Caravaggio paintings. Biography of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio born in 1571 in Italy in Lombardy. It is still unknown where this outstanding man was born, nor the date of his birth. Scientists suggest that he could have been born in Milan, or in a small town near Milan - Caravaggio. Michelangelo was the eldest son in the family. He had three brothers and a sister, who was the youngest. Their father was a construction worker and had a good salary and education.

When the plague began in 1576, Michelangelo's family had to move from Milan back to Caravaggio. In 1577, his father died, and then some problems began in the family. Nothing else is known during this period about the biography of Michelangelo Merisi.

The next date, 1584, interrupted this period. Michelangelo became a student of the Milanese artist Simone Peterzano. After studying with this unjustly forgotten painter, Michelangelo was supposed to receive the title of artist, but unfortunately no supporting facts about this have survived.

In 1592, the Caravaggio family again experienced another tragedy - their mother died. After this incident, the entire inheritance of the parents was divided between the children. Michelangelo received a good share, which was enough to leave his hometown and move to Rome. According to some reports, Michelangelo did not just escape from Milan. Many biographers believe that he killed a man, or seriously injured him, so he needed to move.

During his first stay in the capital of Italy, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio had difficulty finding work, but he soon became an apprentice to Giuseppe Cesari, who was considered at that time one of the best artists in Italy. But their collaboration was short-lived. Caravaggio was hospitalized after being hit very hard by a horse. After his recovery, he decided to work on his own.

It was then that Cardinal Francesco del Moite met Michelangelo on his way. He came across several paintings by Caravaggio and really liked them. Moite was an educated and cultured man, appreciated art and was friends with Galileo. In 1597, the cardinal took the young artist into his service, providing him with a good salary. So another 3 years passed from Michelangelo’s biography, and they were not in vain. The artist was noticed, and he began to receive more and more orders. It was at this time that he painted such paintings as “The Calling of the Apostle Matthew” and “The Martyrdom of the Apostle Matthew”, as well as “The Crucifixion of the Apostle Peter”.

Caravgio's contemporaries were amazed by his talent. He painted very realistically, his paintings were filled with drama and were very original. He painted contrary to the religious standards that existed at that time. Of course, there were also opponents of his work, who believed that he portrayed saints in a very down-to-earth way. Thus, his painting “St. Matthew and the Angel” was rejected by church ministers as unworthy. It was this painting that was acquired by the famous collector of that time, Marquis Vincenzo Giustiniani, who subsequently bought more than 15 paintings from Caravaggio. Michelangelo rewrote the painting rejected by the church.

By 1604, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio had become Italy's most famous artist of his time, but not only that, he was also known as the most scandalous artist, because heated debates always flared up around his paintings. But the name of Caravaggio was also associated with notoriety, the glory of a criminal. His name appeared more than 10 times on the list of those who broke the law with their careless antics. Of these, we can list such as carrying a bladed weapon without permission (Caravaggio carried a huge dagger with him), throwing a tray in the face of a waiter, breaking glass in the house. The artist was even in prison for some time. On May 28, 1606, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio killed a man. If earlier, when he was still living in his homeland, this fact was not confirmed, then this time it is known for certain. After a fight that arose while playing ball, this misfortune happened. Michelangelo had to flee. He had to spend the remaining 4 years of his life in exile.

At first he was located not far from Rome. He still hoped that he would be pardoned. Realizing that this was impossible, he went to Naples. And even there he found customers. After living for 9 months, he moved to Malta. In Malta, Caravaggio worked very productively, and for his services to the Order of Malta, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was knighted. But everything could not be so smooth; the artist’s temper made itself felt. After another skirmish with a high-ranking adviser to the order, Michelangelo was imprisoned, from which he escaped to Sicily.

By the end of the artist’s life, the authorities were no longer looking for him; now he had another danger - the revenge of the Hospitallers. In the fall of 1609, Michelangelo was seriously injured; his face was disfigured. In 1610, irony played a cruel joke on the artist; he went to prison, but by mistake! He was soon released. But he fell ill with malaria and died on July 18, 1610, at the age of 39.

