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 full-bleed edition prints the work edge to edge from a high-resolution scan of the original, very slightly cropped (a few percent at most) to fit the sheet. The gallery edition shows the whole work, uncropped. 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. Printed edge to edge: a slim black or dark wood frame right to the image, or let the canvas wrap do the framing. Also available gallery-wrapped on canvas, ready to hang with no frame.
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.
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
