Discover painter, engraver (printmaker) Caravaggio

Name variations

This field records and makes accessible name variations, as found in sources. Alternate spellings, nicknames, maiden names - with or without the married name - are included in this category.

: Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da
Amerighi da Caravaggio, Michelangelo
Amerigi da Caravaggio, Michelangelo
Merigi da Caravaggio, Michelangelo
Merisio da Caravaggio, Michelangelo
Morigi da Caravaggio, Michelangelo
Merisi da Caravaggio, Michelangelo

Qualifications: painter, engraver (printmaker)

Nationality/school: Italian

Born: Caravaggio/Milaan 1571-09-29
according to Marini and Saur: born in Milan on 29 September 1571; Marini: baptized there the next day

Deceased: Porto Ercole 1610-07-18

Family relationships this field records any family relationship to one or more other artist(s).: Son of Fermo Merisi, living in the parish S. Maria della Passerella in Milano, and Lucia Aratori (married in Caravaggio on 14 January 1571, Cinotti 1983). The couple had three more children: Giovanni Battista (born 21 November 1572; Caterina (born 12 November 1574 and Giovanni Pietro (?). Father Fermo died on 20 October 1577, together with his father Bernardino of the plague. Mother Lucia became ward over the children and conducted a successful trial against her relatives to secure the rights of her children (21 January 1579). After mother Lucia died on 29 November 1590, the three brothers became universal heirs, but, as they were all minors at the time, the division of the properties only took place on 11 May 1592: on the same day all three brothers sold all the land.

See also In this field, you will find references to names of groups or to the artists that made/make up groups. You may also come across references to other artists if there was/is question of collaboration without a joint name. This is the case, for instance, with artists who rendered parts of works by other artists (such as with P.P Rubens and J. Brueghel I).

This person/entity in other databases

37 hits in RKDimages as artist
200 hits in RKDlibrary as subject
5 hits in RKDexcerpts as artist
1 hit in RKDtechnical as artist

Suggested searches in RKDartists&

Biographical information

Active in

Milaan 1584 - 1588
According to a contract of 6 April 1584 he became for four years the apprentice of Simone Peterzano (ca. 1540-ca. 1596); Caravaggio probably also studied for some time in Venice (Marini) during this period.
Rome 1592 - 1606
After an accusation of a crime (manslaughter?), Caravaggio was forced to leave Lombardy and settled in Rome, where he lived and worked in the studios of Antiveduto Grammatica and Giuseppe Cesari (Cavaliere d'Arpino). Friendship with the painter Prospero Orsi, who introduced him to a number of important collectors.
Genua 1605
He had to flee from Rome following an assassination attempt on his girlfriend's lover.
Paliano 1606
He had again to flee from Rome after a murder committed in a duel; he was hiding with the Colonna family.
Napels 1606 - 1607
Valletta (Malta) 1607 - 1608
Marini 2007, Sciberras 2007
Syracuse (Sicilië) 1608
He arrived here after leaving Malta, where he was imprisoned because of rioting.
Messina 1608 - 1609
Palermo 1609
Napels 1609 - 1610
Porto Ercole 1610 - 1610-07-18
Caravaggio was arrested at Palo with a shipload of paintings on his way to Rome; after freeing himself (paying a ransom), he tried to trace the sailing ship that had sailed without him. In Porto Ercole, however, he became ill and died here on July 18, 1610.

