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The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece
by Jonathan Harr (2005)

Based on numerous interviews and written in the style of a (historical/detective?) novel, The Lost Painting chronicles the story of the quest for Caravaggio’s The Taking of Christ. In 1992, Francesca Cappelletti, an art history student hired by Giampaolo Correale to investigate the authenticity of the two identical paintings of St. John, stumbled upon a clue of the painting that’d been lost for more than two centuries. Divided into four parts, the connecting narratives — from the clue in Italy to the discovery in Ireland and England — are weaved smoothly among general glimpses of Caravaggio’s story, along with restoration, tracking and authenticating processes.

The narratives are simple and detached (although I find the details on Cappelletti’s love life irrelevant), and I do have a particular interest in Caravaggio, so personally I think it will make an entertaining beach/airport reading. It also has a helpful further reading for general fans of Caravaggio (Langdon’s classic and Peter Robb’s M are mentioned); too bad it doesn’t come with any pictures or index.

Buy from Amazon.com

Tags:art
art, Harr, Jonathan

May 31, 2006 @ 9:38 pm