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 exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. 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 24×36 in black. Olive, mustard or deep brown walls suit the warm palette; pair it with The Fortune Teller.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Exhibition poster of a Baroque painting
- Era
- 16th century (c. 1595)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Palette
- cream & beige
- Mood
- classic
- Rooms
- dining room, study or library, living room, dorm room, hallway or entryway
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 24×36. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. Exhibition posters sit best in a slim black frame with no mat — the typeset margin is the mat.
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
A fine-art print
The same artwork as a clean fine-art print — the image shown large with a minimal caption.
