Books

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction
Provocative, appealing and controversial
pharaohs lived in the 3rd century AD

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America: Lost History And Legends, Unearthed And Explored
Before the Pharaohs: Egypt's Mysterious Prehistory
Forbidden History: Prehistoric Technologies, Extraterrestrial Intervention, and the Suppressed Origins of Civilization
They Cast No Shadows: A Collection of Essays on the Illuminati, Revisionist History, and Suppressed Technologies

ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Provocative, appealing and controversial.......2006-08-02

Fomenko has succeeded to convincingly demonstrate the misconception about what "history" factually is... It is fiction and -like we can read and judge for ourselves- no science. It indeed is "make belief" only. I "discovered" Fomenko while studying the "old" history of Al Andaluz, Spain. Having found too many contradictions in available data, having seen too many forgeries as to pretend the importance of christianity for its decline, I ventured out to find Fomenko, who convinced me that we know little if anything for sure of the epoch before the XI-century. However, the integration of the Arabic-Islamic cultural history into the heavily distorted Western fails... There are some attempts to fit "the budding new religion" (Islam) into Fomenko's scheme, but they are too weak to be taken seriously and too often focussing on Turkey as the region where things started to influence the West, which is untrue at all.
Islam certainly was no "new religion" in the X-century. That the highly cultivated Al Andaluz ruler Mohammed-I could have been "mirrored" down in time into some myth about the "illiterate" founder of Islam itself is highly speculative. Nevertheless, Fomenko convinces me about the processes that were involved in forging a christian history. Intriguing and controversial as his books are, I recommend them as to rethink our current position in time and space and simply verify what was claimed. It is a "good" book, but not for bedtime reading... Mundus vult decipi, the world wants to be cheated. Fomenko's readers will understand why.

pharaohs lived in the 3rd century AD.......2006-02-16

Traces of white wine were found in Tutankhamen's tomb however there were no record of white wine in Egypt until the 3rd century AD, 1600 years after the young pharaoh died according to the traditional chronology. http://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/mg18925395.400
It can be interpreted as a contribution towards New Chronology theory that pharaohs lived in the 3rd century AD.

Average customer rating:

A Pretty Good Book
Loved it!
A Lasting Work of Art:17,000/Day Visit The Sistine Chapel
The god within Man
Could have been better

Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling
Ross King
Manufacturer: Walker & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
The Judgment of Paris: The Revolutionary Decade that Gave the World Impressionism
The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo
The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall
The Stones of Florence

ASIN: B000MV8HCU

Amazon.com

Almost 500 years after Michelangelo Buonarroti frescoed the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, the site still attracts throngs of visitors and is considered one of the artistic masterpieces of the world. Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling unveils the story behind the art's making, a story rife with all the drama of a modern-day soap opera.

The temperament of the day was dictated by the politics of the papal court, a corrupt and powerful office steeped in controversy; Pope Julius II even had a nickname, "Il Papa Terrible," to prove it. Along with his violent outbursts and warmongering, Pope Julius II took upon himself to restore the Sistine Chapel and pretty much intimidated Michelangelo into painting the ceiling even though the artist considered himself primarily a sculptor and was particularly unfamiliar with the temperamental art of fresco. Along with technical difficulties, personality conflicts, and money troubles, Michelangelo was plagued by health problems and competition in the form of the dashing and talented young painter Raphael.

Author Ross King offers an in-depth analysis of the complex historical background that led to the magnificence that is the Sistine Chapel ceiling along with detailed discussion of some of the ceiling's panels. King provides fabulous tidbits of information and weaves together a fascinating historical tale. --J.P. Cohen

Book Description

“There is no other work to compare with this for excellence, nor could there be,” wrote Vasari in his Lives of Artists.

The extraordinary story behind Michelangelo’s masterpiece in the Sistine Chapel - from the author of the acclaimed Brunelleschi’s Dome.

In 1508 Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Though he considered himself primarily a sculptor not a painter, he laboured over it for the next four years and the result was one of the greatest masterpieces of all time.

Ross King’s fascinating new book tells the story of those four extraordinary years. Battling against ill health, financial difficulties, domestic problems and inadequate knowledge of the art of fresco, Michelangelo created figures so beautiful that, when they were unveiled in 1512, they stunned the onlookers. From Michelangelo’s experiments with the composition of pigment and plaster to his bitter rivalry with Raphael, who was working on the neighbouring Papal Apartments, Ross King paints a magnificent picture of day-to-day life on the Sistine scaffolding and outside in the upheaval of early sixteenth-century Rome.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

A Pretty Good Book.......2007-05-12

I found this an excellent read. It's pretty much a straight forward story of Michelangelo. It seemed to have updated information compared to "The Agony and the Ecstacy" and much less drama.

Loved it!.......2007-03-08

I am an art historian, and spent a year of grad school researching the restoration of Michelangelo's Sistine frescoes. I only with that this book had been published when I was still in grad school. Ross King writes very well, with good research of primary sources.

A Lasting Work of Art:17,000/Day Visit The Sistine Chapel.......2007-01-16

At the age of 33, the sculptor Micelanagelo Buonarroti, was summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II. Having been essentially fired from the job of sculpting the Pope's tomb, this strong willed artist defied and denied the invitation as long as he could. Since his patrons, the Medici, did not want a war over this, he reluctantly went. To finally arrive and learn that the task was a mamouth painting assignment must have been a shock. He was not a painter. He wanted to finish the tomb.

Then follows the amazing story of how he did it. This reluctant artist gave it his all created an enduring work of art. The book covers the fresco process, how paints were made and their components procured and how the sculptor turned painter defied the architect and built his own scaffold. Going in order of their creation, the panels are explained.

While Michelangelo is painting, Pope Julius is also busy. He's having Rapheal paint his apartments and making wars. At one point the fear of invasion is so great there was fear for the paintings. Michelangelo's family is busy too. They hound him for money and want to exploit his contacts.

