Carvaggio, an unmatchable talent of the Italian renaissance, had an exceptional yet short lived career. He clearly mastered portraying emotions. No matter the scene his characters all carry out the intended reaction perfectly. He creates the composure by manipulating the facial muscles of his characters. Specifically the man in the far back of the painting with forehead creases draws my attention. The characters are overlapped creating a circular motion around the scene, especially through their eyes.

By portraying emotions so well, Caravaggio is also able to represent the evil in the world through the petty crime. Typically done through violence, this is an unusual scene for Caravaggio to paint. During this point in his career Caravaggio was working to become an independent artist. In The Cardsharps, Caravaggio portrays a man being cheated out of a card game in one of his more colorful works. Perhaps Caravaggio was portraying his excitement about his advancement as an artist while experimenting with ways to show the evil in the world without gore.