The painter Michelangelo Merisi, now known to us as Caravaggio, had a hard time initially breaking into Rome's seventeenth century art scene. He was from the wrong town (Milan), he had the wrong training (still-life), and certainly the wrong personality (violent). He even had the wrong name, given that the other more famous Michelangelo had recently died, retiring that jersey, as it were. Yet Caravaggio was a passionate maverick whose vision of light vs dark, nature vs mystery, and good vs evil not only captivated his age, but also speaks to us today in a culture of moral ambiguity and conflicting desires. Elizabeth Lev’s presentation will dive into the art of this enigmatic and contradictory painter and explore his masterpieces in relation to his dramatic life and his fascinating era.