The book tells the tale but leaves you wanting more. You're only teased with the character development of the two principles. For instance, that Michelangelo's father beat him for drawing as a child is merely mentioned. The reader doesn't have a feel for the personal relationship of Michelangelo and Julius, only the formal one. A few weeks ago I read Basilica which led me to this. The very brief sketches of Julius and Michelangelo in Basilica are more compelling.

Perhaps the hardcover has more photos. The paperback's are wanting but this can be remedied with several internet sites that have the images. The black and whites that appear with the text, such as Michelangelo's sketch of the scaffold and the various portraits, appear on the right pages to help the reader visualize the story and times.

The book will no doubt be a classic, because it brings together so much of the period in a highly readable style.

The god within Man.......2006-12-22

While I read this book, repeatedly I had to remind myself that despite the drama on so many pages [the drama of clashing personalities, the drama of papal-declared wars, the drama of artistic competition, the drama of family obligations/frustrations], this was no "historical novel." The "characters" were actual people who existed and a great deal of the action is actually accounted for through the original writings of Michelangelo himself [for example, to his brothers and father] as well as of his contemporaries like Vasari and Bramante.

The descriptions of what a day consisted of for Michelangelo and his assistants as they tackled all the logistics of painting something as epic [epic in space, style and substance] as the Sistine Chapel - well, even these "quieter" elements of King's story grabbed me. It made me respect Michelangelo more and more deeply as I read into what it took to retain the necessary funds for materials for scaffolding, plaster and paints, mixing the various paints, transfering the outlines of the images into the wet ceiling to accomplish the amazing frescoes that we still enjoy today, so many hundreds of years after their original creation.

Add to that, King manages something along the lines of an art-in-context education course - you learn about the politics of the day, who the power brokers were, whether it was the Pope himself or one of the many Medici, who owned what land and who pledged allegiance to who.

Finally, the paperback version that I read had many black & white images sprinkled throughout the chapters that are of Michelangelo's sketches and other works, along with a handful of color prints of the Sistine Chapel.
You will find yourself repeatedly returning to those color images as you read about Michelangelo's painting of Genesis or Noah or even the many architectural accents.

Michelangelo, even though he was essentially forced into this painting commission when what he truly desperately wanted was to design & execute a 3-story, 40-taue layout for Pope Julius II's burial in St. Peter's Basilica -- which we only get the slightest taste of with his powerful and amazing rendition of Moses, which is contained within the comparatively tiny San Pietro in Vincoli church -- created what should truly be considered of the wonders of the "modern" world... we will never see his equal and King does right by the man who had the ability to create reality with paint and marble like a god creating man out of some baser element.

King's words bring the era and the man to life.

Could have been better.......2006-10-17

This is a good introduction to this chapter in Renaissance art for those who know little about the subject. The book is entertaining and well-written. But I can't help thinking that Ross King tackles too big a subject in taking on the artist, and also the Pope and the chapel.
We don't really see Michelangelo in any more depth than the standard story. But what was he really like? You never get the impression that this is the man who sculpted the Pieta, who designed magnificent buildings and wrote poetry. All we get is the standard cliches - he didn't wash, was solitary and didn't like the Pope.
The other main subjects, Pope Julius and the chapel itself are also not dealt with in enough detail. Julius is painted as a megalomaniac dedicated to his own self-aggrandisement. He probably was, but there was surely more to this man who sponsored both Raphael and Michelangelo, among others, and rebuilt Rome. And we needed more pictures to understand the work involved in painting the chapel. For instance, there are hundreds of words dedicated to the scaffolding used, but not a single drawing of it.

The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo

Average customer rating:

More agony than ecstasy
INSPIRATIONAL!!!!
Florence, thy name is Michelangelo
Take it with you to Italy
Enjoyed many times

The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo
Irving Stone
Manufacturer: NAL Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The House of Medici: Its Rise and Fall
Lust for Life
Michelangelo and The Pope's Ceiling
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
The Agony and the Ecstasy

ASIN: 0451213238
Release Date: 2004-09-07

Book Description

Celebrating the 500th anniversary of Michelangelo's David, New American Library releases a special edition of Irving Stone's classic biographical novel-in which both the artist and the man are brought to life in full. A masterpiece in its own right, this novel offers a compelling portrait of Michelangelo's dangerous, impassioned loves, and the God-driven fury from which he wrested the greatest art the world has ever known.

Customer Reviews:

More agony than ecstasy.......2007-06-19

Irving Stone's epic "biographical novel of Michelangelo" covers the majority of his life (75 years) from age 13 to his death a few weeks shy of his 89th birthday. Sculptor, painter, poet, architect...dissector (one of the more unconventional sections - from page 210), Michelangelo was a man of many talents and few loves besides his primary obsession: sculpture. The book is unarguably well written, but would read better condensed to maybe half of its whopping 750-page length. The use of "sculpture" versus the shortened and more modern "sculpt" as a verb, although grammatically correct, is awkward and the one love scene (page 266) was better left out than in, reading like something straight out of a Harlequin romance novel and adding nothing to the otherwise, mostly romance-free story. Additionally, the inclusion of photos of his works would have improved the reading experience immensely. Stone's comprehensive story, colossal in length as well as scope, is not for the historically or artistically challenged (like this reader) and would probably be better appreciated by those familiar with Italian. Mandatory companion read: Michelangelo, Painter, Sculptor and Architect, with the restored frescoes of the Sistine Chapel (English Version) published by A.T.S. Italia, Rome; better reading: The Second Mrs. Gioconda by E.L. Konigsburg [Da Vinci], lighter: Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier [Vermeer].

INSPIRATIONAL!!!!.......2007-05-24

A truly amazing book that kept me reading hungrilly with every page. Stone captivates the reader with this incredible and inspirational lifestory of Michelangelo, revealing the life events of a man driven with passion. This book has helped me understand myself as an artist, Christian, and human being. I highly recommend this book to any reader, my only regret being that I didn't read it sooner!