Michelangelo Caravaggio (1571 - 1610) - Italian artist, reformer of European painting of the 17th century, founder of realism in painting, one of the greatest masters of the Baroque. He was one of the first to use the “chiaroscuro” style of painting - a sharp contrast of light and shadow. Not a single drawing or sketch was found; the artist immediately realized his complex compositions on canvas.

Life and work of Caravaggio

Italian painter. Born September 28, 1573. Studied in Milan (1584-1588); worked in Rome (until 1606), Naples (1607 and 1609-1610), on the islands of Malta and Sicily (1608-1609). Caravaggio, who did not belong to a specific art school, already in his early works contrasted the individual expressiveness of the model, simple everyday motifs (“Little Sick Bacchus”, “Young Man with a Basket of Fruit” - both in the Borghese Gallery, Rome) with the idealization of images and the allegorical interpretation of the plot characteristic of the art of mannerism and academicism.

Little sick Bacchus Young man with a basket of fruit Rest on the way to Egypt Fortune teller

He gave a completely new, intimate psychological interpretation to traditional religious themes (“Rest on the Flight to Egypt”, Doria Pamphili Gallery, Rome). The artist made a great contribution to the development of the everyday genre (“Fortune Teller”, Louvre, Paris and others).

The mature works of the artist Caravaggio are monumental canvases with exceptional dramatic power (“The Calling of the Apostle Matthew” and “The Martyrdom of the Apostle Matthew”, 1599-1600, Church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome; “Entombment”, 1602-1604, Pinacoteca , Vatican; “The Death of Mary”, circa 1605-1606, Louvre, Paris).

Calling of the Apostle Matthew Martyrdom of the Apostle Matthew Entombment Death of Mary

Caravaggio's painting style during this period was based on powerful contrasts of light and shadow, expressive simplicity of gestures, energetic sculpting of volumes, richness of color - techniques that create emotional tension, acute affectation of feelings. The emphasized “common people” of the types and the affirmation of the ideals of democracy put Caravaggio in opposition to modern art, dooming him in the last years of his life to wandering around the south of Italy. In his later works, Caravaggio addresses the theme of a person’s loneliness in a world hostile to him; he is attracted by the image of a small community of people united by family closeness and spiritual warmth (“The Burial of Saint Lucia”, 1608, Church of Santa Lucia, Syracuse).

The light in his paintings becomes soft and moving, the coloring tends toward tonal unity, and his painting style takes on the character of free improvisation. The events of Caravaggio's biography are striking in their drama. Caravaggio had a very hot-tempered, unbalanced and complex character. Beginning in 1600, the time of Caravaggio's greatest creative peak, his name began to appear constantly in the protocols of the Roman police.

At first, Caravaggio and his friends committed minor illegal actions (threats, obscene poetry, insults), for which they were brought to trial. But in 1606, the artist, in the heat of a quarrel during a ball game, committed murder and since then was forced to hide from the police.

After the murder, the artist fled from Rome to Naples. There he continued to work on large orders; his art had a decisive influence on the development of the Neapolitan school of painting. In 1608, Caravaggio moved to Malta, where he painted a portrait of the Master of the Order of Malta and himself joined the order. But soon Caravaggio had to flee from there to Sicily because of his hot temper. After living in Sicily for some time, the artist returned to Naples in 1609, where he was attacked in a port tavern and mutilated. At this time, Caravaggio was already ill with malaria, from an attack of which he died on July 18, 1610. Caravaggio’s harsh realism was not understood by his contemporaries, adherents of “high art.” The appeal to nature, which he made the direct object of depiction in his works, and the truthfulness of its interpretation caused many attacks on the artist from the clergy and officials. Nevertheless, in Italy itself there were many of his followers, called Caravaggists.

