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Who was Simone Peterzano, Caravaggio’s first recorded painting teacher?
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Caravaggio
The Conversion of St. Paul (second version), oil on canvas by Caravaggio, 1601; in Santa Maria del Popolo, Rome.
Simone Peterzano was a minor Milanese master who served as Caravaggio’s first recorded painting teacher. On April 6, 1584, at the age of 12, Caravaggio signed a contract of apprenticeship with him.1
While Peterzano was an expert in fresco painting, it is believed that Caravaggio paid little attention to his studies in this technique, which he never mastered. Peterzano had trained in Venice, and it is possible that he encouraged his apprentice to visit the city, where Caravaggio may have been influenced by the works of artists such as Giorgione, Titian, and Tintoretto.12