Melandroni.

Melandroni was a successful courtesan who was also a model Caravaggio used in several of his paintings: as "Saint Catherine"; as Mary in "Martha and Mary Magdalene"; as Judith in "Judith Beheading Holofernes"; and, most appositely, "Portrait of a Courtesan." Caravaggio also used another prostitute model, Anna Bianchini. Here they both are in "Martha and Mary Magdalene" (c. 1598):

Ranuccio Tommasoni came from a noble family but may not have been noble in the moral sense. He liked living the low life. He may even have been Fillide Melandroni's pimp.

But lest we think of Fillide as a poor girl exploited by a rich ne'er-do-well, she was a Church-hating, sword-carrying brawler in her own right. Exactly what Caravaggio's interest in her was, beyond being a favored model, is uncertain, but Mr. Graham-Dixon believes Caravaggio was one of Fillide's clients.

But whether the fight was for her love, a debt, or some other reason, the coroner's report suggests Tommasoni bled out after Caravaggio attempted to castrate him. And that suggests rage and is hardly saintly behavior.

Speculation about Caravaggio's death in 1610 includes the possibility that - on the run at the end of his life (for the murder and other malfeasances) - Caravaggio fell into the hands of the pursuing Tommasonis.

He was a bad boy, for sure. But Caravaggio understood the Catholic faith and may even have loved it. He gave us memorable and remarkably vivid paintings such as The Supper at Emmaus and The Calling of St. Matthew. More than a third of his paintings deal with religious themes. Like much Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque art and architecture, Caravaggio's works were catechetical tools, which is why, episcopal blessings of the paintings aside, they are sacred art.

Whether or not that means his contributions to the faith won him a place in the heavenly kingdom, I cannot say. But I hope so.

Duccio di Buoninsegna (c. 1255-1260 - c. 1318-1319) is generally acknowledged to be a pivotal figure in Trecento (14th century) Italian sacred art. and an artistic link between the Gothic and Renaissance eras - and Byzantine art, too. Unlike Caravaggio, though, he was not a felon per se. He did, however, have an uneasy relationship with the law and money.

But like Caravaggio, Duccio was a revolutionary - the leader of an artistic period in Siena, Italy that caused a leap forward in painting. Caravaggio continued to influence artists over the centu...