Museums.artTickets

Painter, 1571 to 1610

Caravaggio

Caravaggio painted for eighteen years and left about sixty pictures. Very few have crossed the Atlantic. The Metropolitan Museum has two, hung together.

Born
1571, Milan, Italy
Died
1610, Porto Ercole, Italy
Movement
Baroque
In New York
2 works in 1 museum

Where to see Caravaggio in New York

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art2 works

  1. The Musicians, by Caravaggio: four boys in loose classical dress crowd together with a lute, a violin and sheets of music.

    The Musicians

    1597

    Four boys in loose classical dress, crowded together, tuning up for a concert. The one with the horn at the back, looking out at us, is thought to be the painter himself.

  2. The Denial of Saint Peter, by Caravaggio: a serving woman points out the apostle to a soldier, three half-figures in deep shadow.

    The Denial of Saint Peter

    1610

    A serving woman points Peter out to a soldier beside a fire, and he denies that he knows Christ. Three half-figures, three hands, almost no colour.

The life of Caravaggio

Michelangelo Merisi was born in Milan in 1571 and took his name from the town his family came from. He arrived in Rome in the early 1590s with nothing. Within a few years Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte had taken him into his household, and The Musicians was painted for the cardinal's music room.

In 1606 he killed a man and fled. He painted The Denial of Saint Peter in Naples in 1610, a few months before he died on the road back to Rome. The difference between the two pictures is the story of his life: one is sweet and bright, the other three figures in the dark.

What to know

  • The Musicians was painted for his first great patron, Cardinal del Monte
  • The Denial of Saint Peter is among the last two or three pictures he painted
  • Both are in the European paintings galleries of the Met
Born
29 September 1571, Milan, Italy
Died
18 July 1610, Porto Ercole, Italy

Caravaggio: common questions

Where can you see Caravaggio in New York?
At the Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Musicians and The Denial of Saint Peter. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Caravaggio's most famous work in New York?
The Musicians, of 1597, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Four boys in loose classical dress, crowded together, tuning up for a concert. The one with the horn at the back, looking out at us, is thought to be the painter himself.
When and where was Caravaggio born?
On 29 September 1571, at Milan, Italy. Caravaggio died on 18 July 1610, at Porto Ercole, Italy, aged about 39.
What is Caravaggio known for?
The Musicians was painted for his first great patron, Cardinal del Monte. The Denial of Saint Peter is among the last two or three pictures he painted. Both are in the European paintings galleries of the Met. Caravaggio was an Italian painter, of the Baroque.

Tickets and tours: Caravaggio in New York

Things to do near the Met

The nearest of this site's best things to do in the city. Distances are in a straight line.

All 20 things to do in New York

Where to eat near the Met

The nearest of the famous tables this site lists in New York. Distances are in a straight line.

All 20 restaurants in New York, ranked

Hotels near the Met

The five-star hotels closest to it, of those this site lists in New York. Distances are in a straight line.

All 20 hotels in New York, ranked

Other artists

All 24 artists in New York