Caravaggio's father, Fermo Merisi was a known to be an architect/decorator to the local merchants. His mother, Lucia Aratori was the daughter of a baker and came from a well established family within the same region. In 1576 the family moved to Caravaggio to escape a plague which ravaged Milan. Caravaggio's father died in Milan in 1577.
In 1584 he was apprenticed for four years to the painter Simone Peterzano of Milan, and worked on his technical proficiency. In 1588 arrived in Rome, he arrived in Rome, naked and tremendously deprived. Now in possession of exceptional dexterity, he began to work as an assistant to other painters, particularly with lesser skill. Caravaggio began to work for Giuseppe Cesari, a highly established painter. It was here that Caravaggio painted a Boy with a Basket of Fruit, Young Sick Bacchus. …show more content…
He was known to take models of the street and paint them realistically. In 1595, He began to sell his paintings through a dealer. He sold of his first paintings, The Cardsharps for partially nothing, but attracted the attention of Cardinal Francesco Del Monte. Caravaggio came under protection of Del Monte, and was invited to board in the house of the