Caravaggio

Baroque revolutionary Caravaggio (1571-1610) transformed painting with his dramatic tenebrism, using extreme contrasts of light and shadow to create theatrical, emotionally charged images. He depicted religious subjects with unprecedented realism, using common people as models rather than idealized figures. His influence spread across Europe through followers called "Caravaggisti." Art historian Andre Berne-Joffroy stated: "What begins in the work of Caravaggio is, quite simply, modern painting."

Caravaggio trained in Milan before arriving in Rome in his early twenties. Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte became his crucial patron, housing him at Palazzo Madama (1597-1601). His Contarelli Chapel paintings established his reputation. Violent and temperamental, Caravaggio killed Ranuccio Tomassoni in 1606, fleeing to Naples, Malta, and Sicily as an outlaw with a price on his head. In Malta, he became a Knight of St. John before being expelled. He died mysteriously at 38 under uncertain circumstances. His masterpieces remain in situ at Roman churches including San Luigi dei Francesi, while the Louvre, Metropolitan Museum, and St. John's Co-Cathedral in Malta hold major works.