Florence, thy name is Michelangelo.......2007-04-27

After spending 3 weeks with Michelangelo, I was really relieved to be finished with this book. Although it was a very enjoyable piece of art history, it often times got bogged down with politics. Stone's incredible detail of Michelangelo's art, the political upheaval in Florence and Rome, and the Vatican's role in his life really made me feel 16th century Italy, but by the end, Stone seemed to rush through the last 2 decades of Michelangelo's life.

The first quarter of the book and the beginning of Michelangelo's career under Lorenzo Medici was a true gem. Michelangelo's self-discovery, love of sculpture, and love of Lorenzo's daugter Contessina felt youthful and fresh, especially his discovery of human anatomy and the scenes of dissection. However, the political intrigue and the battles with the Church in a post-Lorenzo world were cumbersome.

I still highly reccommend this book as a great story about Michelangelo as it enhanced my appreciation for his work. Just be prepared to spend a good deal of time trudging through this lengthy tome.

Take it with you to Italy.......2007-04-11

Years ago my husband and I shared an old copy of this book while traveling in Italy by ripping it into sections so we could both read it at the same time. It was so fascinating to see the things we had just been reading about - really made things come to life for us. Just purchased the book again for our kids to read while in Italy.

Enjoyed many times.......2007-03-08

I have read this book many times, including the summer I spent living in Florence while an art history grad student. To read of the streets that Michelangelo walked down as a boy, and the city he was continually drawn to, is always thrilling. This is a fictional account of Michelangelo's life, but it is very true to fact in the important aspects. The movie based on this book, on the other hand, is TERRIBLE. Who could ever have decided to cast the hulking Charlton Heston as the small, physically vulnerable Michelangelo?

Caravaggio: Painter of Miracles (Eminent Lives)

Average customer rating:

H&J Bailey
The Sinner-Saint
A brief life with no new insights
A good book.....
Great overview for the non Art professional

Caravaggio: Painter of Miracles (Eminent Lives)
Francine Prose
Manufacturer: Eminent Lives
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece
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ASIN: 0060575603
Release Date: 2005-10-04

Book Description

Francine Prose's life of Caravaggio evokes the genius of this great artist through a brilliant reading of his paintings. Caravaggio defied the aesthetic conventions of his time; his use of ordinary people, realistically portrayed—street boys, prostitutes, the poor, the aged—was a profound and revolutionary innovation that left its mark on generations of artists. His insistence on painting from nature, on rendering the emotional truth of experience, whether religious or secular, makes him an artist who speaks across the centuries to our own time.

Born in 1571 near Milan, Michelangelo Merisi (da Caravaggio) moved to Rome when he was twenty-one years old. He became a brilliant and successful artist, protected by the influential Cardinal del Monte and other patrons. But he was also a man of the streets who couldn't seem to free himself from its brawls and vendettas. In 1606 he fled Rome, apparently after killing another man in a dispute. He spent his last years in exile, in Naples, Malta, and Sicily, at once celebrated for his art and tormented by his enemies. Through it all, he produced masterpieces of astonishing complexity and power. Eventually he received a pardon from the Pope, only to die, in mysterious circumstances, on the way back to Rome in 1610.

Francine Prose presents the brief but tumultuous life of one of the greatest of all painters with passion and acute sensitivity.

Customer Reviews:

H&J Bailey.......2007-05-13

We purchased "Caravaggio: Painter of miracles" in preparation for a tour to ITALY dedicated to the works of Caravaggio that we found in Rome, Naples and Florence. It was an excellent preparation.
Excellent sketch of Caravaggio's life, and overview of his opus. The author's clear and aggressive prose fits Caravaggio to a T. The text was easily read and exciting in it's coverage of things Caravaggio.
I recommend the book to any person interested in Caravaggio and I intend to pursue other works by the author Francine Prose.

The Sinner-Saint.......2007-02-28

Francine Prose's "Caravaggio: Painter of Miracles" is part of a series of short biographies called "Eminent Lives" in which famous authors write about great historical figures. The aim of the series is not be produce scholarly or definitive works; instead it is to offer the reader a gateway into the works and importance of the subject to inspire further exploration and thought.

Francine Prose is best-known as a novelist. She offers in this book an elegant short guide to the great Italian painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1573 -- 1610). Caravaggio's story is one of the most romantic and tantalizing in art. He moved to Rome as a young man of 21 and established his reputation as a painter of importance, turning early in his career to paintings of religious themes. But Caravaggio's life was tumultuous, violent, and brutal. He was never without his dagger, even when he slept. He brawled and fought and consorted with the low life of Rome, and was forced to flee the city after killing a man in a dispute that involved a bet over a game of tennis. In exile, Caravaggio continued to live violently, to flee from place to place, and to paint masterpieces. Prose captures the tension between Caravaggio's tortured life and his artistry. She writes:

"The life of Caravaggio is the closes thing we have to the myth of the sinner-saint, the street tough, the martyr, the killer, the genius -- the myth that, in these jaded and secular times, we are almost ashamed to admit that we still long for, and need. .. Each time we see his paintings, we are reminded of why we still care so profoundly about this artist who continues to speak to us in his urgent, intimate language, audible centuries after the voices of his more civilized, presentable colleagues have fallen silent". (p. 13)

Prose did not get me very far into Caravaggio's life. She is much more successful in describing the paintings, which she does in good detail for a short book. The book includes 11 color plates of some of Caravaggio's masterpieces, from the beginning to the end of his career. Prose has helpful things to say in helping the reader to understand these works and the circumstances of their creation -- she helps the nonspecialist learn to look at and respond to a painting. I found her especially good in discussing Caravaggio's paintings of the "Calling of Saint Matthew" -- where she eloquently shows the artist depicting a conversion experience -- and its companion work, "The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew." Prose also discusses well many paintings that are not reproduced in the book. In order to get the most from these discussions, the reader will need to find these paintings in another source -- this book has as its goal, after all, encouraging further exploration of Caravaggio.

Prose finds Caravaggio's greatness lies in his honesty, directness, and naturalism. She stresses how is works communicate directly with the viewer. Prose also emphasizes how Caravaggio used common people and places and the tough street life with which he was familiar in his paintings, including the use of rough laborers, common dwellings, gypsies, and prostitutes. Caravaggio's work combined elements of violence and low life with deep spirituality as he explored the mysteries of faith, conversion experiences,loneliness, and martyrdom. Caravaggio's brilliance as a painter, and the highly modern tension his work suggests between the spiritual and the mundane, are reasons why many people will continue to be fascinated by his work.

Prose's book doesn't capture fully the reasons why Caravaggio's work continues to live and to move people. But her book will encourage reflection upon and further exploration of the work of this great and troubled artist.

Robin Friedman

A brief life with no new insights.......2006-12-08

Francine Prose writes well and with a light ironic touch but this slim volume adds little to what we already know about Caravaggio. At a little over 100 pages and with only a handful of color illustrations the book amounts to little more than an extended essay of Ms. Prose's reactions to Caravaggio's major works. There are very many better books showing the paintings and Prose doesn't go into the camera obscura technique that Caravaggio undoubtedly used, giving his paintings an almost photo-realistic representation of his subjects.

That Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was a brawler with a passion for picking fights worthy of "Fight Club" who combined erratic behavior with some sublime paintings is hardly an insight. A much better treatment of the life and psychology of the artist appears in Peter Robb's 1998 "M: The Man who Became Caravaggio" which curiously is unreferenced by Prose.

Although Prose notes that Caravaggio broke away from the stylized poses and unearthly lighting of the mannerists, I don't think she clearly explains his genius.

A good book............2006-11-03

This was a good book because it made me curious about Caravaggio. I subsequently bought another book that was a much more thorough biography of Caravaggio.

Great overview for the non Art professional.......2006-06-10

A great little book that covers what is known about a true bad boy of art, a tormented genius that challenged the accepted art of his time and changed the direction of painting, not something lightly done in those times. For this he was applauded, sought out, paid very well; he respond with bad judgment and madness. This book hits all the highlights and story points a non-art professional would want with being bogged down in too much 'art philosophy' that books on artists sometime drop into making it hard for an amateur to wade through. This is an excellent intro to Caravaggio. You should read this and then follow it up with The Lost Painting: A Quest For A Caravaggio Masterpiece, the amazing and true story of how one of Caravaggio's lost paintings was found in the 1990s.

Average customer rating:

The Holy Sinner
A Brillant Concise Biography
Caravaggio is Caravaggio
you'll love it.
Interesting Account of Caravaggio and his works

Caravaggio: A Passionate Life
Desmond Seward
Manufacturer: William Morrow & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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M : The Man Who Became Caravaggio
The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece

ASIN: 0688150322

Amazon.com

Historian Desmond Seward has written an indispensable book on Caravaggio--equally balanced and historically double-checked. But even with all its references, dates, names, quotes, and careful scholarship, this biography reads like a novel that is impossible to put down. Caravaggio, of course, with his "wild, wild spirit" and "very strange temper," according to contemporary accounts, is a natural subject for a galloping narrative. Caravaggio's religious and social status as a Knight of Malta, his protection by a famous cardinal, his street fighting, his fine silk clothes worn until they rotted away, his prostitute models and lowlife friends, his repeated failure to win a commission for St. Peter's, and his bitterness at the rise of mediocre rivals are just some of the ingredients of this good read.

What Seward does, to riveting perfection, is convey 16th-century life to the reader. He takes Caravaggio's renowned naturalism and shows us where it came from. He transports readers to Rome in the 1590s, where they explore the old stones of the ancient empire, step over the human excrement in the streets, and witness the pageantry of luxurious horse-drawn carriages promenading through the mud. Readers lurk with Seward in the darkness, light lamps and candles, and feel the damp as the Tiber rises, leaving behind more than a thousand corpses when it finally recedes after a terrible flood. They stand in the crowd and watch as the heads and bodies of decapitated criminals are quartered and hoisted on spears and ramparts for display. Gradually readers get the feeling that Caravaggio's predilection for severed heads was less the product of a tormented imagination than it was simply all in a day's observation for an unwavering realist. --Peggy Moorman

Book Description

Michael Angelo da Caravaggio (1571-1610) had an amazingly colorful and adventurous career, full of dramatic contrasts. He was a religious artist who used prostitutes and castrati as his models; a mystic with a police record; the favorite of Cardinals and the Pope's portrait painter, who committed a murder; an outlaw from the Roman hills, lionized at Naples; a Knight of Malta imprisoned in a Maltese dungeon; hunted by hired assassins in a vendetta with an unknown enemy; horribly disfigured by sword cuts in a Neapolitan brothel. Ironically, he died on a lonely Tuscan beach after receiving a pardon that would have allowed him to become an even greater painter.

Based on the latest research, but largely written as an adventure story, the book concentrates on the man and his personality, without neglecting the artist. It vividly re-creates his life in early Baroque Italy and as a "monk of war" on Malta.

Customer Reviews:

The Holy Sinner.......2006-06-07

I am fascinated by the combination in one person, of great creativity, in the service of religious ideals, with uncontrolled sexuality, violence and criminality, and depression. The relationship between these two extremes may be the modern temperament writ large. Thus, in the company of many people, I have long been interested in the art and character of the great Italian baroque artist, Michelangelo de Caravaggio (1571 -- 1610). Desmond Seward's short and readable biography, "Caravaggio: A Passionate Life" (1998) offers a good overview of a remarkable artist and deeply flawed and troubled person. Seward is an English historian who has written on the medieval and renaissance periods. He is a member of the Knights of Malta, as was Caravaggio for a brief time; and Seward's religious perspective undoubtedly has much to do with how he sees the artist. I was not convinced by parts of Seward's understanding of his subject. But he presents his materials well with room for his readers to disagree.

Caravaggio was born in the small Italian village for which he is named, and his father died a victim of the plague early in life. From 1588 -1592 he served an apprenticeship as a painter in Milan but fled to Rome, most likely as a result of killing a policeman. In Rome, Caravaggio ultimately received recognition for his extraordinary paintings but was forced to flee the city in 1606 after killing a man named Tommasoni in a duel. (He had earlier accumulated a long police record in Rome.) He received a dispensation to join the Knights of Malta but was expelled and forced to flee after another duel in which he severely wounded a superior in the Order. Caravaggio had strong defenders in Rome, greatly aware of his extraordinary gifts, and received a papal pardon. But, knowing that he had been pardoned, in 1610 Caravaggio died a miserable death en route to Rome after drinking contaminated water. During his years in Rome and thereafter, Caravaggio was an astonishing painter, creating many masterworks, mostly on religious themes. Many of his works have been lost, but some have resurfaced in recent years.

Seward gives a brief treatment of the little that is known about Caravaggio's life and makes an effort to separate knowledge from speculation in the original source material. He does a good job in putting the artist's life in the context of the Italy of his day, with its many states, cultures of endemic and pervasive violence, and susceptibility to natural disasters, such as floods, and plagues. He also discusses effectively the counter-reformation in the Catholic Church; and he places Caravaggio's paintings squarely within the goals and religious outlook of the attempt to revitalize Catholicism from the challenges of Protestantism. For all the violence and difficulties in his life, Seward stresses, Caragaggio never had doctrinal difficulties that might have interested the Inquisition.

Seward also discusses Caravaggio's major paintings (the book includes good color reproductions of 16 of them) emphasizing their naturalism -- Caragaggio's attempt to paint people and things as they were -- and, increasingly, their mysticism and religiosity. He is good at pointing out the violence in many of the paintings -- especially the scenes of beheadings -- and their use of light and of dark shadings. Seward is far less convincing on issues of sexuality. He is dismissive on issues of eroticism in Caravaggio's art, and on the artist's likely bisexual or homosexual orientation. The historical record may be sparse, but many viewers have found compelling evidence of eroticism in the paintings -- including the paintings reproduced in his book. Seward properly emphasizes, I think, the religious, mystical nature that finds expression in Caravaggio's art, but he downplays the violent, demonic, and sexual nature of the artist. Thus, while he properly subtitles his book "A Passionate Life", he gives the reader less than the whole of it.

As Seward points out, in many respects Caravaggio, with his great talent and equally great human flaws, is the prototype of the modern antihero. Undoubtedly, this combination accounts for much of the fascination the artist and his works continue to exert. Seward's book sets the stage for considering the tortured relationship between Caravaggio's life and his art; but in the end he fails to do his subject complete justice.

Robin Friedman

A Brillant Concise Biography.......2004-10-02

It is no secret among my friends that Michelangelo Merisi da Carvaggio is among my favorite painters. Because Caravaggio's paintings have a narrative quality, an almost universal appeal and real drama, they have long spoken to me. When the National Gallery of Ireland loaned its newly discovered Caravaggio - one of the best and notably, one that hasn't suffered at the hands of overzealous restorers of past centuries - to our own National Gallery of Art, I flew to Washington to see it. Even hanging in the gallery of Baroque masterpieces, it stood out as a sublime work of art. Like his paintings, Caravaggio's life was a study in contrasts. While he painted soaring religious masterpieces, he lived his life in the gutter, fighting, killing, gambling and whoring. So, enjoying his work as much as I do, it is with pleasure that I share a elegantly crafted, well-written little monograph titled "Caravaggio: A Passionate Life." The author, Desmond Seward, is not an art historian but a historian of the Middle Ages and because of the number of art historians with an agenda; this is almost certainly a good thing...instead of being filled with jargon or far fetched theories, he has provided readers with a consise, well-written monograph on a epoch creating artist!

Caravaggio is Caravaggio.......2002-10-14

Any biography of Caravaggio is bound to be immensely interesting because he was far from ordinary, someone who will never fail to shock and amuse modern readers. While several reviews I have read complain about the brevity of the book, I found its length appropriate-it did the artist justice without bogging the reader down with too much analysis and irrelevant details. It assumes some familiarity with Italy and European history, but it has several chapters devoted solely to discussing the time period, while always making a connection to Caravaggio's life. I found it particularly nice that nearly all of Caravaggio's paintings were discussed and analyzed within the biography. The book has several copies of paintings inserted in its middle, but lacks the majority. Therefore, I found it incredibly helpful to have my Caravaggio anthology nearby so that I could follow the author's discussions. Undoubtedly, anyone that is not a Caravaggio fan would find these sections tremendously boring, but I loved the opportunity to pore over his paintings with a new understanding of their significance and context.

you'll love it........2000-03-18

This may be the best of the new Caravaggio books. As a painter and a student of art history, I found this book by Seward to be absolutely absorbing. Seward not only gives insight about Caravaggio's life, but also delves into the events that may have inspired his paintings. Please read this exciting book!

Interesting Account of Caravaggio and his works.......1999-11-25

Firstly an admission, I had no prior knowledge of Caravaggio or his paintings. My main area of interest is military history but after seeing the beautiful cover on this book I picked it up and browsed through the wonderful colour plates. I had to have the book to read and after ordering it from Amazon.com and sat and waited. It was worth the wait! I enjoyed the story of this most interesting man, yes its a bit short (200 odd pages) but to a person like me who had no prior knowledge or interest in this subject it filled a gap in my education. This was an interesting book to read and I just loved the colour plates of the artists work (16 colour pictures). The book has sparked an interest to learn more of this man, his times and his art. For that alone the book was worth it and the author has done his job. I would recommend this book for those who want to learn a little bit more about this man and his art.

Average customer rating:

easy to read biography for kids and adults alike
Entertaining for my five-year-old daughter
The Life and Times of Michelangelo.....
Beautifully illustrated, well researched, and fascinating
I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!

