Caravaggists of Utrecht

No painter at the beginning of the 17th century was comparatively as modern as Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. His radical stylistic innovations, especially his verism and chiaroscuro painting, became the model for many young painters from all over Europe. The artists Dirck van Baburen, Gerard van Honthorst and Hendrick ter Brugghen made Utrecht the Dutch centre of Caravaggism. On the one hand, the artists adopted Caravaggio's sharp contrasts, but used light differently; on the other hand, they were inspired by his naturalism, which the Utrecht painters in turn developed further from the Dutch tradition.