Claims by Italian archeologists that they are about to solve one of the greatest murder mysteries in the history of art are nonsense, according to the respected British art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon.
"The whole thing is academic," he says.
Last month a team of archeologists led by the anthropology professor Georgio Gruppioni claimed to have recovered the remains of the Renaissance artist Caravaggio. They announced plans to use scientific tests to check that the artist's remains were genuine and finally discover whether he died of typhus, collapsed on the beach of malaria or was assassinated, as some experts have suggested.
"We will check the DNA extracted from the bones and teeth for possible matches against that of the painter's male descendants," Gruppioni told Reuters. His team would then use carbon-dating technology to find out how Caravaggio died, he said.
Gruppioni famously reconstructed the face of the medieval poet Dante Alighieri in 2007.
But, according to Graham-Dixon, one of the world's leading experts on art history, who presented a 2002 BBC TV show called Who Killed Caravaggio?, the archaeologists are barking up the wrong tree.
"In my view, there's no way in hell they can say they have found Caravaggio's remains," he says. "What's the proof? They found a headstone saying: 'Here Lies Caravaggio'?"
In 2001, a researcher discovered the artist's death certificate, which said that he died in 1610 of "illness" after three days in hospital.
"This historical document shows Caravaggio did not die alone on the beach," Silvano Vinceti, the head of the Italian National Committee for Cultural Heritage, told Reuters.
Based on the death certificate, Italian researchers deduced that Caravaggio's body must have been buried in the tiny San Sebastiano cemetery in Tuscany. In 1956, bodies buried at the graveyard were moved to a nearby town, Porto Ercole, Caravaggio's among them. His remains were kept in an ossuary in the crypt of the church there, said authorities, until they were recently discovered.
Graham-Dixon does not believe a word of it.
"The death certificate - which is fake - wouldn't give a location even if it weren't fake, so how did they choose the particular grave they did to dig up?" he said. "I'm sorry, but I think the whole thing is a Porto Ercole tourist board gimmick. I would like to know more hard evidence and argument for the idea that the bones are his bones. Until someone produces that, the whole thing is academic."
Many observers believe that Caravaggio, who was famous for his wild drinking and brawling, did not die of illness or disease but was murdered while returning to Rome to seek papal pardon for slaying a rival over a game of tennis. But, according to Graham-Dixon, Ranuccio Tomassoni did not die in 1606 over a game of tennis, but bled to death after Caravaggio made a bungled attempt to castrate him, following an argument over Fillide Melandroni, a courtesan. After being charged with the murder, Caravaggio fled to Malta, where he was convicted of grievous bodily harm against a knight. Then, according to some scholars, he fled to Porto Ercole, where he died.
Which death theory you believe will dictate your attitude to the recent finding of his remains, says Graham-Dixon, whose own biography of Caravaggio will be published by Penguin on the day of Caravaggio's death, in July this year.
"If Caravaggio was murdered, he was certainly never in Porto Ercole," he says. "The one thing that can be said is that if they find him there then he died, as the legend says, of heat exhaustion or some other disease on the beach."
Caravaggio was born in 1571, the son of a mason in Lombardy. He was the last great master of the Italian Renaissance and pioneered the baroque painting technique known as chiaroscuro, in which light and shadow are sharply contrasted. Paintings such as Bacchus, The Supper at Emmaus and Sacrifice of Isaac were criticised at the time for their expressionist style but have influenced artists ever since.
A towering figure in the art world, Caravaggio nevertheless passed away more than 400 years ago, so why do historians and anthropologists still care how he died?
"He's a gripping man, and his story is truly amazing, because not only was he one of the two or three greatest and most original painters ever to have lived, but he had the most bizarrely eventful life - including a murder and an amazing midnight jailbreak from the fortress island of Malta - of any major creative figure in all of history," said Graham-Dixon.
"And that includes Vincent Van Ear Off," he added.
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Spare
Profile
Company name: Spare
Started: March 2018
Co-founders: Dalal Alrayes and Saurabh Shah
Based: UAE
Sector: FinTech
Investment: Own savings. Going for first round of fund-raising in March 2019
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
What should do investors do now?
What does the S&P 500's new all-time high mean for the average investor?
Should I be euphoric?
No. It's fine to be pleased about hearty returns on your investments. But it's not a good idea to tie your emotions closely to the ups and downs of the stock market. You'll get tired fast. This market moment comes on the heels of last year's nosedive. And it's not the first or last time the stock market will make a dramatic move.
So what happened?
It's more about what happened last year. Many of the concerns that triggered that plunge towards the end of last have largely been quelled. The US and China are slowly moving toward a trade agreement. The Federal Reserve has indicated it likely will not raise rates at all in 2019 after seven recent increases. And those changes, along with some strong earnings reports and broader healthy economic indicators, have fueled some optimism in stock markets.
"The panic in the fourth quarter was based mostly on fears," says Brent Schutte, chief investment strategist for Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company. "The fundamentals have mostly held up, while the fears have gone away and the fears were based mostly on emotion."
Should I buy? Should I sell?
Maybe. It depends on what your long-term investment plan is. The best advice is usually the same no matter the day — determine your financial goals, make a plan to reach them and stick to it.
"I would encourage (investors) not to overreact to highs, just as I would encourage them not to overreact to the lows of December," Mr Schutte says.
All the same, there are some situations in which you should consider taking action. If you think you can't live through another low like last year, the time to get out is now. If the balance of assets in your portfolio is out of whack thanks to the rise of the stock market, make adjustments. And if you need your money in the next five to 10 years, it shouldn't be in stocks anyhow. But for most people, it's also a good time to just leave things be.
Resist the urge to abandon the diversification of your portfolio, Mr Schutte cautions. It may be tempting to shed other investments that aren't performing as well, such as some international stocks, but diversification is designed to help steady your performance over time.
Will the rally last?
No one knows for sure. But David Bailin, chief investment officer at Citi Private Bank, expects the US market could move up 5 per cent to 7 per cent more over the next nine to 12 months, provided the Fed doesn't raise rates and earnings growth exceeds current expectations. We are in a late cycle market, a period when US equities have historically done very well, but volatility also rises, he says.
"This phase can last six months to several years, but it's important clients remain invested and not try to prematurely position for a contraction of the market," Mr Bailin says. "Doing so would risk missing out on important portfolio returns."
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What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 3 (Silva 8' &15, Foden 33')
Birmginahm City 0
Man of the match Bernado Silva (Manchester City)