Customer Reviews

Caravaggio (The Library of Great Masters)

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I am glad to have an opportunity to sample Caravaggio's work at such a bargain price. While I wouldn't want to invest in a "complete works" book without knowing more about him, this book fills that need.

CARAVAGGIO showed early signs of the older artist: minimal decoration, such as for his sorrowful "Mary Magdalene" and his Virgin and Child stepping on a snake, and inner moral dialogue, such as reflected on the different faces within "Salome With the Head of the Baptist." Going to the emotional and psychological core worked as well with his "Amor Victorious" mocking single figure as with his complicated compositions: "Beheading of the Baptist," with all the dark-colored or soft-toned parts balanced, John's blood spelling the artist's name, and the viewer typically drawn in, this time by two prison window witnesses; "Death of the Virgin," with the dull colors of deep anguish organized around the expressive center from her hands to her face and enlivened by the overhanging red drape picking up her dress color; "Madonna del Rosario" pyramid of bottom faithful, middle Dominican mediators, and topmost Virgin with Child; and "Seven Acts of Mercy," with figures modeling behaviors around the different concepts. Giorgio Bonsanti's Scala/Riverside published book on this Lord Byron of art gives strong background for comparative reading of Simon Schama's REMBRANDT'S EYES and Arthur K Wheelock's VERMEER. The author indicates that the painter's light- and shadow-painted naturalism and realism with ordinary people and still lifes ended up behind every artistic trend in Europe, as seen by reading Michael Fried's COURBET'S REALISM, Alan Krell's MANET AND THE PAINTERS OF CONTEMPORARY LIFE, James Henry Rubin's COURBET, and Patricia Wright's MANET.