The Life of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio Milan, 29 September 1571. The Duchy of Milan, under the Spanish Empire, provides the setting for the birth of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. He is known by several names: Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio. His existence begins in a landscape of shifting political borders and heavy atmosphere. He moves through the world not as a scholar, but as a man of action and impulse. Rome becomes the center of his gravity. He spends most of his artistic life within its walls, navigating a city of intense religious fervor and fierce competi…