The key survival of Caravaggio's early interest in still life is his 'Fiscella' or 'Canestra di Frutta' ('the Basket of Fruit') at the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in....
Caravaggio's interest in reality – including inanimate objects – is evident from his early works: the Ragazzo con canestra di frutta (circa 1593-1594, Rome.
Demetrius, the ancient sculptor, is said to have been so eager to render the likeness of things that he cared more for imitating them than for their beauty. We have seen that the same is true of Michelangelo Merisi: he recognized no other master than the model and did not select the best forms of nature but emulated art - astonishingly enough - without art.
The fame of the noble citadel, Caravaggio, in Lombardy was doubled by his birth since it was already the birthplace of Polidoro; both of them began as masons, carrying hods of mortar for constructions.
In Rome, he lived without a fixed lodging and without resources.
Models were too expensive for him and without one he did not know how to paint, nor did he earn enough to take care of his expenses in advance, so he was forced to enter the services of Cavaliere Giuseppe d'Arpino. He was employed by him to paint flowers and fruits, which he imitated so well that from here on they began to attain the high degree of beauty so fu