Death of Caravaggio

Caravaggio died on 18 July 1610 in Porto Ercole, aged 38. An Italian painter born Michelangelo Merisi, Caravaggio transformed European art with his dramatic use of light and shadow and his unidealized realism. Working in Rome, he painted religious scenes such as The Calling of Saint Matthew using ordinary people as models, which both scandalized and thrilled patrons. His turbulent life included brawls and a fatal duel in 1606, after which he fled Rome and worked in Naples, Malta and Sicily. His style, known as tenebrism, strongly influenced the Baroque and painters such as Rembrandt, Rubens and Velazquez.

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