Caravaggio

Caravaggio was an Italian painter who changed the course of European art with his dramatic light and raw realism. Born Michelangelo Merisi around 1571 and named for his home town, he painted religious scenes using ordinary people as models, dirt on their feet and all, which struck many viewers of his time as shocking. His signature was a stark contrast between deep shadow and sudden, spotlight-like brightness that made his figures leap out of the dark.

His life was as turbulent as his paintings. He brawled, carried a sword, and eventually killed a man, forcing him to flee Rome and spend his last years on the run before dying in 1610 at around thirty eight. Despite that short, violent life, his influence was enormous, and painters across Europe spent the next century imitating his powerful handling of light.