Caravaggio
Michelangelo Merisi, the artist who became known as Caravaggio, was born in September of 1571 to a middle-class Italian family of stewards. Caravaggio was from the hills of an Italian town from which he coined his famous name. ... In Rome, the 20-year-old Caravaggio meagerly practiced his trade by soliciting his own “hackwork”, the selling of cheap paintings. ... Caravaggio’s exciting new style didn’t attract the attention of the aristocracy until 1595, when he was commissioned by the pope’s court. ... Caravaggio’s admiration grew wider not only because of his amazing skill but also because of the controversy that accompanied his works. ... Ranuccio Tomassoni died in 1606 and Caravaggio immediately left Rome. ... Caravaggio found himself in Naples by 1607, after recovering from his wounds in his birth-town. ... Caravaggio produced one of his most important works, The Beheading of St John the Baptist (1608). ... They could have been looking for Caravaggio to kill him. ... In 1610, Caravaggio was arrested in Rome and released, where he intended to take sail for Spain.