Caravaggio was raised under the wing of his maternal
grandfather, Gian Giacomo Aratori, an educated man who worked
for the Colonna family, and who exposed him to art from an early
age. Caravaggio might have learned the rudiments of drawing as a
child, and saw the work of local painters Fermo Stella and
Moietta. Caravaggio also allegedly was the lifelong protégé of
Costanza Sforza Colonna, in whose palace he lived with his
grandfather, and in whose art collection he first saw portraits
by Pulzone, which inspired him to seek out a geometric canon
when drawing faces. Through his aristocratic mentor, Caravaggio
was later introduced to the powerful Barnabite Order in Milan,
from which he received his first commission, in 1590, according
to Conconi Fedrigolli. Costanza Sforza helped Caravaggio prepare
for his first trip to Rome, where he probably lived in her
palace, Conconi explained. After he was sentenced to death for
the murder of Ranuccio Tomassoni, Caravaggio hid in Costanza's
feudal lands near Naples and wit