Autoritratti caravaggio biography

The Italian painter known as Caravaggio, a talented and passionately troubled man, was born Michelangelo Merisi on or about 29 September in Milan.

He was the eldest of four children born to Fermo Merisi and, his wife, Lucia Aratori.

The young Caravaggio lived a life of relative comfort.

His mother was distantly related to the local aristocracy and her family owned property, and his father was a well-respected employee of Milan’s distinguished Sforza family. The Merisis were also connected to the powerful Colonna family which had great influence over the political and Church leaders of the day.

The family moved to the less populated area of Caravaggio, 40 kilometres east of Milan, in when a major outbreak of the bubonic plague swept northern Italy.

Unfortunately, fleeing Milan was futile. In , Caravaggio’s father, uncle, grandmother, and grandfather died of the plag