Caravaggio 1571 - 1610

Caravaggio was born Michelangelo Merisi in 1571 in Milan. He was one the most extraordinary characters in the history of Arts. His career was punctuated by series of acts of physical violence, and he had dealt with several disputes with top religious leaders about on his unconventional attitude towards religious theme.
He established himself in Rome, of course with much of a struggle. In his early 30s he had achieved fame, his dramatic use of light and shade together with uncompromising realism created a new pictorial vocabulary for European art.

At the heights of his career, he fled to Rome after killing a man in a duel, and the rest of his short life was spent restlessly moving from place to place. He died at the age of 38 in absolute poverty.
These are few of his favoured works that I collected over the years.