The masterful paintings of 16th-century artist Michelangelo Merisi (1571-1610), better known as Caravaggio, continue to fascinate more than 400 years after his death. The artist's paintings combine with gritty, realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, and make dramatic use of chiaroscuro. Today Rome hosts about 25 Caravaggio masterpieces that can be viewed by the public: several can be seen in the churches, others by some of the most important art collections in palaces and museums.
Raffaello Sanzio known as Raphael was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, which forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Raphael was enormously productive, running an unusually large workshop and, despite his death at 37, leaving a large body of work. Many of his works are found in the Vatican but also in some churches.