Caravaggio's influence on the art world

Caravaggio’s creative style had a direct influence on the formation of the Caravaggism movement, an independent movement in European art of the 17th century. Caravaggism is characterized by democratism of the image system, a heightened sense of real objectivity, the materiality of the image, the active role of light and shadow contrasts in the pictorial and plastic solution of the picture, and the monumentalization of genre and everyday motifs. In Italy, where the tendencies of Caravaggism remained relevant until the end of the 17th century and were especially reflected in the painting of Rome, Genoa and Naples, the most powerful and original interpretation of Caravaggio’s legacy was received in the work of the Italian artist Orazio Gentileschi and his daughter Artemisia.

But even more significant was the influence of Caravaggio’s work outside Italy.

Not a single major painter of that time passed by the passion for Caravaggism, which was an important stage on the path of European realistic art. Among the European masters of Caravaggism outside Italy, the most significant is the work of the Utrecht Caravaggists in Holland (Gerrit van Honthorst, Hendrik Terbruggen, etc.), as well as Jusepe de Ribera in Spain and Adam Elsheimer in Germany. Peter Paul Rubens, Diego Velazquez, Rembrandt van Rijn, and Georges de La Tour went through the stage of Caravaggism. The influence of individual techniques of Caravaggism is also noticeable in the works of some academic masters (Guido Reni, Sebastiano Ricci in Italy and William-Adolphe Bouguereau in France) and Baroque (Karel Skret in the Czech Republic and others).

Caravaggio's devotion to realism sometimes went very far.

Such an extreme case is the story of the creation of the painting “The Raising of Lazarus.” Referring to eyewitness accounts, the writer Suzinno tells how the artist ordered the body of a recently murdered young man dug out of the grave to be brought into the spacious workshop space allocated for the workshop at the Crusader Brotherhood Hospital and to undress him in order to achieve greater authenticity when writing Lazarus. Two hired sitters flatly refused to pose, holding in their hands a corpse that had already begun to decompose. Then, angry, Caravaggio pulled out a dagger and forced them to submit to his will.

CARAVAGGIO (Caravaggio; real name Michelangelo da Merisi, Michelangelo da Merisi), Italian painter. The largest representative of Baroque art. Until the early 1590s he studied with the Milanese artist S. Peterzano; in 1592 he left for Rome, possibly visiting Venice along the way. Formed under the influence of northern Italian masters (G. Savoldo, A. Moretto, G. Romanino, L. Lotto). For some time he worked as an assistant to the Roman mannerist artist G. Cesari (Cavalier d'Arpino), in whose workshop he completed his first works ("Boy with a Basket of Fruit", 1593-94; "Sick Bacchus", circa 1593, both in the Borghese Gallery , Rome). Thanks to the painting dealer Maestro Valentino, Caravaggio met Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, who became the master's patron and introduced him to the artistic environment of Rome. The best paintings of the early Roman period were painted for Cardinal del Monte: “Bacchus” (1595-97, Uffizi Gallery, Florence), “The Lute Player” (1595-97, Hermitage, St. Petersburg), “Fruit Basket” (1598-1601 , Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan). In the works of the late 1590s, the mastery of the illusionistic transfer of materiality (which is especially noticeable in the still lifes that the artist includes in his paintings) is combined with its poeticization. Full of poetic charm and classical reminiscences, mythological allegory images (“Concert”, 1595-97, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; “Cupid the Victorious”, circa 1603, Art Gallery, Berlin) in addition to the literal, also carry a hidden meaning that is understandable to the educated to the Roman public of the time and often inaccessible to modern viewers.

At this time, Caravaggio opened up new possibilities for painting, turning for the first time to still life and the “adventurous” genre (“Fortune Teller,” circa 1596-97, Louvre, Paris), which was further developed among his followers and became very popular in European painting of the 17th century, as well as to the depiction of a mythological image as a common folk type (“Narcissus”, 1598-99, National Gallery of Ancient Art, Rome). In his early religious works, the poetic interpretation of the plot as a moral example (“St. Martha talks with Mary Magdalene,” circa 1598, Institute of Arts, Detroit; “St. Catherine of Alexandria,” circa 1598, Thyssen-Bornemisza collection, Madrid), as a deep spiritual experience (“St. Mary Magdalene”, circa 1596-97, Doria Pamphili Gallery, Rome; “Ecstasy of St. Francis”, 1597-98, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, USA), as a revealed divine presence in the world (“Rest” on the way to Egypt", 1596-97, Doria Pamphili Gallery, Rome) is combined with dramatic scenes of violence and death ("Judith", circa 1598, National Gallery of Ancient Art, Rome; "Sacrifice of Abraham", 1601-02, gallery Uffizi. Florence).

