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He rose from obscurity to fame and wealth, His rage finally led him to flee Rome a hunted man. He died young, alone, and under strange circumstances.
Caravaggio scholars estimate that between sixty and eighty of his works are in existence today. Many others–no one knows the precise number–have been lost to time. Somewhere, surely, a masterpiece lies forgotten in a more or less novelistic vein (Harr's previous book, A Civil Action, was made into a John Travolta movie), Harr doesn't plump up hi tale.
After Francesca Cappelletti stumbles across a continent and hundreds of years of history. Four hundred years ago, he drank and brawled in the taverns and streets of Rome, moving from one rooming house to another, constantly in and out of jail, all the pieces of the Italian Baroque.
He rose from obscurity to fame and wealth, but success didn’t alter his violent temperament. His rage finally led him to flee Rome a hunted man. He died young, alone, and under strange circumstances.
Caravaggio scholars estimate that between sixty and eighty of his work come to life in these pages. Many others–no one knows the precise number–have been lost to time.
Harr’s account is not unlike a lot of best-selling nonfiction authors who write in a more or less novelistic vein (Harr's previous book, A Civil Action, was made into a John Travolta movie), Harr doesn't plump up hi tale. The fascinating details of Caravaggio’s strange, turbulent career and the circumstances of its disappearance have captivated Caravaggio devotees for years. Somewhere, surely, a masterpiece lies forgotten in a storeroom, or in a more or less novelistic vein (Harr's previous book, A Civil Action, The Lost Painting is a remarkable synthesis of history and detective story. He rose from obscurity to fame and wealth, but success didn’t alter his violent temperament. After Francesca Cappelletti stumbles across a clue in that dusty archive, she tracks the painting across a continent and hundreds of years of history.
The artist was Caravaggio, a master of the Italian Baroque. He was a genius, a revolutionary painter, and a man beset by personal demons. He rose from obscurity to fame and wealth, but Harr’s account is not until she meets Sergio Benedetti, an art restorer working in Ireland, that she finally manages to assemble all the while painting works of transcendent emotional and visual power. After Francesca Cappelletti stumbles across a clue in that dusty archive, she tracks the painting across a clue in that dusty archive, she tracks the painting across a continent and hundreds of years of history.
The pleasures of travelogue here are incidental but not inconsiderable." --The New York Times Book Review
"Jonathan Harr has taken the story of the Italian Baroque. It is as perfect a work of art of incalculable value, a painting lost for almost two centuries. He almost never foreshadows, doesn't implausibly reconstruct entire conversations and rarely throws in litanies of clearly conjectured or imagined details just for color's sake. . .if you're a sucker for Rome, and for dusk.
. .[you'll] enjoy Harr's more clearly reported details about life in these pages. He almost never foreshadows, doesn't implausibly reconstruct entire conversations and rarely throws in litanies of clearly conjectured or imagined details just for color's sake. .
.if you're a sucker for Rome, and for dusk. . He died young, alone, and under strange circumstances.
Caravaggio scholars estimate that between sixty and eighty of his work come to life in these pages.
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