Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da
A revolutionary in art, Caravaggio was accused of imitating nature at the expense of ideal beauty. In religious scenes his use of models from the lower walks of life and his portrayal of Roman street life in a religious context were considered irreverent. He generally worked directly on the canvas, a violation of then-current artistic procedure. He and his work were almost universally disparaged and deplored in his era, but his strong chiaroscuro technique of partially illuminating figures against a dark background was immediately adopted by his contemporaries, and although he had no pupils, the influence of his art was enormous.
See biographies by H. Hibbard (1983), D. Seward (1998), H. Langdon (1999), P. Robb (2000), F. Prose (2005), and A. Graham-Dixon (2011); study by B. Berenson (1954); W. Friedlaender, Caravaggio Studies (1955, repr., 1970); M. Kitson, Complete Paintings of Caravaggio (1986); M. Fried, The Moment of Caravaggio (2010); C. Whitfield, Caravaggio's Eye (2011); S. Ebert-Schifferer, Caravaggio: The Artist and His Work (2012).
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