Caravaggio

@Miscellaneous, Birthday and Personal Life

Caravaggio was a renowned painter of the Sixteenth century who painted using contrasting effects between light and darkness

Sep 29, 1571

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Biography

Personal Details

  • Birthday: September 29, 1571
  • Died on: July 18, 1610
  • Nationality: Italian
  • Famous: Died Young, Renaissance Artists, Artists & Painters, Artists, Baroque Painters, Realist Painters, Miscellaneous
  • Known as: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da
  • Birth Place: Milan
  • Religion: Catholicism

Caravaggio born at

Milan

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Birth Place

This painter is known for having a very bad temper and apparently, he engaged in duals often. In 1606, he was alleged with the charges of murdering a procurer named Ranuccio Tomassoni. However, the reason behind this act is still obscure although many speculations have been made during these years.

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Personal Life

Soon after, to escape from punishment, he left Rome and travelled through Malta, Naples, Sicily and many other places. Even while on the run, he continued to produce works of art.

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Personal Life

In 1608, he again engaged in a conflict with Fra Giovanni Rodomonte Roero, who was a knight in the Order of St. John in Malta, which led him to prison but he was soon released.

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Personal Life

He was born on 29th September, 1571 to Fermo Merixio and Lucia Aratori, in Milan, Italy. The outbreak of a plague forced his family to move to a place called Caravaggio in 1576. The plague claimed the lives of most of his family members including his father and thereafter, he grew up in Caravaggio.

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Childhood & Early Life

In 1584, his mother died, and apparently after this he shifted to Milan where he became an apprentice under painter Simone Peterzano.

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Childhood & Early Life

In late 1580s, he travelled to Rome, worked with varied painters and frequently changed his vocation.

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Career

During 1590s, he made many paintings which had themes pertaining to daily life and were not in tune with the spiritual themes prevalent during that time. His paintings during that period include ‘The Fortune Teller’, ‘The Cardsharps’, ‘Boy with a Fruit Basket’, ‘The Young Bacchus’, and ‘The Music Party’.

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Career

In and around 1595, he created his own paintings and sold them to a trader named Maestro Valentino, and this trader made his paintings come to the notice of Cardinal Francesco del Monte.

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Career

Soon the cardinal became an admirer of his art and let him stay in his own house. Apart from providing Caravaggio with art supplies, he also granted him some allowance as well.

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Career

Under the patronage of del Monte, he made several paintings such as ‘The Lute Player’, ‘The Musicians’, ‘Boy Bitten by a Lizard’, and ‘Bacchus’.

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Career

One of his most significant works is his paintings of St. Matthew which portrayed the saint in realistic light were a deviation from the spiritual and religious theme. These paintings put him trouble because of their content but at the same time made him follow a new path in painting.

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Major Works

This was succeeded by many masterpieces like ‘The Supper at Emmaus and ‘Death of the Virgin’.

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Major Works