Michelangelo

Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060521139
Release Date: 2003-05-13

Amazon.com

Michelangelo Buonarroti, one of the greatest artists of all time, was not exactly a noble and humble man. Irritable, arrogant, and impatient, his perfectionism and expectations drove away many potential friends, and even provoked one would-be friend to hit him in the nose, crushing it "like a biscuit." However, what's truly important for us today is that this man ultimately became an artistic genius, mastering the three arts of the Renaissance: sculpture, painting, and architecture. From his early years, when he created the Pieta (at age 25), to his 40 years of tormented work on a monumental tomb for Pope Julius II, to his greatest masterpiece, the paintings in the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo astounded people with his almost otherworldly talent.

Diane Stanley's well-researched, vivid narrative captures the life of the creator of some of the world's most beautiful, heart-wrenching works of art. Her illustrations are fantastically elaborate and include details of many of Michelangelo's sculptures and paintings. Michelangelo is a perfect introduction to art and art history, with plenty of compelling background information about the Renaissance and life in 15th and 16th century Italy. Stanley has written many other award-winning picture-book biographies, including Leonardo da Vinci and Cleopatra. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

Book Description

When he was born, Michelangelo Buonarroti was put into the care of a stonecutter's family. He often said it was from them that he got his love of sculpture. It certainly didn't come from his own father, a respectable magistrate who beat his son when he asked to become an artists apprentice.

But Michelangelo persevered. His early sculptures caught the attention of Florence's great ruler, Lorenzo de' Medici, who invited the boy to be educated with his own sons. Soon after, Michelangelo was astonishing people with the lifelike creations he wrested from marble--from the heartbreaking Pieta he sculpted when he was only twenty-five to the majestic David that brought him acclaim as the greatest sculptor in Italy.

Michelangelo had a turbulent, quarrelsome life. He was obsessed with perfection and felt that everyone--from family members to his demanding patrons--took advantage and let him down. His long and difficult association with Pope Julius II yielded his greatest masterpiece, the radiant paintings in the Sistine Chapel, and his most disastrous undertaking, the monumental tomb that caused the artist frustration and heartache for forty years.

With her thoroughly researched, lively narrative and superbly detailed illustrations, Diane Stanley has captured the life of an artist who towered above the late Renaissance--and whose brilliance in architecture, painting, and sculpture amazes and moves us to this day.

Children's Books 2000-NY Public Lib., Books for Youth Editor's Choice 2000 (Booklist), Lasting Connections 2000 (Book Links), Best Books 2000 (School Library Journal), Top 10 Youth Art Books 2000 (Booklist), and Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies 2001, National Council for SS & Child. Book Council

Customer Reviews:

easy to read biography for kids and adults alike.......2006-05-09

Michelangelo is an interesting look into the life of Renaissance superstar artist, Michelangelo Buonarroti from birth to death. Born in Italy March 6, 1475, Michelangelo was destined to become an artist and knew this is what he wanted from a young age. He was raised in various homes, by a nurse in the village of stonecutters and later in the home of the ruler of Venice, Lorenzo Medici who recognized his talent and brought him to live with him as his own sons. At the age of thirteen he begged his father to become a lowly artist's apprentice working in fresco for the time of three years. His true love was though not painting, but sculpture. Michelangelo eventually created some of the worlds' most famous art artworks including the sculpture of David and the painting inside the Sistine Chapel and worked on countless commissions for several popes and rulers trough out Italy. Many interesting facts that children will be sure to pick up on, including Michelangelo's work with corpses to study the human form and his feud with another Renaissance superstar Leonardo Da Vinci, keep this book interesting and exciting.
Stanley's interesting illustrations are unique. She combines photographs of true artwork (it is hard to copy a master!) with her own paintings to create a visually stimulating illustration. This book would be good for any adult that is wanting a "more than basic" but easy reading book about the life of Michelangelo.

Entertaining for my five-year-old daughter.......2004-03-02

With popular culture grabbing my daughter's attention so powerfully, it was nice to have some high brow material that could compete with the Disney genre. My favorite part was when my girl asked, "Why doesn't God just stretch his finger a little more like this [stretched her finger] to touch Adam?" The whole book is a single bed time reading for a parent to a child. It reads a bit like a cliff hanger with the reader along for the ride through Michaelangelo's challenges and accomplishments.

The Life and Times of Michelangelo............2002-03-19

Born March 6, 1475 in the little stonecutter's village of Caprese, about fifty miles east of Florence, and left in the care of a nurse, Michelangelo "fell asleep to the odd lullaby of chisel striking stone. Years later he remarked that his love of sculpture must have come to him along with his foster mother's milk." From an early age, Michelangelo wanted to become an artist. His father, ashamed that his son wanted to enter such a lowly profession, tried to literally beat the idea out of him, but the headstrong and determined child would not give in, and in 1488 was apprenticed to the famous painter, Domenico Ghirlandaio. After only one year his unrivaled talent was noticed by Lorenzo de'Medici, a great and generous art lover and patron. He brought Michelangelo into his palace and treated him as one of his sons, encouraging his art. But upon Lorenzo's untimely death, Michelangelo was sent back to his father's house, and cast in the role of family breadwinner, "a role he would play for the rest of his life." And so it was that the difficult and disagreeable, perfectionist Michelangelo's greatest masterpieces, The Pieta, David, and the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, were commissioned works by patrons and popes..... Diane Stanley's intriguing biography takes the reader on a compelling and suspenseful journey as she details the life and times of the greatest artist of the Renaissance. Her easy to read and engaging text is rich in history, art, drama, and anecdotes, and complemented by her ingeniously creative and innovative illustrations. Together word and art captures the essence of the arrogant and tormented artist, and brings Michelangelo and the Renaissance to life on the page. Perfect for youngsters 9-12, Michelangelo is a well researched and spellbinding introductory biography, and another marvelous addition to Ms Stanley's superb series.

