Ottavio Leoni. Image source · Public domain
The people behind the art
1571 to 1610
Caravaggio was an Italian painter whose dramatic lighting and direct treatment of religious subjects transformed European painting. Born Michelangelo Merisi, he moved to Rome in 1592 and gained major public commissions through Cardinal Francesco del Monte. His influence spread through artists who adapted his strong contrasts of light and shadow.
5 artworks in the archive
In the archive
Artist: Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio)
A mythological painting by Caravaggio, made around 1600, showing Narcissus fixed on his own reflection in a dark pool. The account draws on the supplied object record and stays close to what it supports, distinguishing the visible scene from documentable facts and curatorial interpretation.
Artist: Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio)
A late painting by Caravaggio showing Salome with the severed head of John the Baptist, made around 1610 and now in the National Gallery, London. This short tour explains the biblical episode, the figures, and how the picture turns a gruesome subject into a quiet, troubling scene.
Artist: Caravaggio
An attentive docent's reading of Caravaggio's Saint Jerome Writing, made around 1608 and held at St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta. The guide identifies the subject, explains the visible choices Caravaggio made, and places the painting in its early seventeenth-century context, keeping observation, interpretation and documented history distinct.
Artist: Caravaggio
A docent-led reading of Caravaggio's Crucifixion of Saint Peter, painted around 1600 for the Cerasi Chapel. The account stays with what the supplied record establishes: the martyrdom of Saint Peter, the men raising the cross, and the painting's place within the chapel's Caravaggio cycle.
Artist: Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio
A young god holds out a glass of wine, his face flushed, his gaze unsteady. For centuries this painting was lost in storage, until a sharp-eyed scholar recognised the hand of Caravaggio. The story of how Bacchus came back into the light reveals as much about the artist's early career as it does about the painting itself.
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