Caravaggio, 1571-1610 (Taschen Basic Art Series) (Paperback)

~ Gilles Lambert (Author), Gilles Neret (Editor) "His life was sulphurous and his painting scandalous..." (more)
Key Phrases: San Luigi, Saint Peter, Saint John the Baptist (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Notorious bad boy of Italian Baroque painting, Caravaggio (1571-1610) is finally getting the recognition he deserves. Though his name may be familiar to all of us, his work has been habitually detested and forced into obscurity. Not only was his theatrical realism unfashionable in his time, but his sacrilegious subject matter and use of lower class models were violently scorned. Michelangelo Mirisi de Caravaggio lived a life riddled with crime and scandal, producing a body of work that wouldn't be appreciated until centuries after his mysterious death. Though his body was never found, he is assumed to have been murdered by ruffians on a beach south of Rome-a fate strangely similar to that of controversial Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini who was, like Caravaggio, a homosexual.

Caravaggio's reputation was decidedly poor during his lifetime; sometimes rich, sometimes penniless, when he wasn't in prison he was running away from the police or his enemies. Perhaps no other painter has suffered such injustice: his works were often attributed to more respected painters while he was given the credit for just about anything vulgar painted in the chiaroscuro style. Caravaggio's great work had the misfortune of enduring centuries of disrepute. It wasn't until the end of the 19th century that he was rediscovered and, quite posthumously, deemed a great master.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Taschen; illustrated edition edition (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 382286305X
• ISBN-13: 978-3822863053
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #285,328 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CARAVAGGIO, January 17, 2001

By	"natalierinkenbach" (new york) - See all my reviews

Notorious bad boy of Italian Baroque painting, Caravaggio (1571-1610) is finally getting the recognition he deserves. Though his name may be familiar to all of us, his work has been habitually detested and forced into obscurity. Not only was his theatrical realism unfashionable in his time, but his sacrilegious subject matter and use of lower class models were violently scorned. Caravaggio's great work had the misfortune of enduring centuries of disrepute. It wasn't until the end of the 19th century that he was rediscovered and, quite posthumously, deemed a great master. He is now considered the most important painter of the early Baroque period; without him there would have been no Ribera, Zurburán, Velázquez, Vermeer or Georges de la Tour. Franz Hals, Rembrandt, Delacroix, and Manet would have been different. In this new book you'll find over 50 of Caravaggio's best paintings; we think you'll agree that he was a genius beyond his time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars bad read, good illustrations, August 11, 2009

By	Dukie (Virginia Beach, VA United States) - See all my reviews

Purchased this paperback in Italy for its illustrations: good color quality, included close-ups. It was also light and easy to carry as we searched on foot for Caravaggios. Ended up being a very disappointing and even frustrating read both stylistically and in terms of content. We'll be purchasing Catherine Puglisi's Caravaggio now that we're back home. I most definitely wouldn't have purchased this after coming home but it served its purpose over in Italy.