"Basket of Fruit" by Caravaggio

Currently in the Ambrosian Library in Milan, this early work of Caravaggio shows a basket of over-ripe, sometimes even worm-eaten fruit, clearly representative of beauty fading with age. The basket is seemingly perched on the very edge of the painting, as if it might fall into the viewers lap. This is a common device used by the artist to involve the viewer in his paintings.