“As Florence had been during the fifteenth century, and as Paris would be at the peak of Louis XIV’s power, Rome under Clement VIII was the artistic capital of Europe. The artists of the city were so numerous – at a rough estimate, there were 2,000 of them, out of Rome’s total population of around 100,00014 – that they had their own quarter. Graham-Dixon, Andrew. Caravaggio: A Life Sacred and Profane (p. 70). W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition. ”