Beautifully illustrated, well researched, and fascinating.......2001-06-24

Award-winning author Stanley presents a stunning picture book biography of true Renaissance man Michelangelo Buonarroti, who came to master the arts of sculpting, painting and architecture in fifteenth and sixteenth century Italy. Stanley blends information about Michelangelo and his life as an artist with historical detail to set the scene, and then introduces a fascinating cast of personalities that include his first master Domenico Ghirlandodaio, the Warrior Pope he offended, and his contemporary Leonardo Da Vinci, who was Michelangelo's envy and rival.
Stanley reproduces and discusses Michelangelo's greatest works (David, the Sistine Chapel, the Pieta) then adds details such as fresco painting techniques and the gruesome necessity of dissecting cadavers to study anatomy. Quotes from Michelangelo's own letters enrich the text; it is a tragedy that he destroyed many of his personal papers before his death.
A full-page illustration to exemplify the narrative compliments each page of text; the text pages are decorated with period coins, coats of arms, stonecutting tools, portraits, sketches and reproductions. The illustrations are an unusual mix of paintings which feature scanned images of Michelangelo's works of art, including drawings and sketches, sculpture and paintings.
Stanley's paintings (which show the housing, dress and goods of the poverty stricken as well as the palace-dwellers) seem flat when paired with Michelangelo's dimensional artwork, and the contrast is a bit awkward. Her paintings imitate the style of the times in color, layout and subject, while still following the narrative. A richly-hued historical map of Italy explains the government of the time as well as the layout of the country, while the author's note opposite gives a defines the Renaissance. Bibliography & permissions are provided; the absence of a timeline and glossary may disappoint teachers.

I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!.......2000-09-26

While browsing through a local bookstore I chanced upon Michelangelo by Diane Stanley. What a beautiful book! Not only were the pictures captivating, but the information was excellent. Michelangelo's famous picture of the creation of the moon and stars that graces the Sistene chapel is on the cover. My children were enthralled as I read how Michelangelo spent many hours dissecting human cadavers at a local morgue, becoming so familiar with the human body that he was able to make his works come alive with breathtaking detail. I will look for more books by this same author. Children(and adults)will read this book over and over. A great addition to your home library!

Michelangelo (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists)

Average customer rating:

Easy for children to appreciate his work
The young have a grand time with Michelangelo's grand scale
Spring board to introduce classic artists

Michelangelo (Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists)
Mike Venezia
Manufacturer: Children's Press (CT)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0516422936

Customer Reviews:

Easy for children to appreciate his work.......2007-06-11

I read this to my pre-k and she loved it. We read this AFTER we saw David in Florence. I wish we had read it before as it would have built up the excitement of seeing the statue, but no matter, it was fun for her to learn about how Michelangelo grew up to become one of the most famous artists in the world. It also made us both appreciate his works of art. There was just enough text to tell his story, but short enough to not lose a child's attention. We are reading the others in the series.

The young have a grand time with Michelangelo's grand scale.......2000-06-13

"One of the things that made Michelangelo such a great artist was his ability to give a special energy and strength to the people he painted and sculpted," p.29

The young reader will learn about Michelangelo's beginnings in a city near Florence, the brief time he spent as a baby with a family of stonecutters, his years of study at the workshop of Ghirlandaio, his years under the patronage of Lorenzo de' Medici and his years working for Pope Julius II.

Michelangelo did things on a grand scale. His "David" of Goliath fame is 16 ft., 10 in. in height and took 2.5 years to complete. His "Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel" is 5800 sq. ft. in area and took 4 years to complete. The young when doing an art piece are frequently never able to complete it within the allotted time, regardless of the length of the allotted time. It seems there is a reluctance on the young's part to feel it is complete, because it seems there is always some additional work required. They share Michelangelo's art ethic and will appreciate his dedication.

My favorite sculpture in the book is Michelangelo's "Pieta," sculpted in 1498-1499. There is both an expressed fragility to Jesus' body and an overwhelming gentle strength in Mary's holding of him. It gives testimony to Michelangelo's complete oneness with the roughness and hardness of marble. The marble was putty in his hands.

Venezia's illustrations are humorous. His narrative is delightfully entertaining. His approach brings the artist within reach of the young. His portrayal of Pope Julius II in the Sistine Chapel offering unsolicited comments on Michelangelo's work jokingly brings to the fore the conflict that existed between the two.

The size of the book is perfect for smaller hands. It enables the young to have art within their grasp. Venezia gives the locations of the paintings and as result if the child lives near one of the museums or will be near one on vacation, she/he would be able to see the original.

This is the 11th in Venezia's "Getting to know the World's Greatest Artist" series. He also has a similar series on composers. Venezia's back cover illustration ties back to the subject. "Mike found it easy to relate to Michelangelo's painting the Sistine Chapel ...".

The price of the book is well worth paying. The book contains the following: Michelangelo's sculptures (5), chapel ceiling fresco (1), chapel wall fresco (1), marble relief (1), dome from building plan (1), and sculptures unfinished (2), Venezia's illustrations (7), Others' sculptures (2), frescoes (2) and gilt bronze panel (1).

Spring board to introduce classic artists.......2000-03-25

A book intended for ages 4-10, the book attempts to introduce the artist and his paintings. A very dry attempt at that, but it is a great spring board to start. A very simple book with cartoons to atract young readers. Samples paints with breif explainations of each work. I have used this book only as an introduction. I do follow up with more books that give a deep explaination. This book is an inexpesive way for children to experience various paintings and engage their natural curiosity to investigate further. To introduce the artists and his works of art this is an average book for the young.

Average customer rating:

One of the Best
As clear a portrait as we can hope for, currently...
Hedging as a Writing Stype
Light inside the Shadows

Caravaggio: A Life
Helen Langdon
Manufacturer: Farrar Straus & Giroux (T)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Caravaggio

ASIN: 0374118949

Amazon.com

Seventeenth-century painter Nicolas Poussin once said that Caravaggio came into the world to destroy painting. Helen Langdon's marvelous biography suggests that rather than destroying painting, the Milanese artist gave it a new lease on life. Upon his arrival in Rome, Caravaggio ended a tradition of Italian Renaissance painting with his radically new naturalistic style, which continues to dazzle and influence viewers today. Beautifully poised between biographical scholarship and artistic appreciation, Langdon's book provides the reader with a complex, fascinating portrait of Caravaggio, still the rebel and outsider of the popular imagination, but also immersed in the Roman world of art, politics, and patronage. Some of the finest sections of the book vividly evoke the streets and brothels of early 17th-century Rome, which provided Caravaggio with the inspiration for many of his early works. By contrast, the later sections--which deal with Caravaggio's exile and commissions in Naples, Malta, and Sicily--seem rather brief and truncated, giving the final third of the book a rather unbalanced feel. This is, however, partly due to the elusiveness of Caravaggio himself--with little direct contemporary documentation on the painter, he often slips into the shadows, evading the scrutiny of even the most persistent biographer.

