Historical Figures Codexery

Caravaggio

Italian painter whose tenebrism shaped Baroque art.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was an Italian painter active in Rome for much of his artistic life.[1] He is known for a dramatic use of lighting called tenebrism that influenced Baroque painting.[2][3] His works combined realistic observation with vivid scenes of violence and death.[2][3]

Quick Facts

Birth name
Michelangelo Merisi (or Amerighi) da Caravaggio
Born
29 September 1571
Birthplace
Milan, Duchy of Milan
Died
18 July 1610
Place of death
Porto Ercole; State of the Presidi
Field
Painting
Training
Simone Peterzano
Movement
Baroque

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Caravaggio was born in Milan in 1571, and his father worked as a household administrator and architect-decorator.[4] In 1592 he left Milan for Rome after wounding a police officer.[5] He arrived in Rome "naked and extremely needy" and worked for Giuseppe Cesari painting flowers and fruit.[5] In 1584, following his mother's death, Caravaggio started a four-year apprenticeship with Simone Peterzano, a Milanese painter who had been a pupil of Titian.[6]

Seeking a papal pardon for his death sentence, Caravaggio journeyed to Malta and then to Sicily during 1607.[7] Upon returning to Naples in 1609, Caravaggio suffered facial disfigurement from a violent altercation.[7] While traveling from Naples to Rome in 1610, Caravaggio died; reports at the time attributed his death to a fever, possibly resulting from wounds.[7] Caravaggio painted directly onto the canvas using live models, choosing not to prepare drawings beforehand.[3]

What the cited sources add

The Getty.edu record notes Caravaggio is named after his birthplace near Milan.[8] The same source states his naturalism derives from Flemish art mediated through Veneto-Lombard painting.[8] The Getty.edu record also says his first monumental commission was for the Contarelli chapel, containing his earliest use of tenebrism.[8] The National Gallery account describes Caravaggio as famous for dark, dramatically lit works and un-idealised models.[9]

A Getty Images caption states he trained in Milan and set himself up in Rome circa 1600.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Caravaggio" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Caravaggio - The Complete Works - caravaggio-foundation.org", www.caravaggio-foundation.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Caravaggio" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Graham-Dixon, "Caravaggio Biography, Paintings, Style, & Facts", Encyclopedia Britannica; Vincenzio Fanti, "Descrizzione Completa di Tutto Ciò che Ritrovasi nella Galleria di Sua Altezza Giuseppe Wenceslao del S.R.I. Principe Regnante della Casa di Lichtenstein", Trattner, 1767, p. 21; "Italian Painter Michelangelo Amerighi da Caravaggio", Gettyimages.it, 24 October 2003; "Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da (Italian painter, 1571–1610)", Getty.edu (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Caravaggio" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The National Gallery, London, "Diego Velázquez (1599 - 1660) National Gallery, London", www.nationalgallery.org.uk (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Caravaggio" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Biografía de Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi) (1571–1610)", Italica.rai.it; "Paris Art Studies Caravaggio", parisartstudies.com, 2009; "Life of Caravaggio - Caravaggio and Mattia Preti - Malta Culture Guide", www.maltacultureguide.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Caravaggio" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Quoted without attribution in Robb, p.35, apparently based on the three primary sources, Mancini, Baglione and Bellori, all of whom depict Caravaggio's early Ro; Louise Brown, "The Genius of Rome, 1592–1623", Royal Academy of Arts, 2001, p. 21; Giovanni Pietro Bellori, Le Vite de' pittori, scultori, et architetti moderni, 1672: "Michele was forced by necessity to enter the services of Cavalier Giuseppe; Graham-Dixon, "Caravaggio Biography, Paintings, Style, & Facts", Encyclopedia Britannica (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Caravaggio" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lambert, "Caravaggio", Taschen, 2000, p. 19 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Caravaggio" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Graham-Dixon, "Caravaggio Biography, Paintings, Style, & Facts", Encyclopedia Britannica (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. "Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da (Italian painter, 1571–1610)", Getty.edu. facts only, no text reused. getty.edu
  9. The National Gallery, London, "Diego Velázquez (1599 - 1660) National Gallery, London", www.nationalgallery.org.uk. facts only, no text reused. nationalgallery.org.uk
  10. "Italian Painter Michelangelo Amerighi da Caravaggio", Gettyimages.it, 24 October 2003. facts only, no text reused. gettyimages.it

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Caravaggio (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

More in Notable Figures

Johannes VermeerFrancisco GoyaJacques-Louis DavidCaspar David FriedrichCamille PissarroÉdouard ManetClaude MonetGustav KlimtEdvard MunchKazimir MalevichJackson PollockAndy Warhol

Elsewhere in Historical Figures

Renzo Piano · Artists & ComposersEdward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset · Rulers & LeadersIgnatius of Antioch · Religious FiguresThorstein Veblen · Scientists & InventorsBrad Pitt · Writers & JournalistsNargis · Writers & Journalists

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →