Key Works: Caravaggio

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was a Baroque, Italian painter who, along with his hot temper, was known for powerful portraits and religious scenes, which he painted either from life or preparatory sketches. He was known as the master of chiaroscuro, the juxtaposition of light and dark. To achieve dramatic effects and invoke emotion, Caravaggio placed strong beams of light, often from inexplicable sources, onto his closely observed models.