Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio Giclée Fine Art Prints 2 of 4
1571-1610
Italian Baroque Painter
With his innovative style, Caravaggio (1571-1610) had a defining influence on the most prominent European artists of the 17th century and on the overall development of painting.
After training in Milan, he went to Rome at about the age of twenty. Then lacking in means, he led a carefree life and painted for a living, soon attracting the attention of several prelates. In 1598 he received a substantial commission, to paint the Contarelli Chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi. Caravaggio re-created three episodes from the Life of St Matthew, whose dramatic and gritty realism gave each scene new emotional power. The artist thus demonstrates the power of his genius and sharply confronts the mannerisms of the age.
After 1600, he produced only works with religious subjects. His style is monumental, characterized by vivid contrasts between light and shadow (Assumption of the Virgin). The models of his Madonnas and saints are those who usually keep him company in the cafés and pubs or he meets in the streets, the slums whose daily life he shares. He leads a scandalous life and often clashes with the justice authorities. In 1606 he was accused of murder and fled to Naples, Malta, then to Sicily. His painting becomes more austere and restrained - a sign of resignation; the subjects are more serene, radiating serenity (Nativity, Adoration of the Shepherds). He goes to Naples again when he learns that the Pope is ready to pardon him. Just then he finds his death on the beach of Porto Ecole. He died when he was only thirty-nine years old.
Caravaggio's work made a revolution, opposing academic classicism and the illusionistic tendency of the Baroque. Through their immediate, brutal reading of reality, his paintings inexorably rivet the eye and suggest the emotions that fill them.
After training in Milan, he went to Rome at about the age of twenty. Then lacking in means, he led a carefree life and painted for a living, soon attracting the attention of several prelates. In 1598 he received a substantial commission, to paint the Contarelli Chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi. Caravaggio re-created three episodes from the Life of St Matthew, whose dramatic and gritty realism gave each scene new emotional power. The artist thus demonstrates the power of his genius and sharply confronts the mannerisms of the age.
After 1600, he produced only works with religious subjects. His style is monumental, characterized by vivid contrasts between light and shadow (Assumption of the Virgin). The models of his Madonnas and saints are those who usually keep him company in the cafés and pubs or he meets in the streets, the slums whose daily life he shares. He leads a scandalous life and often clashes with the justice authorities. In 1606 he was accused of murder and fled to Naples, Malta, then to Sicily. His painting becomes more austere and restrained - a sign of resignation; the subjects are more serene, radiating serenity (Nativity, Adoration of the Shepherds). He goes to Naples again when he learns that the Pope is ready to pardon him. Just then he finds his death on the beach of Porto Ecole. He died when he was only thirty-nine years old.
Caravaggio's work made a revolution, opposing academic classicism and the illusionistic tendency of the Baroque. Through their immediate, brutal reading of reality, his paintings inexorably rivet the eye and suggest the emotions that fill them.
78 Caravaggio Artworks
SKU: 2783-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:230 x 175 cm
Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, Italy
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:230 x 175 cm
Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome, Italy
SKU: 10967-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:124 x 90 cm
Private Collection
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:124 x 90 cm
Private Collection
SKU: 10951-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:125 x 101 cm
Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:125 x 101 cm
Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy
SKU: 10965-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:202.5 x 152.7 cm
Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, USA
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:202.5 x 152.7 cm
Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, USA
SKU: 10980-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:116 x 140 cm
Palacio Real, Madrid, Spain
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:116 x 140 cm
Palacio Real, Madrid, Spain
SKU: 6891-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:141 x 175 cm
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, Italy
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:141 x 175 cm
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, Italy
SKU: 10977-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:117 x 157 cm
Co-Cathedral of St. John, Valleta, Malta
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:117 x 157 cm
Co-Cathedral of St. John, Valleta, Malta
SKU: 10959-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:361 x 520 cm
Co-Cathedral of St. John, Valleta, Malta
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:361 x 520 cm
Co-Cathedral of St. John, Valleta, Malta
SKU: 10958-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:116 x 151.2 cm
Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rome, Italy
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:116 x 151.2 cm
Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rome, Italy
SKU: 2778-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:141 x 196.2 cm
National Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:141 x 196.2 cm
National Gallery, London, United Kingdom
SKU: 10979-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:380 x 275 cm
Museo Nazionale, Messina, Italy
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:380 x 275 cm
Museo Nazionale, Messina, Italy
SKU: 10971-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:369 x 245 cm
Louvre Museum, Paris, France
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:369 x 245 cm
Louvre Museum, Paris, France
SKU: 10950-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:159 x 124 cm
Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:159 x 124 cm
Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy
SKU: 10964-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:61 x 48.3 cm
The Royal Collection, London, United Kingdom
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:61 x 48.3 cm
The Royal Collection, London, United Kingdom
SKU: 2794-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:173.4 x 132.1 cm
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, USA
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:173.4 x 132.1 cm
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, USA
SKU: 10972-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:178 x 125 cm
Galleria del Palazzo degli Alberti, Prato, Italy
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:178 x 125 cm
Galleria del Palazzo degli Alberti, Prato, Italy
SKU: 10555-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:314 x 211 cm
Museo Nazionale, Messina, Italy
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:314 x 211 cm
Museo Nazionale, Messina, Italy
SKU: 2770-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:70 x 67 cm
Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:70 x 67 cm
Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy
SKU: 10940-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:134 x 175.5 cm
Musee des Beaux-Arts, Rouen, France
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:134 x 175.5 cm
Musee des Beaux-Arts, Rouen, France
SKU: 10945-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:72 x 105 cm
Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:72 x 105 cm
Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy
SKU: 10941-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:unknown
Private Collection
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:unknown
Private Collection
SKU: 10968-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:60 x 48 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:60 x 48 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy
SKU: 10953-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:154 x 178 cm
Private Collection
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:154 x 178 cm
Private Collection
SKU: 10978-CMM
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:130 x 90 cm
Museo Civico Ala Ponzone, Cremona, Italy
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio
Original Size:130 x 90 cm
Museo Civico Ala Ponzone, Cremona, Italy