Caravaggio’s naturalism marks a turning point in early modern European painting, challenging canonical representations and conventional workshop methods. Early bibliographers described his unprecedented imitation of nature, using staged models and dramatic lighting setups. Yet, the precise nature of his studio practice remains a subject of ongoing scholarly debate. In this study, we propose a physics-based computational approach to analyze lighting coherence across his oeuvre, offering new empirical insight into the technical foundations of his naturalism. We use the occluding contour algorithm, grounded in Lambert’s cosine law, to 307 valid contours extracted from 68 paintings attributed to Caravaggio, enabling sub-pixel estimation of 2D light direction and consistency across his oeuvre. Our analysis reveals a gradual but statistically significant increase in internal light consistency over time, suggesting a shift toward more controlled lighting environments.