Angelo, Michael

Angelo, Michael (Amerighi Michelangelo da Caravaggio), an Italian painter, was born at Caravaggio, a village in the Milanese, in 1569. While a lad, he was employed to prepare plaster for the frescopainters of Milan. From seeing them work he became inspired with the ambition to become an artist; and soon, without instruction from any master, became an excellent imitator of nature, and adopted a singular style, characterized by daring lights and shadows, which became highly popular. While young, he lived at Venice, and there studied the works of Giorgione. He afterwards went to Rome, and executed his first production in that city in concert with Cavaliere Giuseppe Cesari. His chief works at Rome are the Crucifixion of St. Peter, in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, and the Entombing of Our Saviour, in the Chiesa Nuova. There is a picture by him at Naples of the Scourging of Christ, and in San Martino is another, representing Peter Denying Christ, one of his most famous works. His paintings are characterized by wonderful vigor and admirable distribution of light and shade. He died at Rome in 1609.