Caravaggio's first major church commission was a cycle of paintings for the chapel of the French cardinal Matteo Contarelli in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi (1599-1600) in Rome. In the scenes of the calling and martyrdom of the Apostle Matthew, Caravaggio fundamentally updates the concept of religious painting, in which light begins to play a special role, transforming and dramatizing the gospel event. In “The Calling of the Apostle Matthew” (see illustrations for the article Jesus Christ), the light cutting through the darkness of the room has both a real physical nature and a metaphorical meaning (the light of Divine truth illuminating the path to salvation). The mesmerizing expressiveness of Caravaggio’s paintings is based on the ability to accurately convey the real motive, without reducing it to everyday life. The first version of the altar painting for the chapel “St. Matthew and the Angel" (1602, died in Berlin during the 2nd World War) was rejected by customers due to the overly common appearance of the apostle. In the final version (1602-03), Caravaggio achieved greater coherence and solemnity of the composition, maintaining a living spontaneity in the appearance and movement of the two figures.

In 1601, Caravaggio painted two paintings - “The Conversion of Saul” and “The Crucifixion of the Apostle Peter” for the T. Cerasi Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome. In them, as in the cycle for the Contarelli chapel, a new religious attitude, characteristic of the time of the Counter-Reformation, found expression: the ordinary everyday life of human existence is transformed by the Divine presence; the sincere faith of the poor and suffering is manifested in piety, in the purity of popular charity. Each work of Caravaggio is a living fragment of reality, depicted with maximum authenticity and deeply experienced by the artist, who is trying to comprehend the events of Christian history, understand their motivating reasons and transform his thoughts into plastic forms that obey the laws of figurative dramaturgy. The realism of Caravaggio’s religious works, far from the ideals of beauty developed by the masters of the Renaissance, is close to the religious ethics of St. Charles Borromean and the popular piety of F. Neri, which is especially noticeable in such works of the Roman period as “Christ at Emmaus” (1601, National Gallery, London) , “The Assurance of Thomas” (1602-03, Sanssouci Palace, Potsdam), “Madonna with Pilgrims” (1604-05, Church of Sant’Agostino, Rome) and “Madonna with the Snake” (1605-08, Galleria Borghese), "Saint Jerome" (1605-06, Borghese Gallery). Caravaggio’s best works of this time are distinguished by their dramatic power: “Entombment” (1602-04, Vatican Pinacoteca) and “Assumption of Mary” (circa 1600-03, Louvre, Paris), in which he reaches the fullness of creative maturity. Powerful contrasts of light and shadow, the common people's unpretentiousness of images, the expressive laconicism of gestures with the energetic sculpting of plastic volumes and the richness of sonorous color allow the artist to achieve unprecedented depth and sincerity in conveying religious feelings, encouraging the viewer to empathize with the events of the gospel drama.

Caravaggio's independent character often brought him into conflict with the law. In 1606, during a ball game, Caravaggio committed murder in a quarrel, after which he fled from Rome to Naples, from where in 1607 he moved to the island of Malta, where he was accepted into the Order of Malta. However, after a quarrel with a high-ranking member of the order, the artist was thrown into prison, from where he fled to the island of Sicily. Due to persecution by the Order of Malta, which expelled him from its ranks, he decided to return to Rome in 1610, hoping for help from influential patrons, but died of a fever on the way. During his wanderings, Caravaggio created a number of outstanding works of religious painting. In Naples in 1606-07 he painted for the church of San Domenico Maggiore large altar paintings “The Seven Works of Mercy” (Church of Pio Monte della Misericordia, Naples), “Madonna of the Rosary” (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) and “ The Flagellation of Christ" (Capodimonte Museum, Naples); in Malta in 1607-08 - “The Beheading of John the Baptist” and “St. Jerome” (both in the Church of John the Baptist, Valletta); in Sicily in 1609 - “Burial of St. Lucia" for the church of Santa Lucia (Regional Museum of Palazzo Bellomo, Syracuse), "The Raising of Lazarus" for the Genoese merchant Lazzari and "Adoration of the Shepherds" for the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli (both in the National Museum, Messina). The intense drama inherent in the artist’s art takes on the character of an epic tragedy in his later works. Monumental canvases, built on the relationship between a dull, dark background and large figures in the foreground, illuminated by flashes of pulsating light, have an extraordinary power of emotional impact, involving the viewer in the events depicted. The last years of Caravaggio’s life also include the painting “David with the Head of Goliath” (circa 1610, Galleria Borghese, Rome), where in the appearance of Goliath, whose head David holds on his outstretched hand, one can discern the facial features of the artist himself.

Caravaggio's work had a great influence on the contemporary art of not only Italy, but also Europe as a whole, affecting the majority of artists working at that time (see Caravaggism).

Lit.: Marangoni M. Il Caravaggio. Firenze, 1922; Znamerovskaya T. P. Michelangelo da Caravaggio. M., 1955; Vsevolozhskaya S. Michelangelo da Caravaggio. M., 1960; Röttgen N. Il Caravaggio: ricerche e interpretazioni. Rome, 1974; Michelangelo da Caravaggio. Documents, memories of contemporaries. M., 1975; Hibbard N. Caravaggio. L., 1983; Longhi R. Caravaggio // Longhi R. From Cimabue to Morandi. M., 1984; Caravaggio e il suo tempo. Cat. Napoli, 1985; Marini M. Caravaggio. Rome, 1987; Calvesi M. La realtà del Caravaggio. Torino, 1990; Cinotti M. Caravaggio: la vita e l’opera. Bergamo, 1991; Longhi R. Caravaggio. 3. Aufl. Dresden; Basel, 1993; Gash J. Caravaggio. N.Y., 1994; Bonsanti G. Caravaggio. M., 1995; Sviderskaya M. I. Caravaggio. The first modern artist. St. Petersburg, 2001; Lambert J. Caravaggio. M., 2004; Caravaggio: Originale und Kopien im Spiegel der Forschung / Hrsg. von J. Harten. Stuttg., 2006.

September 29, 2018

The phenomenal creativity of the genius, which upended generally accepted ideas about painting, radically influenced the entire course of development of fine art not only in Italy, but throughout Europe. An outspoken rebel and tireless rebel, exceptional talent and a real genius - all this is about Caravaggio, a great artist and experimenter who became a reformer of European painting and, overnight, one of the most scandalous artists of all time.

Caravaggio. Self-portrait

Biography of Caravaggio

Michelangelo Merisi, as the artist's real name sounds, was born on September 29, 1571 in the family of a wealthy and quite famous in his time architect Fermo Merisi in Milan. The date of birth is inaccurate as no documents have been found to that effect. Only the baptismal record, dated September 30, has survived, which says: “On the 30th, Michelangelo, son of Fermo Merisi and Lucia de Oratoribus, was baptized.” On September 29, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of the Archangel Michael and, apparently, that is why this day is considered the artist’s birthday. Michelangelo had a younger sister named Caterina and two brothers, one of whom later became a clergyman.

In 1577, during another outbreak of plague, the family, fleeing, was forced to leave for the hometown of Fermo and Lucia, in Caravaggio, located near Milan. However, this monstrous disease still managed to overtake the Merisi family, claiming the lives of Michelangelo’s father, grandfather and grandmother.

After the end of the epidemic, in 1584 Caravaggio returned to Milan and began learning the basics of painting in the workshop of Simone Peterzano, a student of the famous Titian. Here he not only learned the intricacies of the Lombard school, but also gained his first experience. Unfortunately, Merisi's early works, written in Milan, have not survived to this day.

