Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (September 29th 1571 – 18 July 1610) was an Italian Baroque painter with great influence both in Italy and abroad. He was born in Caravaggio, Lombardy, Italy. He took his name from the village where he was born.

Caravaggio painted Roman gods and Christian saints as if emerging out of darkness. Most of his religious paintings emphasize sadness, suffering and death.

Caravaggio is particularly renowned for his use of chiaroscuro, a technique that uses light and dark to achieve a 3-D effect. [1]

Caravaggio had an extraordinary influence in his time, as he turned European art from the ideal viewpoint of the Renaissance to focus on the idea that simple reality was of primary importance. He chose common people as his subjects and painted them in ordinary surroundings.

Caravaggio was the first great representative of the Baroque Era.