Caravaggio takes his name from the town in which he was born in 1571 to a majordomo in a region of Italy known as Lombardy. The artist was born during the politically and spiritually tumultuous time of the Counter-Reformation, when the Catholic church was trying to regroup after the Protestant Reformation, and this historical context had an indelible impact on his personal and artistic development.
Assault. Murder. Consorting with the devil. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was accused of all of these and more during his tempestuous career.
A notorious painter during his life, following his death Caravaggio was largely forgotten and it wasn't until the 20th century that his key role in the development of Western art was remembered.
