Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (September 29th 1571 – 18 July 1610) was an Italian Baroque painter. He was born in Caravaggio, Lombardy, Italy.

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

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

Caravaggio was the first great representative of the Baroque School.