A copy of a portrait of baroque master Caravaggio is seen in a laboratory in Ravenna in northern Italy on Jan. 22.A copy of a portrait of baroque master Caravaggio is seen in a laboratory in Ravenna in northern Italy on Jan. 22. (Tony Gentile/Reuters)Italian researchers say they have confirmed with 85 per cent certainty that bones found in the Tuscan beach town of Porto Ercole belong to the artist Caravaggio.

Anthropologists in Ravenna compared bones found in the town with descendants of Caravaggio's family. They also carbon dated the bones.

"There can't be the scientific certainty because when one works on ancient DNA, it is degraded," said Giorgio Gruppioni, an anthropologist on the research team. "But only in one set of bones did we find all the elements necessary for it to be Caravaggio's — age, period in which he died, gender, height."

The bones in question — part of a skull, two jaw pieces and a femur — were displayed in Ravenna Wednesday.

But the cause of Caravaggio's death in 1610 may never be known.

The artist, who had a reputation for bar brawls and encounters with prostitutes, had recently landed in the town when he collapsed on the beach at age 39.

The research team believes he may have died from sunstroke while weakened by syphilis and other ailments. However, it is not possible to confirm the diagnosis, because sunstroke leaves no traces in the bones.

A journalist walks in front of Caravaggio's Judith Beheading Holofernes at a Rome exhibition highlighting the artist's work on Feb. 19. (Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press)A journalist walks in front of Caravaggio's Judith Beheading Holofernes at a Rome exhibition highlighting the artist's work on Feb. 19. (Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press) The bones recovered by the team belonged to a man who stood about 170 centimetres and who was between 38 and 40 years of age around 1610.

The DNA in the bones was compared with the DNA of men with the surname Merisi or Merisio who currently live near the northern Italian town where Caravaggio was born in 1571. The artist himself, whose given name was Michelangelo Merisi, had no children, so there are no direct descendants.

Italy is celebrating the 400th anniversary of Caravaggio, who is known for his vivid use of light and his occasional gory choice of subject matter.

His noted works include Bacchus, The David with the Head of Goliath, Judith beheading Holofernes, The Cardsharps and Supper at Emmaus.

With files from The Associated Press