Overview

"Every extant work by Caravaggio is reproduced in color in this lavish newly updated volume, the long-awaited result of more than 20 years of research by a leading authority on the artist. In an engaging and informed text, John T. Spike explores in detail Caravaggio's scandalous life and provocative work. Placing Caravaggio within the broad panorama of society and ideas at the turn of the 17th century, the author sets a richly detailed stage for an artist who has been called ""the first modern painter."" Caravaggio (1571–1610) reflected in his canvases his own desires and spiritual crises to an extent no one ever had imagined possible, and he shocked his contemporaries by portraying the saints and virgins of Christianity with the faces and bodies of his companions and lovers in Rome's demimonde. Accompanying the book is a critical catalog on CD-ROM in which all of Caravaggio's extant paintings, as well as lost and rejected works, are thoroughly described. Each entry specifies the work's medium, dimensions, location, and provenance, and provides an annotated bibliography of sources. Most of the entries conclude with a brief technical analysis. Much of this scientific data, of prime importance for attribution and dating, has not previously been published. With its fresh insights, as well as judicious readings of the documents and the physical evidence of the paintings themselves, Caravaggio is the most thorough study on the artist to date, and it will no doubt remain a definitive monograph for many years to come. This revised edition will include a new preface and updated bibliography. AUTHOR; John T. Spike, an internationally respected critic and historian of art, received his doctorate from Harvard. He has published major books on artists of the Florentine Renaissance, including Masaccio and Fra Angelico. ILLUSTRATIONS 160 colour 190 b/w reproductions"

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9780789210593

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Reviews

Praise for Caravaggio: Of considerable value to serious students of art history... - Library Journal The Caravaggio book I've been waiting for-John Spike has a great eye, an informed mind and a lucid, engaging style. He shows the intellectual drama of Caravaggio's art. - Peter Robb, author of M: The Man Who Became Caravaggio A large, sumptuous volume, profusely illustrated with excellent color plates that are carefully integrated into the text itself...meticulous scholarship...underlines its lively prose. - John Varriano, College Art Association

"Praise for Caravaggio: ""Of considerable value to serious students of art history..."" - Library Journal ""The Caravaggio book I've been waiting for-John Spike has a great eye, an informed mind and a lucid, engaging style. He shows the intellectual drama of Caravaggio's art."" - Peter Robb, author of M: The Man Who Became Caravaggio ""A large, sumptuous volume, profusely illustrated with excellent color plates that are carefully integrated into the text itself...meticulous scholarship...underlines its lively prose."" - John Varriano, College Art Association"

Author Information

John T. Spike, an internationally respected critic and historian of art, received his doctorate from Harvard. He has published major books on artists of the Florentine Renaissance, including Masaccio and Fra Angelico (Abbeville Press). John and Michele Spike and their son Nicolas have lived in Florence since 1989.

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