Paintings by Caravaggio in Palazzo Barberini

In 1592, shortly after the death of his mother, Michelangelo, having sold the property of his parents and dividing the proceeds with his brothers, went to Rome. Although the first documentary evidence of Merisi’s presence in Rome dates back to 1596, this does not exclude the possibility that the artist arrived in the Eternal City much earlier. Perhaps the young man, prone to riotous living, simply enjoyed a comfortable existence with the money received after the sale of his inheritance. And when the latter ran out, he had to look for work. So, in 1996 he ended up in the workshop of the Sicilian artist Lorenzo Carli.

A young man with a basket of fruit. Caravaggio. 1593-1594

However, one of the biographers, Giovanni Pietro Bellori, states in his notes that Michelangelo Merisi, before arriving in Rome, traveled to Venice with Peterzano, where he gained experience from the famous Venetian school. To date, no documentary evidence of Caravaggio’s stay in Venice during this period has been found, as well as references in the works of other biographers. And the influence of the Venetian school of painting on the formation of Caravaggio’s style could have occurred without his trip to the Most Serene Republic.

Caravaggio in Rome

In one of the artist’s biographies it is mentioned that since 1594 Merisi lived with his friend Pandolfo Pucci, thanks to whom he received his nickname - Monsignor Insalata, in honor of the salad (in Italian). insalata), which was the only food item in Michelangelo's diet. This is confirmed by the fact that already in 1994 Merisi was left completely without money and without a roof over his head.

In Rome, Caravaggio worked with such artists as Lorenzo Carli, mentioned above, Antiveduto Gramatica, with whom the creative relationship was very fleeting, and, ultimately, with Giuseppe Cesari, in whose workshop Merisi spent several months. During this period, Caravaggio helped paint one of the chapels in the Basilica of San Prassede. The relationship with Cesari was interrupted after Caravaggio's sudden illness and hospitalization.

In 1597, thanks to Prospero Orsi, a close friend of the artist, Michelangelo Merisi was noticed by Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monti, a famous cultural figure and passionate admirer of the arts. He not only appreciated the talent of the young master and acquired some of his works for his collection, but also took Caravaggio into his service. From that moment on, the fame of the Lombard artist began to grow inexorably in the circles of the Roman nobility. His works, executed in a completely new, unprecedented style, became the subject of lively discussions. This period is also a turning point in Caravaggio’s work: multi-figure compositions began to appear on his canvases. One of the first works of this period was the painting “Rest on the Flight to Egypt.”

Rest on the way to Egypt. Caravaggio. 1596-1597

In just a few years, the fame of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio reached incredible heights, turning the artist into a living legend. Thanks to Cardinal del Monti, Caravaggio received a large public commission to paint canvases dedicated to the life of St. Matthew for the Contarelli Chapel in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi. The artist completed these works in less than a year.

Paintings by Caravaggio in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi

After this, the master began painting paintings for: “The Crucifixion of St. Peter” and “The Conversion of the Apostle Paul” commissioned by Monsignor Tiberio Cerasi for his own family chapel.

Crucifixion of St. Petra. Caravaggio. 1601

Conversion of Saul. Caravaggio. 1601

Provocateur and genius Caravaggio

Caravaggio's popularity did not stop growing, just as conversations about him did not stop. His work was admired just as much as it was condemned, and Merisi continued to create his scandalous works and provoke society.

Salome with the head of John the Baptist. Caravaggio. 1607

The artist's hot temper, addiction to gambling and noisy parties continued to destroy his life, and even multiple arrests could not tame the rebellious nature of the genius.

Giovanni Pietro Bellori, one of the artist’s first biographers, more than once describes cases of Caravaggio’s participation in mass brawls. During one of these clashes, which occurred back in Milan, a young man died. All suspicions fell on the inveterate rebel Merisi, who had to urgently flee the city in order to avoid arrest. So the genius ended up in Rome, but this incident did not become a lesson for him.

