2.  Born in 1571 in Milan, Italy  When he was just 6 years old all the men in his family died because of the plague  When he was 13 he lost his mother as well

3.  Caravaggio was famous for his adventurous, wild, ill-tempered personality and life style  The year his mother died he started to apprentice under the artist Simone Peterzano  When he was in his early 20’s Caravaggio moved to Rome Italy to escape “certain quarrels” and trouble with the law, he had hurt a police officer

4.  When he got to Rome he had nothing. He was broke, homeless, and hungry.  He eventually found work in a workshop.  While living in Rome Caravaggio grew in fame as an artist, however, he also became notorious for brawling. He had several pages of police records on him

5.  So far Caravaggio had gotten away with his antics because he was supported by powerful, wealthy people in town, the people he painted for  However, in 1606 Caravaggio’s chaotic life style caught up to him when he killed a man (possibly on accident) over a tennis game

6.  In serious trouble he ran to Naples where he lived and worked for a few months before moving again to Malta  While in Malta he hoped to win over the affections of the officials and get a pardon for the murder he committed  At first this worked, but then he was arrested and imprisoned for fighting and injuring an official

7.  Some how he managed to escape from prison, climb down a cliff into the ocean, and swim some 3 miles before being picked up by a boat

8.  After getting out of prison he made his way to Sicily  But after only 9 months there he was being chased by enemies and fled back to Naples  While in Naples someone tried to kill him but ended up only seriously maiming his face

9.  At this point there was a death warrant out for Caravaggio, the officials wanted his head  In an attempt to get a pardon for all his illicit behavior Caravaggio sent paintings to several high ranking officials

12.  On his way back to Rome, supposedly to pick up the pardon, Caravaggio died. The year was 1610, he was just 38 years old  How he died is still a mystery. Most likely it was from a fever, however some people believe he was murdered by one of his many enemies, and some believed he had lead poisoning

13.  Somehow, despite his life style, Caravaggio managed to make a great deal of paintings.  Caravaggio influenced a huge range of artists, he influenced the culture he was living in, and he changed the course of western art  It is said that “modern painting” begins with Caravaggio. His art started several movements after his death and influenced several very famous artists

14.  It is said that Caravaggio changed the course of art history. But why? How?  One important influence Caravaggio had was his use of chiaroscuro. He made this shading technique famous.  Chiaroscuro is: Italian term that literally means “Light dark”. A style of artwork where contrast is emphasized.

15.  His use of chiaroscuro created paintings that look very dramatic and intense.

16.  Another important influence Caravaggio had was using common people, or peasants as his models for painting images of religious figures.  In the time this was unique but controversial because all religious figures were painted as looking inhuman, or grander than human.