Caravaggio and His Time: Friends, Rivals and Enemies

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) remains art’s ultimate bad boy some 400 years after his death. A maverick and a murderer, he embodies the ‘live fast, die young’ mantra of rebels the world over. However, the drama of Caravaggio’s short life is more than matched by that of his art. A master of theatricality and illumination, Caravaggio revolutionised painting in Rome at the end of the 1500s by painting straight on to canvas and using ‘ordinary’ folk as models for religious characters. He set his scenes in recognisable contemporary surroundings and, by making his images appear like an extension of real space, placed the viewer right in the picture. This show looks at the master's life and work through around 50 of his greatest pieces, along with archival documents and art by Caravaggio followers inspired by his talent.