The complex character of the artist has more than once led to sad consequences. Caravaggio was arrested many times due to his outrageous behavior, participation in fights and destruction, illegal carrying of weapons, etc. And one day Michelangelo was brought to trial because, together with his friends, he wrote and distributed offensive poems around the city addressed to another artist Giovanni Baglione. In 1605, Merisi was forced to flee from Rome to Genoa for several weeks because he stabbed a famous notary with whom he had quarreled over his beloved. Caravaggio was often saved from arrest and imprisonment by famous statesmen and influential friends. They say that the French ambassador came to his aid more than once. But this did not always continue.

Holy Family with John the Baptist. Caravaggio. Around 1603

On May 28, 1606, during a ball game on the Champs de Mars, Caravaggio clashed with Mariano Pasculone. No one ever found out the exact cause of the fight. Some said that a woman came between them, others said that the cause was political differences. But be that as it may, as a result, Merisi was seriously wounded and his opponent was killed. Despite the fact that Michelangelo managed to escape from the crime scene, the trial in this case still took place, even without the participation of the accused.

Filippo I Colonna. Engraving.

This time the court verdict was very cruel: Caravaggio was sentenced to beheading. Now it was not safe for Merisi to go out into the street - the sentence could be carried out by anyone who identified the culprit. Perhaps Caravaggio was just lucky, because this time they came to his aid. Filippo I Colonna. A representative of a noble Roman family not only helped the artist escape from Rome, but also provided the prosecution with a series of evidence of Michelangelo’s innocence, persuading his numerous relatives to become witnesses. A few months later, Colonna sent Caravaggio to Naples to stay with his relatives, where he stayed for almost a whole year. During this time, the master managed to create many works, including:

“The Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist” (1607), currently kept in a private collection;
“Salome with the Head of John the Baptist” (1607), located in the collections of the National Gallery in London;
“Madonna of the Rosary,” commissioned by the Carafa-Colonna family, is one of the most significant works of this period.

Madonna of the Rosary. Caravaggio. 1607

After Naples, Caravaggio, remaining under the protection of Colonna, went to Malta. Here Merisi met the great teacher of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (Order of Malta) and a year later, in July 1608, after undergoing special training, he was ordained a knight. Life seemed to be getting better, but the artist’s bad character made itself felt here too. After a serious quarrel with a cavalier of the order, who was of a higher rank, it became clear that Merisi was involved in a murder in Rome. As a result, he was arrested. But even here Caravaggio was lucky. He managed to escape from prison and without problems get to Sicily, where for some time he stayed with his longtime friend.

The last years of Caravaggio's life

Soon after this, Caravaggio returned to Naples, where in the summer of 1609 unknown assailants attacked him, trying to kill him. The attempt, fortunately, was unsuccessful, but rumors of his death had already spread throughout the city. Here in Naples, Merisi lived with the Marchioness Constance Colonna for almost a year, until news came from Rome that Pope Paul V was preparing a document for his pardon.

Pope Paul V. Caravaggio. Date unknown

In July 1610, Caravaggio traveled to Rome on a small ship that made periodic trips between Naples and Porto Ercole (Tuscany). This flight did not include a call at the port of Ladispoli, where Caravaggio was supposed to disembark, however, according to certain agreements, the artist’s trip was supposed to take place this way. Unforeseen circumstances prevented the ship from mooring at this destination, and Merisi had to leave the ship without luggage. Everything would not be so sad if the maestro’s chests did not contain a rather valuable cargo - written agreements with Cardinal Scipione Borghese to pardon Caravaggio in exchange for some of his paintings. And the ship, meanwhile, continued on its way. Here they again came to the aid of the famous artist and helped him arrive in Porto Ercole as quickly as possible in order to pick up what he needed. But no matter how hard he tried, the ship had already set off in the opposite direction and now it would be possible to pick up the treasured document only by returning to Naples.

