CARAVAGGIO BIOGRAPHY! Radical Italian Baroque painter, raving lunatic sword fighter/murderer who shocked the art world by painting naturalistic images of religious subjects.

HOME PAGE STORE DVD KAT NEWS MUSIC SHRED BLOG METAL VIDEOS HOT PHOTOS ARTICLES RADIO GUESTBOOK KAT BIO CLASSICAL COMPOSERS GENIUSES REVIEW COPIES CONTACT KAT		CARAVAGGIO "The Supper at Emmaus" (1601) MICHELANGELO MERISI DA CARAVAGGIO BIOGRAPHY 1571-1610 Caravaggio was a radical Italian Baroque painter, raving lunatic sword fighter/murderer who shocked the art world by painting naturalistic images of religious subjects. He was the innovator of using transparent shading penetrated by a bright light from a high source to depict divinity. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was born on September 29, 1571 in Caravaggio, Italy - which is where he got his surname. He was an orphan by the age of 11. Caravaggio received an apprenticeship in Milan and won a cardinal's patronage at the age of 19. He began painting religious settings which featured common, ordinary, realistic looking people in current settings, instead of glorifying the saints that were painted at the time. This was considered shocking and radical. Among his famous works are "The Supper at Emmaus" (1601), "The Deposition of Christ" (1602-1604) and "Death of the Virgin" (1605-1606), which featured a virgin with bare legs and fat stomach--this was promptly rejected by the Carmelites. Caravaggio was famous for his depiction of realistic looking people, as in the "Madonna of Loreto" (1604), where the subjects have dirty feet facing towards the viewer. Caravaggio began using dramatic transparent shading penetrated by a bright light from a high source to depict ecstasy or divinity. The people in his painting are often coming out of darkness, with their faces and bodies strongly lit up. Caravaggio painted directly on canvas, which was against common day protocol. Caravaggio's famous "The Annunciation" (1608) features his later-style loose brushwork. Caravaggio had a violent temper. At around 29 years old, his name began appearing in police records. In 1600 Caravaggio was arrested for a sword fight in which he wounded a guard, which was really only a sport wound. He also was arrested for writing insulting verses about another artist, attacking a waiter, stoning a police officer and wounding a notary in a fight over a girl. While all this insanity was happening, Caravaggio was becoming known for his controversial paintings, which critics described as vulgar. In 1606, Caravaggio got into an argument with his tennis opponent over the score. This led to a sword fight, which Caravaggio won by killing the man. He fled the town and went to Malta, where he was made a knight after painting a portrait of the head of the Knights of Malta. Only a few months later, Caravaggio was involved in another sword fight with his superior officer and was jailed. By 1608, Caravaggio escaped jail and was on the run from the Knights of Malta. They finally caught up with Caravaggio and mutilated his face almost beyond recognition. In 1610, a sickly Caravaggio was walking on a beach in Tuscany and had a fever. Caravaggio collapsed and died at the age of 38 on July 18, 1610 on the beach. During his lifetime, Caravaggio was dismissed by critics as a passing fad. 400 years later Caravaggio is now getting worldwide recognition for his brilliant and controversial masterpieces. The contents of all music, photos, graphics, text and videos are protected by copyright and may not be used or reproduced without prior express written authorization from the publisher.