Caravaggio

Caravaggio revolutionized painting with his dramatic use of tenebrisma heightened form of chiaroscuro where figures emerge from deep, dark backgrounds into intense light. His work is characterized by its raw, gritty realism and emotional intensity, often depicting biblical scenes with common people as models. Caravaggios life was as turbulent as his art, and his influence on the Baroque period was profound. He brought a sense of immediate, visceral reality to religious painting that challenged the conventions of his time and continues to shock and inspire viewers today.