Caravaggio

Caravaggio, or Michelangelo Merisi, was born in Milan in 1571 to a ducal architect. Early in his life he studied under Simone Peterzano and Titian until 1588. He secured his first commission for Cardinal’s Casino dell’Aurora in Rome, and painted Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto. From that point on he was in high demand for public commissions but because of his violent temper he was constantly in trouble with the law. Finally in 1606 he had to flee in 1606 because of his involvement in a murder, and during his wanderings through Naples, he paints exclusively religious themes emphasizing sadness, suffering and death. Caravaggio is later pardoned by the Pope for his past crimes, but on arriving at Porto Escole by ship he is arrested and later released. Unfortunately Caravaggio gets struck down by a fever and dies without even reaching Rome again. Caravaggio’s tumultuous career was short but offered a huge contribution to the Baroque movement in that he was one of the first to paint people as ordinary looking, and express intense emotional realities.