\paperw4500 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 Italian painter.\par
After serving an apprenticeship with the Bergamask painter Simone Peterzano in Milan, Caravaggio moved to Rome around
1593. Here he began to work in the studio of Cavalier dÆArpino, where he painted pictures of flowers and fruit in addition to a number of genre scenes with figures of adolescents, like the \i Boy with a Basket of Fruit\i0 (1593, Rome, Galleria Borghese
) or the \i Boy Bitten by a Green Lizard\i0 (1593, Florence, Uffizi). The following year he entered the service of his first powerful Roman patron, Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, who commissioned from him the decoration of the alchemistÆs study in
his residence (Casino Ludovisi) and a number of paintings, including the \i Concert of Youths\i0 (New York, Metropolitan Museum), \i Fortune Teller\i0 (Rome, Musei Capitolini), \i Lute Player\i0 (St. Petersburg, Hermitage), \i Medusa\i0 and, probably
, \i Bacchus\i0 (Florence, Uffizi), and \i Basket of Fruit\i0 (Milan, Pinacoteca Ambrosiana) between 1594 and 1599. Through his patron, Caravaggio came into contact with prestigious and illustrious Roman families who commissioned other important painti
ngs from him, such as the \i Victorious Cupid\i0 (Berlin) and \i Supper at Emmaus\i0 (London, National Gallery and Milan, Brera). Between 1599 and 1600 he received two public commissions of great significanceûthe cycle of canvases for the Contarelli Ch
apel in San Luigi dei Francesi (1599-1601) and a similar cycle for the Cerasi Chapel in Santa Maria del Popolo (1600-01). In these mature works Caravaggio achieved a lucid and accurate representation of nature in monumental scenes modeled and defined by
means of a strong chiaroscuro. Among the works he produced during his stay in Rome it is worth mentioning the \i Rest on the Flight into Egypt\i0 (Rome, Galleria Doria Pamphili) which shows the influence of the Lombard-Venetian culture where Caravaggio
received his training, the \i Deposition\i0 (ca. 1603, Rome, Vatican Galleries), the \i Madonna della Serpe\i0 (Rome, Galleria Borghese), and \i The Death of the Virgin\i0 (ca. 1605, Paris, Louvre). After killing a man in a brawl, he was forced to fle
e from Rome and went to Naples in 1607. Here he painted numerous pictures, including the \i Seven Works of Mercy\i0 (church of the Pio Monte della Misericordia) and the \i Madonna del Rosario\i0 (Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum). In 1608 he moved to M
alta, but after painting \i Saint Jerome\i0 , the \i Decollation of Saint John the Baptist\i0 (La Valletta, Cathedral), and \i Cupid Sleeping\i0 (Florence, Uffizi), fled once again after a fight with a Knight Justiciary of the Order of St. John. He was
overtaken and assaulted by emissaries of the Order in Naples. Hoping to receive a pardon from the pope, he decided to return to Rome and took a ship to Porto Ercole. On landing, he was arrested by mistake. Released two days later in a delirious state, h
