Contents
Caravaggio
Making biblical scenes feel immediate through dramatic light and ordinary human faces.
The Calling of Saint Matthew · The Supper at Emmaus
- Born
- 29 September 1571
- Birthplace
- Milan, Italy
- Died
- 18 July 1610
More people
Caravaggio
Italian painter whose intense naturalism helped shape the Baroque. His public church commissions made his reputation; violence and exile marked his final years.
Early life
Lombard childhood
Born Michelangelo Merisi, he grew up between Milan and the nearby town of Caravaggio.
Apprenticeship
He trained with Simone Peterzano in Milan from 1584.
Career
- 1590s
Finding work in Rome
Painted small pictures and worked in other artists’ workshops before attracting powerful collectors.
- 1599–1600
Public breakthrough
The Contarelli Chapel commission brought his paintings before a much wider audience.
- 1606–1610
Exile and commissions
After killing a man in Rome, he fled and continued painting in Naples, Malta and Sicily.
Selected work
The Calling of Saint Matthew
A beam of light singles out a tax collector at an ordinary table.
The Supper at Emmaus
Disciples recognize Christ through gestures that seem to break into the viewer’s space.
The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist
A monumental altarpiece painted in Malta.
Beyond work
A violent departure
His killing of Ranuccio Tomassoni in 1606 brought a death sentence and forced him out of Rome.
Uncertain final days
He died in 1610 while seeking to return to Rome; the precise circumstances remain disputed.
Sources & photo credit
Biography and references ↗Institutional biography and career ↗Photo: Ottavio Leoni. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
