top of page

Caravaggio led an eventful life. After an apprenticeship with Simone Peterzano in Milan, he traveled to Rome, where he rose from a penniless artist to the favored painter of the Roman cardinals. Banished from Rome for manslaughter, he settled in Naples and later Malta. In Malta he was made a Knight of the Order of Malta, but fled from there to Sicily after a physical altercation and returned to Naples after a year. Waiting for his banishment from Rome to be lifted, he died at the age of 38. Soon after his untimely death, legends began to form that made him the "archetype of the wicked artist." To this day, the "Caravaggio myth" remains unbroken. He exerted a lasting influence on many Italian, Dutch, French, German and Spanish painters of his time, some of whom are also referred to as Caravaggists .

Michelangelo Merisi, also Michael Angelo Merigi, called Caravaggio for short after his parents' place of origin (Caravaggio in Lombardy) (* 29 September 1571 in Milan; † 18 July 1610 in Porto Ercole on Monte Argentario), was an important Italian painter of the early Baroque period. Caravaggio was distinguished by his novel and realistic pictorial design. He broke new ground primarily in his treatment of Christian themes by linking the sacred with the profane. His most important pictorial innovation was the chiaroscuro, the chiaroscuro painting, as a design element of the scenes. Together with Annibale Carracci, he is considered the overcomer of Mannerism and the founder of Roman Baroque painting.

*1571-1610

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

MORE FROM THIS ARTIST

Oil on canvas, 322,0 x 340,0 cm 
 Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome, Italy
 © ARTOTHEK

48 | The Calling of Saint Matthew (Berufung des Hl. Matthäus), c. 1598-1601

Oil on canvas, 94,0 x 119,0 cm
 The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
 © akg-images

49 | The Lute Player (Der Lautenspieler), c. 1595-1600

Oil on canvas, 54,5 x 67,5 cm
 Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milano, Italy
 © akg-images

50 | Basket of Fruit (Canestra di frutta) Früchtekorb, c. 1597-1600

Oil on canvas, 70,0 x 67,0 cm
 Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy
 © akg-images / André Held

51 | Boy with a Basket of Fruit (Knabe mit dem Früchtekorb), c. 1593

Oil on canvas, 141,0 x 196,2 cm
 The National Gallery, London, UK
 © akg-images

52 | The Supper at Emmaus (Das Abendmahl in Emmaus), 1601

Oil on canvas, 118,0 x 156,5 cm
 Private Collection, Austria

53 | The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (Der ungläubige Thomas), 1601-1602

Oil on canvas, 364,5 x 249,5 cm 
 Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
 © akg-images

54 | Madonna of the Rosary (Madonna del Rosario) Die Rosenkranzmadonna, c. 1605-1607

BUY NOW YOUR

LIMITED VERSION

Be one of the owners of this limited edition and buy one of the 3333 hand signed books along with your NFT!

bottom of page