Why Caravaggio is believed to be Prone to Violence, Facts about His Life

Michelangelo Caravaggio (28 September 1571 – 18 July 1610) was an Italian artist. He worked in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between 1593 and 1610. 

Caravaggio's full name was Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio or Michelangelo Merisi from Caravaggio. Caravaggio is a residential area in northern Italy, close to Milan where Caravaggio was born and from where he took his nickname. 

Caravaggio earned the title of "The Most Famous Painter in Rome". Caravaggio is credited as a pioneer of the Italian Baroque style which took after the Mannerist style. He additionally built up a style of undaunted realism that engaged the feelings in a way that was unequaled by his contemporaries. 

Caravaggio mastered the artistic technique known as chiaroscuro and was crucial in building up the style of tenebrism.

He is also known as a man who drove a troubled and tumultuous life. Here are some important facts about his life:

Early life

Caravaggio took his nickname from a residential area in northern Italy, close Milan where he was born. He was six years of age when the bubonic plague killed many members of his family, including his father.

Troubled Life and violent nature

Many believe that the events of his early life could be a reason that he became an impervious and insensitive person. 

The artist was known for his short temper. He was additionally known for being a violent man who as often as possible was involved in fights and arguments. In 1606 he killed a young fellow in a fight and fled from Rome. 

In Malta, in 1608 he got into a fight once more. He got into another fight in Naples in 1609, yet this fight was because of his enemies who hated him and attempted to kill him.

Caravaggio’s The Death of the Virgin, 1606

Choices of Subjects

His selection of subjects was very questionable. Caravaggio utilized prostitutes and people from the lower class of society as models for his paintings. 

This distressed numerous who did not have any desire to see prostitutes posturing in the role of religious figures. Caravaggio now and then put his own particular image in his compositions. 

He was the substance of Goliath in his painting “David with the head of Goliath”. Caravaggio's depiction of religious scenes and scriptural figures were dull and dark rather than worshipful. 

In one of his famous painting "Death of the Virgin", the Virgin Mary is painted with uncovered legs and a swollen tummy. In one of his later artistic creations entitled "Resurrection", Jesus Christ was depicted bedraggled and getting away from his tomb in the dead of night. 

The scriptural scenes he was commissioned to paint were populated with poor people, beggars, and prostitutes.

Caravaggio, Judith Beheading Holofernes, 1598–1599

His Death

At the age of 39, Caravaggio passed away on July 18, 1610, at Porto Ecole on the coast of Tuscany, Italy. Caravaggio’s career lasted only 13 years.