The master of the stark in depth of shadow and height of light. A teller of ancient sacrifice and solemn existences. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was the rebel-clad Father of chiaroscuro, the shift from light to dark with little intermediate color. He held court in a Baroque Roman society, although classically trained, he outraged his contemporaries with unconventional methods of his own design. Instead of creating a study and sets of planned drawings, he preferred to yield his paint brush backwards and scratch the likeness into the canvas to begin his works.

He then set forth creating his bewildering images with exacting power that is arguably in a class of its own in execution. His subjects often found in intensely vivid and violent scenes, paralleled  the life he witnessed. He met his own demise when the Pope sentenced him to death on suspicion of murder. Caravaggio was transfixed with darkening of shadows and delivered awe-inspiring canvases that at times barely seem possible in their sheer magic of sheer accomplishment of the medium and tumultuousness.