Why it matters
A young man with a bare shoulder holds a lush basket of fruit, lit by a ray of light falling from a high window. It dates from Caravaggio's first years in Rome, when he was making his way in a competitive art world.
Did you know?
- The model was his friend, the Sicilian painter Mario Minniti, then about 16.
- It was painted around 1593.
- Cardinal Scipione Borghese seized it in 1607 from the collection of the painter Cavalier d'Arpino.
Based on the Wikipedia article Boy with a Basket of Fruit (CC BY-SA 4.0).