born in

active in

died in

Connections with other artists

Pupil of This field mentions the names of teachers or masters. What is at issue are the teachers who made a significant contribution to the development of a students, as opposed to every instructor they ever had. See also the 'Education' field.: Cesari, Giuseppe
Peterzano, Simone
Teacher of This field mentions the names of pupils. What is at issue are the pupils who were significantly influenced by a teacher as opposed to every student someone ever had. See also the 'Education' field.: Cecco del Caravaggio
Minniti, Mario
Paladini, Filippo di Benedetto
Spada, Leonello
Followed by This field mentions the artist’s emulators. Although students can naturally also be followers, they are not mentioned again here. What is meant by followers are those who continue to work in the spirit of a predecessor. Sometimes this may happen a century later; there is no time limit. What is at issue, however, is that someone’s oeuvre must substantially follow in the manner of the artist emulated.: Desmarais, Jean-Baptiste-Frédéric
Gallo, Giovanni Antonio
Serodine, Giovanni
Vouet, Aubin
Influence on This field specifies the artists influenced by the artist in question, without there being question of an educational setting or servile following.: Assereto, Gioacchino
Baglione, Giovanni
Barbieri, Paolo Antonio
Baschenis, Evaristo
Bellotti, Pietro
Bigot, Trophime
Bondi, Moreno
Campo, Giovanni del
Caracciolo, Giovanni Battista
Carrera, Andrea
Cassarino, Giulio
Cerquozzi, Michelangelo
Cicalese, Francesco Antonio
Cracht, Tyman Arentsz.
Daniels, William
Deem, George
Forte, Luca
Furini, Francesco
Garnier, François
Giusto Fiammingo
Gobin, Michel
Houbracken, Joannes van
Jordaens, Jacques
Lastman, Pieter
Loth, Johann Carl
Manetti, Rutilio di Lorenzo
Manfredi, Bartolomeo
Meester van de Bloemenvaas
Meester van Fontanarosa
Meester van Hartford
Meester van het stilleven van Acquavelle
Mei, Bernardino
Miradori, Luigi
Oost, Jacob van (I)
Pensionante del Saraceni
Régnier, Nicolas
Reni, Guido
Rombouts, Theodoor
Ruoppolo, Giovanni Battista
Salini, Tommaso
Santafede, Fabrizio
Schidone, Bartolomeo
Serrano, Andres
Stom, Matthias
Turchi, Alessandro
Vaccaro, Andrea
Valentin de Boulogne
Vitale, Filippo
Keil, Bernhard

Subjects This field specifies the various subject categories or genres that constitute the oeuvre of the artist in question. The contents of this field are generally based more on the documentation available at the RKD than on the literature.: genre, history (genre), portrait, Christian religious scene, still life, fruit piece

Medium/technique: oil paint

Literature

Literature in RKDLibrary: 200 hits in RKDlibrary as subject

Houbraken 1718-1721 , vol. 2 (1719), p. 6, 268 (as: as: Michael Angelo Caravaggio)
Thieme/Becker 1907-1950 , vol. 5 (1911), p. 570-574 (as: Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi)
Voss 1924 , p. 435-448
Gerson 1942/1983 , passim
Witt Checklist 1978 , p. 50 (as: Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi)
Emmens 1979 , passim
, Cinotti 1983
Salerno 1984 , p. 38-45 (as: Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio)
Saur 1992- , vol. 16 (1997), p. 310-317 (as: Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi)
Bénézit 2006 , vol. 3, p. 359-363 (as: Caravaggio)
Rosen 2010 , p. 73, 75
Strinati/Zuccari/Bagnoni 2010
Meurer/Schreurs-Morét/Simonato 2015 , p. 105-109
Horn/Van Leeuwen 2021 [Houbraken Translated]

