Michelangelo Merisi di Caravaggio, The Incredulity of St. Thomas, 1601-02, oil on canvas

Although Caravaggio’s work often was derived from religious subject matter, his lifestyle contradicted the ideals he sought to portray. Caravaggio was a condotiere, or mercenary, who would fight or kill for money. He once even killed a man after a dispute over a game of draughts (like badminton). But Caravaggio was the single most influential painter of the Baroque period.