Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio #BOTD 1571 (d. 18 July 1610) was an Italian painter ... His paintings combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, which had a formative influence on Baroque painting.

Caravaggio employed close physical observation with a dramatic use of chiaroscuro that came to be known as tenebrism. He made the technique a dominant stylistic element, darkening shadows and transfixing subjects in bright shafts of light.

In the 20th century interest in his work revived, and his importance to the development of Western art was reevaluated. The 20th-century art historian André Berne-Joffroy stated, "What begins in the work of Caravaggio is, quite simply, modern painting."

Caravaggio, The Musicians, 1595–1596, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Caravaggio, Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy (c. 1595), Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford

Caravaggio, The Lute Player, circa 1595 (commissioned by Francesco Maria del Monte)

The Calling of Saint Matthew (1599–1600), Contarelli Chapel, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome. Without recourse to flying angels, parting clouds or other artifice, Caravaggio portrays the instant conversion of St Matthew by means of a beam of light and the pointing finger of Jesus.

Amor Vincit Omnia, 1601–1602, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. Caravaggio shows Cupid prevailing over all human endeavors: war, music, science, government.

Saint Jerome Writing, 1605–1606, Galleria Borghese, Rome

Caravaggio, The Seven Works of Mercy, 1606–1607, Pio Monte della Misericordia, Naples

The Beheading of Saint John (1608) by Caravaggio (Saint John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta, Malta)

The Taking of Christ, 1602, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. Caravaggio's application of the chiaroscuro technique shows through on the faces and armour notwithstanding the lack of a visible shaft of light. The figure on the extreme right is a self-portrait.

Supper at Emmaus, 1601, oil on canvas, 139 cm × 195 cm (55 in × 77 in), National Gallery, London. Caravaggio included himself as the figure at the top left.

Caravaggio, The Crucifixion of Saint Peter, 1601, Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome

Caravaggio, The Entombment of Christ, (1602–1603), Pinacoteca Vaticana, Rome

Caravaggio, The Denial of Saint Peter (1610), Metropolitan Museum of Art

Caravaggio, Conversion on the Way to Damascus, 1601, Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome