He is known as the master of shade, and now 21st Century technology is shedding new light on the creative process behind Caravaggio's groundbreaking painting. "Inside Caravaggio", an exhibition that opens on Friday at Milan's Palazzo Reale, unites 20 of the Renaissance giant's most important works with X-ray and infrared images of them that offer visitors revealing insights into how he went about creating them.

The multimedia displays offer contemporary fans of the father of modern painting a glimpse into his idiosyncratic technique, the points at which he changed his mind and the modifications and adjustments he made to some of his most famous works.