Italian baroque painter Michelangelo Merisi was born in the Lombardy hill town of Caravaggio in 1573 and, as an adult, he would become known by the name of his birthplace. He was apprenticed for four years to Simone Peterzano, a mediocre painter in Milan. By 1593 he had moved to Rome and his mature style had emerged. Caravaggio was never truly famous in his lifetime, but many recognized the pivotal role he played in the development of the more naturalistic style of 17th-century painting.
He used models from the lower echelons of society in both his secular and religious compositions. Equally important was his dramatic use of light as if it streamed from a source above the action. His subjects are often portrayed as if emerging out of darkness, with part of their faces and bodies strongly illuminated - this is known as chiaroscuro, meaning a bold contrast between light and dark, which originated in northern Italian art of the previous century. Caravaggio brought new life and immediacy to painting and his impact on the art of his century was considerable. His painting was daring and revolutionary and aroused great controversy.
Caravaggio was desperately poor during his first years in Rome. His services were commissioned for both secular and religious works. The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew and the Calling of Saint Matthew, the two works making up the commission to decorate the Contarelli Chapel in San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome in 1600, were an immediate sensation.
Caravaggio's personal life was very turbulent; he was often arrested and imprisoned. He fled Rome for Naples in 1607 after being charged with the murder of another young man in a duel. For the next three years he continued to move about Italy, one step ahead of his enemies. Caravaggio contracted a fever and died on July 18, 1610 - just days before receiving a papal pardon.
Caravaggio was almost entirely forgotten in the centuries after his death, and it was only in the 20th century that his importance to the development of Western art was rediscovered.
Web Sites
Catalog
Search the library's catalog for Caravaggio, Baroque art.
Databases
Enter Caravaggio or Baroque art in these databases: