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Abstract: An analysis of the figure of fra’ Ainolfo de’ Bardi dei Conti di Vernio, the man who acted as guarantor for Caravaggio in 1603 after he had been brought to court by Giovanni Baglione and Tommaso Salini, makes it possible to confirm his membership of the Jerusalemite order and gives substance to a man who until now was unknown, although he was part of the network of acquaintances and contacts established by the painter during his stay in Rome. Ainolfo belonged to an illustrious Tuscan family and his father, Giovanni, a career soldier and a man of refined humanist education, passionate supporter of the new musical style of ‘recitar cantando’, founder of the Camerata de’ Bardi, and a personal friend of the cardinal Francesco Maria Del Monte, the principal patron of Merisi. The young Ainolfo was received into the order of Saint John at 11 years of age and quickly rose to a high position within the Order thanks to his family connections and to the protection of Pope Clement VIII. During his stay in Rome in the service of the Pope, the knight certainly met Caravaggio, probably through cardinal Del Monte, since he and his father, who was in Rome between 1592 and 1605, gravitated towards the intellectual and art-loving circles who regularly met in the residence of the Cardinal at Palazzo Madama; one can imagine that it was within that very same environment that he came to Caravaggio’s aid when the painter had been sued for libel by his rival Giovanni Baglione, an ally whose value was much enhanced by his position as captain of the Cavalleggeri Guard of Pope Clement VII, and will certainly have provided the utmost guarantee of reliability and trustworthiness in the eyes of the Governor of Rome.