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Caravaggio, whose real name was Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, was born in the small northern Italian town of his surname. He lived a short and frequently troubled life from 1571-1610. Caravaggio's influence in Rome itself was remarkable but short-lived, lasting only until the 1620s. Despite his inability to maintain a workshop or employ apprentices, many painters imitated his style and became known as Caravaggisti. Specific artists influenced by his work included: Artemisia Gentileschi, Rembrandt van Rijn, and Diego Velázquez. Orphaned at age 11, Caravaggio was apprenticed in the same year to the painter Simone Peterzano of Milan. At some time between 1588 and 1592, Caravaggio went to Rome. He lived in the slums, virtually without means, with his violent nature frequently getting him into tough situations. Despite his rough beginnings, Caravaggio’s innovative style of painting directly on canvas without preliminary drawings influenced painters in Italy and Northern Europe. His depiction of religious themes was aimed at the ordinary observer. Caravaggio's common people bear no relation to the grac