The Italian painter, one of the largest representatives of the Baroque Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was born on September 28, 1573 in the Italian village of Caravaggio. His father was the majordomo and architect of the Marquis Caravaggio. Until the early 1590s, Michelangelo da Caravaggio studied with the Milanese artist Simone Peterzano, leaving for Rome around 1593. At first he was poor and worked for hire. After some time, the fashionable painter Cesari d'Arpino took Caravaggio as an assistant in his workshop, where he painted still lifes on the master's monumental paintings.

At this time, such paintings by Caravaggio as “Little Sick Bacchus” and “Boy with a Basket of Fruit” were painted.

By nature he was an artist who plunged him into difficult and dangerous situations. He fought many duels, for which he was repeatedly imprisoned. He often spent his days in the company of gamblers, swindlers, brawlers, and adventurers. His name often appeared in police chronicles.

In 1595, in the person of Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, Caravaggio found an influential patron who introduced him to the artistic environment of Rome. For Cardinal del Monte, the artist painted some of his best paintings - "Fruit Basket", "Bacchus" and "Lute Player". At the end of the 1590s, the artist created such works as “Concert”, “Cupid the Winner”, “Fortune Teller”, “Narcissus”. Caravaggio opened up new possibilities for painting, turning for the first time to “pure” still life and the “adventurous” genre, which was further developed among his followers and was popular in European painting of the 17th century.

Among Caravaggio's early religious works are the paintings "Saint Martha Conversing with Mary Magdalene", "Saint Catherine of Alexandria", "Saint Mary Magdalene", "The Ecstasy of Saint Francis", "Rest on the Flight into Egypt", "Judith", "The Sacrifice of Abraham" .

At the turn of the 16th-17th centuries, Caravaggio created two cycles of paintings based on scenes from the life of the apostles. In the years 1597-1600, three paintings dedicated to the Apostle Matthew were painted for the Contarelli Chapel in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. Of these, only two have survived - “The Calling of the Apostle Matthew” and “The Martyrdom of the Apostle Matthew” (1599-1600). For the Cerasi Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome, Caravaggio completed two compositions - “The Conversion of Saul” and “The Crucifixion of the Apostle Peter”.

In 1602-1604, the artist painted "Entombment" ("Descent from the Cross") for the church of Santa Maria in Valicella in Rome. In 1603-1606 he created the composition "Madonna di Loreto" for the Church of Sant'Agostino. In 1606, the painting “The Assumption of Mary” was painted.

In 1606, after a quarrel during a ball game and the murder of his rival Rannuccio Tommasoni, Caravaggio fled from Rome to Naples, from where he moved to the island of Malta in 1607, where he was admitted to the Order of Malta. However, after a quarrel with a high-ranking member of the order, he was imprisoned, from where he fled to Sicily and then to southern Italy.

In 1609, Caravaggio returned to Naples, where he awaited pardon and permission to return to Rome.

During his wanderings, the artist created a number of outstanding works of religious painting. In Naples he painted large altarpieces "The Seven Works of Mercy" (Church of Pio Monte della Misaricordia), "Madonna of the Rosary" and "The Flagellation of Christ". In Malta, for the Church of San Domenico Maggiore, he created the paintings “The Beheading of John the Baptist” and “Saint Jerome”, in Sicily - “The Burial of Saint Lucia” for the Church of Saint Lucia, “The Raising of Lazarus” for the Genoese merchant Lazzari and “The Adoration of the Shepherds” for the church Santa Maria degli Angeli. Caravaggio's latest works also include the painting "David with the Head of Goliath", in which the head of Goliath supposedly represents a self-portrait of the artist.

In 1610, having received a pardon from Cardinal Gonzaga, the artist loaded his belongings onto a ship, intending to return to Rome, but never reached his destination. On the shore he was mistakenly arrested by the Spanish guards and detained for three days.

On July 18, 1610, Caravaggio died of an attack of malaria in the Italian town of Porto Ercole at the age of 37.

The work of Caravaggio had a significant influence not only on many Italian artists of the 17th century, but also on leading Western European masters - Peter Paul Rubens, Diego Velazquez, Jose de Ribera, and also gave birth to a new direction in art - Caravaggism.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources