Caravaggio

Caravaggio was an Italian Baroque painter born in Milan in 1571. He is known for his dramatic use of light and dark, known as chiaroscuro, and his realistic portrayal of subjects.Caravaggio's early career was spent in Rome, where he gained recognition for his paintings of religious subjects. However, his unconventional style and often controversial subject matter caused him to fall out of favor with the Church and he spent the later years of his life moving from place to place, often in exile.Despite his tumultuous life, Caravaggio's influence on art is profound. His use of light and shadow has been imitated by countless artists, and his realism and focus on ordinary people and events foreshadowed the rise of genre painting in the centuries that followed.