Caravaggio's chiaroscuro (tenebrism)

Timeline

1. c. 1595–1597Rome · RomeCaravaggio painted religious and genre subjects for churches and collectors in Rome, gradually abandoning even illumination in favor of a strong light source from the upper side cutting across the picture; works such as Bacchus and Saint Francis in Meditation already show the tendency toward dark backgrounds and focused lighting.
2. 1599San Luigi dei Francesi · RomeIn 1599–1600 he completed the Contarelli chapel triptych at San Luigi dei Francesi—The Calling of Saint Matthew, Saint Matthew and the Angel, and The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew—where beams of light pierce the dark space to illuminate figures and gestures; chiaroscuro reached mature expression, causing a sensation and imitations in the Roman art world.
3. 1600–1610Italian Peninsula · ItalyAround 1600, works such as Judith Beheading Holofernes further consolidated his dramatic lighting language; painters in Rome, Naples, and elsewhere imitated the dark backgrounds and spotlight techniques, and Caravaggio's chiaroscuro became a major visual paradigm of 17th-century Baroque religious and genre painting.