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Cultural legacy

Caravaggio's work has been widely influential in late-20th-century American gay culture, with frequent references to male sexual imagery in paintings such as The Musicians and Amor Victorious. British filmmaker Derek Jarman made a critically applauded biopic entitled Caravaggio in 1986. Several poems written by Thom Gunn were responses to specific Caravaggio paintings.

In 2013, a touring Caravaggio exhibition called "Burst of Light: Caravaggio and His Legacy" opened in the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, Connecticut. The show included five paintings by the master artist that included Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness (1604–1605) and Martha and Mary Magdalene (1589). The whole travelled to France and also to Los Angeles, California. Other Baroque artists like Georges de La Tour, Orazio Gentileschi, and the Spanish trio of Diego Velazquez, Francisco de Zurbarán, and Carlo Saraceni were also included in the exhibitions.

In 2022 a new biopic about Caravaggio was released: L'Ombra di Caravaggio, an Italian-French movie directed by Michele Placido.

Caravaggio was prominently featured as motif in Steven Zaillian's Netflix series Ripley, based on Patricia Highsmith's book The Talented Mr. Ripley. The murder of Rannucchio is also depicted. Caravaggio is portrayed by Daniele Rienzo.