Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio is widely respected as one of the greatest painters of all time, and by good fortune (ours) and not so good fortune (his), he ended up living and working on the island of Malta for about 3 years whilst at the height of his powers.
After a disputed tennis match in Rome, (or because he was into the other man's wife, or possibly because of an unpaid debt) Caravaggio got himself involved in street brawl and killed a gent called Tomassoni, reputed to be a pimp with powerful familial connections. The threat of these connections inspired Caravaggio to flee Rome and he ended up in Malta in 1607.
After a disputed tennis match in Rome, (or because he was into the other man's wife, or possibly because of an unpaid debt) Caravaggio got himself involved in street brawl and killed a gent called Tomassoni, reputed to be a pimp with powerful familial connections. The threat of these connections inspired Caravaggio to flee Rome and he ended up in Malta in 1607.