H. Pauwels, 'Enkele nota's betreffende Caravaggio', Gentse Bijdragen tot de kunstgeschiedenis 14 (1953), p. 193-200
L.J. Slatkes, 'Caravaggio's 'Pastor Friso'', Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 23 (1972), p. 67-72
B. Nicolson, Caravaggism in Europe, Oxford 1979 (2e ed.) vol. 1, p. 77-83
F. Porzio [ed.], Da Caravaggio a Ceruti: la scena di genere e limmagine dei pitocchi nella pittura italiana, Milaan 1998 (exh. cat. Brescia, Museo di Santa Giulia, 28 Nov. 1998 - 28 Feb. 1999, p. 484
M. Oberli, 'Schauder und Sensation', Georges-Bloch-Jahrbuch des Kunsthistorischen Instituts der Universität Zürich (2001), p. 146-169
M. Brehm, 'Sich sehend sehen-Narziß als reflektiertes Selbst. Einige Überlegungen zur Sichtweise eines Topos bei Caravaggio, Cindy Sherman und Mat Collishaw', in: D. Dombrowski, K. Heusing & A. Dern, Zwischen den Welten: Beiträge zur Kunstgeschichte für Jürg Meyer zur Capellen. Festschrift zum 60. Geburtstag, Weimar 2001, p. 336-345
Francesca Bottacin, 'Giochi di carti, inganni e cortigiane: Caravaggio e gli olandesi', Critica d'Arte 65 (2002) 15, p. 70-79
C. Volpi (ed.), Caravaggio nel IV Centenario della Capella Contarelli. Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi Roma, 24-26 Maggio 2001, Roma 2002
W.Th. Kloek, 'Two northern examples for Caravaggio', in: A.W.A. Boschloo et al., "Aux quatre vents" A Festschrift for Bert W. Meijer, Florence 2002, p. 287-292
H. T. Goldfarb, 'A mysterious beauty and a French attribution: the sleeping Magdalen of Budapest', Bulletin du Musée Hongrois des Beaux-Arts 98 (2003), p. 63-74
B. Treffers, 'Caravaggio: La Cappella Cerasi', Storia dell'arte (2003?), 104-105, p. 65-100
G. Berra, Il giovane Caravaggio in Lombardia, Firenze 2004
J. Unglaub, 'Poussin's Reflection', The Art Bulletin 86/3 (September 2004), p. 505-528
M. H. Loh, 'New and Improved: Repetition as Originality in Italian Baroque Practice and Theory', The Art Bulletin 86/3 (September 2004), p. 477-504
V. von Flemming, 'Italienische Malerei des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts', Kunsthistorische Arbeitsblätter November 2004, p. 37-48
C. Puglisi, 'Nicola Spinoosa (ed.), exh. cat. Caravaggio: l'ultimo tempo 1606-1610, Naples, Museo di Capodimonte, 2004', Simiolus 31 (2004-2005), p. 251-255 (review)
I. Schaudies, 'Trimming Rubens'Shadow. New Light on the Mediation of Caravaggio in the Southern Netherlands', Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 55 (2004), p. 334-367
S. Guegan, 'Caravage ou la peinture en lambeaux', Beaux Arts Magazine, no. 248, février 2005, p. 48-52
G. Illetschko, I, Caravaggio, Munich/London/New York 2005
T.P. Olson, 'Caravaggio's Coroner: Forensic Medicine in Giulio Mancini's Art Criticism', Oxford Art Journal 28/1 (2005), p. 83-98
K. Sciberras, ' "Due persone à lui ben viste": the identity of Caravaggio's companion as a Knight of Magistral Obedience', The Burlington Magazine 147 (2005), no. 1222, p. 58-59
P. Robb, 'The unknown Caravaggio', Modern Painters (March 2005), p. 64-71
K. Sciberras-D.M. Stone, Malaspina, Malta, and Caravaggio's ''St. Jerome'' ', Paragone 60 (March 2005), p. 4-17 (with ill.)
L. Berti, ' Nota su Caravaggio e Firenze', Critica d'Arte 68 March-April 2005, no. 25-26, p. 115-131
D. D'Amico, 'Maria Maddalena: la sposa di Gesu? L'interpretazione iconografico del Caravaggio',., Arte Christiana 836/94 (September-October 2006), p. 369-380
H. Raben, 'Bellori's art: the taste and distaste of a seventeenth-century art critic in Rome', Simiolus 32 (2006), p. 126-146
J. Turner, 'Two Conversations and a Lost Crucifixion', Artnews April 2007, p. 98-100
T. Puttfarken, 'Caravaggio and the representation of violence', Umedi Art, no. 3 (2007), p. 183-195
V. Lahoda, 'We are searching in history for our own loves: still-life, Caravaggio and cubism: a Czech reading', Umedi Art, no. 3 (2007), p. 196-206
Marini 2007, p. 95-111
L. Pericolo, 'Visualizing Appearance and Disappearance: On Caravaggio's London ''Supper at Emmaus'' ', The Art Bulletin 89/3 (2007), p. 519-539
K. Sciberras, 'Caravaggio, the Confraternita della Misericordia and the original context of the Oratory of the Decollato in Valletta', Burlington Magazine 149 (2007), no. 1256, p. 759-766
Witting 2007, p. 238
A. van Westerlaak, 'In de ban van de rozenkrans: Caravaggio's Madonna van de rozenkrans en de suite van de Vijftien Mysteries van de rozenkrans in de Sint-Pauluskerk te Antwerpen nader bekeken / Under the Spell of the Rosary. A Closer Look at Caravaggio's Madonna of the Rosary and the Suite of the Fifteen Mysteries of the Rosary in St. Paul's Church, Antwerp', Desipientia 21 (2014), no. 2, p. 30-34 [Summary in English, p. 34]
C. Hager, 'Caravaggios Medusenschild von 1597: ein Gorgoneion?', Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 79 (2016) no. 1, p. 44-62
G. Swoboda, 'Energetische Transfusionen: Caravaggio und meher in Großbritannien', Kunstchronik 70 (2017), p. 240-246
M.H. Loh, 'Time out of joint. Looking at Caravaggio in the 21st century', Frieze masters, no. 5, 2016, p. 90-92

Sonja Lechner, finished diss. Universität, Munich [Kunstchronik 2005/8, p. 433]

Documentation RKD

This field specifies the location of the various RKD documentation materials. Most of the locations refer to our art-historical image documentation. In addition, you will find references to press documentation (clippings and short articles) here.

Archive location: archief W. Jos de Gruyter

Permalink: https://rkd.nl/explore/artists/15262

Creation date: 1992-02-07; Last modified date: 2023-02-06

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Caravaggio

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