The Cardsharps
c. 1595 · Oil on canvas · Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth
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About this work
- Artist
- Caravaggio (1571–1610)
- Year
- c. 1595
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Original size
- 94.2 × 130.9 cm
- Collection
- Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth
- Movement
- Baroque
An innocent young man in black studies his cards while an older sharper behind him signals their value to his accomplice, who draws a hidden card from his belt; the accomplice's dagger and the holes in the older man's gloves, which leave his fingertips bare to feel marked cards, are among the details that made the picture famous. Caravaggio painted it around 1595, soon after arriving in Rome, and it was bought by Cardinal Francesco Maria del Monte, his first important patron, who took the painter into his household. The genre scene of cheats and dupes, half comic and half moral, was copied dozens of times and launched a European fashion. Lost from view for decades in the twentieth century, it was rediscovered in 1987 and bought by the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Three figures at a card table in black velvet, striped silk and feathered hats, for a study, games room or dining room at 32×24 in black. Olive, mustard or deep brown walls suit the warm palette; pair it with The Fortune Teller.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Baroque painting
- Era
- 16th century (c. 1595)
- Orientation
- Landscape
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- dining room, study or library, living room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 32×24. Prints at 16×12, 24×18, 32×24 in — 16×12 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 24×18 above a console or sideboard; 32×24 as the statement piece above a sofa or headboard.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — black suits the deep tones of this period; natural wood lightens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Cardsharps in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Cardsharps painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.
