
Caravaggio
John T. Spike(Author)
Abbeville Press Inc.,U.S.
Published on 6. April 2010
Book
Hardback
280 pages
978-0-7892-1059-3 (ISBN)
Description
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 catalogue 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 includes a new preface and updated bibliography.
Accompanying the book is a critical catalogue 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 includes a new preface and updated bibliography.
Reviews / Votes
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 AssociationMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
Laminated cover
Dimensions
Height: 337 mm
Width: 291 mm
Thickness: 37 mm
Weight
2628 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7892-1059-3 (9780789210593)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition

John T. Spike
Caravaggio
Book
01/2007
Abbeville Press Inc.,U.S.
€101.70
Article not available at the moment
Person
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.
Content
Table of Contents from Caravaggio Preface to the First Edition Preface to the Second Edition Caravaggio's Life and Work Chapter 1: 1571-1592 Chapter 2: 1592-1597 Chapter 3: 1598-1600 Chapter 4: 1601-1605 Chapter 5: 1606-1610 Acknowledgments Comparative and Technical Illustrations Notes Checklist of Paintings by or Attributed to Caravaggio Chronology Selected Bibliography Exhibition Catalogues Index Catalogue of Paintings (on CD-Rom) Notes to the Reader Autograph Notes Other Works attributed to Caravaggio Lost Works