Ryokan
Headphoneus Supremus
Whoa....since this is in regards to Caravaggio, we must remember that artists during this time were successful if they had notable commissions or also had a total school of. The paintings we know of Caravaggio is that he was really successful in Naples. I don't know if there was a time that art critics looked down on him, but he had successful commissions during his life, and at least in my art history classes, he was always referenced as another stage in tenebrism.
It took quite a while for his work to be re-evaluated as around the 19th century two influential critics - John Ruskin and Roger Fry had both managed to sway popular thought on his works.