Langdon's achievement here is to produce a compelling portrait of the artist that throws new light on his paintings. Here is a painter who was proud, difficult, and arrogant, yet highly intellectual in his appreciation of the changing face of both Catholicism and scientific enquiry. Written with great historical clarity, and supplemented by 42 magnificent color illustrations, Helen Langdon's Caravaggio is a worthy contribution to scholarly study of this artist. --Jerry Brotton

Book Description

A powerful and illuminating biography-the first in English in two generations-of one of the most popular painters of all time.

Of all the great Italian painters, the seventeenth-century master Caravaggio speaks most clearly and powerfully to our time. His early paintings of cardsharps, musicians, and street vendors convey his fascination with the Roman demimonde; his stark and brilliant religious paintings convey the world of the poor and the outcast and the religious experience of the individual with a directness our age can recognize.

Caravaggio lived hard and died young, having fled Rome for Sicily, apparently after murdering another man in a dispute; his life is one of the most colorful of any artist's. In this vivid and beautifully written biography, Helen Langdon tells the story of the great painter's life and times in a way that leaves the reader with a renewed appreciation of his art.

Caravaggio painted a fairly small number of works, many of them for settings in Rome, Naples, and Sicily, where they remain today; and he painted directly from human models. So the story of his life and times reveals Italian society of the period-involving powerful patrons, sybaritic cardinals, and saints, as well as street boys, prostitutes, and rivalrous painters.

Langdon has spent a lifetime studying Caravaggio; this biography, the first in English in two generations, shows us Caravaggio's genius with the striking clarity of his own paintings.

Customer Reviews:

One of the Best .......2007-02-23

This is one of the best Caravaggio books ever written. It is a shame it is no longer in print. The combination of Roman history, church history and art history along with the extensive use of art plates, provide the backdrop for a thorough look into the life of one of the greatest artists of all times.

Helen Langdon gave me the opportunity to understand not only who Caravaggio was, but how he progressed in his development as an artist. This is a thoughtful and thorough presentation. There are many excellent books available on various aspects of Caravaggio's life and paintings; this is the most complete. It is worth the effort to try to locate a used copy of the book.

As clear a portrait as we can hope for, currently..........2002-01-26

Langdon's research payed off in this beautiful look at one of the Late Renaissance's most powerful (and mysterious, and notorious) painters. Sadly, most of what we know of Michelangelo Caravaggio's life is through second-hand sources -- police records and such -- but Langdon seems to have pored through every bit of esoterica related to the painter's relation to his time, his culture, and his peers. What we get for her troubles is a portrait of a man whose devotion to religion was so strong that he would do anything -- including lying about his lineage -- to maintain a secure place as a "defender of the faith."

Sadly, the one-star review on this page has a point: many of Langdon's statements are qualified with "perhaps", "almost certainly," etc. This, however, is one of the prices we pay for any attempt to pin down an elusive person who lived on the fringes of a society which passed four hundred years ago. I much preferred this reading to, for example, Desmond Seward's CARAVAGGIO of the same year, in which the author ranted against any recent interpretations of homoeroticism in Caravaggio's sensual paintings, and even against the concept of Caravaggio -- a notoriously violent and tumultuous figure in the history of painting -- having actually earned his lifetime reputation as a criminal!

Beautifully illustrated, well documented, and written with both a sensitivity towards the subject and a refusal to let that sensitivity obscure "the dirt". ..this is a significant addition to the study of one of painting's more fascinating figures. I highly recommend it.

Hedging as a Writing Stype.......2000-04-30

Ms.Langdon has impressive credentials but the book is exasperating for anyone who is interested in Caravaggio the man. There is hardly a comment she makes that isn't qualified. The text drips with phrases like quite possible, perhaps, it may be that, could it be that, etc. When so little can be known for certain about a figure in history, why not just write a novel--historical fiction is a more honest genre and less frustrating for the reader.

Light inside the Shadows.......2000-01-02

I found this book to be very entertaining as well as educational. The author did a great job of recreating the setting of Carravaggio's life; the important characters and atmosphere of all the places the artist lived in his nomadic life. Also, I look at Carravaggio's paintings in a new light and am even more impressed and moved by them than previously. Carravaggio's was a tragic life. The author captures the sense of impending doom that hanged over the artist's head like an executioner's sword. The author did a great job of bringing the artist to life with what little is actually known about him, through records, accounts, and most of all his paintings. Through it all there is the sense of an awesome talent and fragile ego, that both humbles and angers all who knew him. I came away realzing that Carravaggio was a man of his times as well as an artist of all time.

The Films of Michelangelo Antonioni (Cambridge Film Classics)

Average customer rating:

Perfect Antonioni primer

The Films of Michelangelo Antonioni (Cambridge Film Classics)
Peter Brunette
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Antonioni, or, The Surface of the World
L'Avventura - Criterion Collection
L'avventura (BFI Film Classics)
La Notte
The Passenger

ASIN: 0521389925

Book Description

The Cambridge Film Classics series provides a forum for the revisionist studies of the classic works of the cinematic canon from the perspective of the "new auteurism, " which recognizes that films emerge from a complex interaction of bureaucratic, technological, intellectual, cultural, and personal forces. Each volume provides a general introduction to the life and work of a particular director, followed by critical essays on several of the director's most important films, and a filmography.

Customer Reviews:

Perfect Antonioni primer.......2006-03-10

Quite simply, this book is the perfect starting point for someone trying to understand the often-confusing and richly layered and textured films of Michelangelo Antonioni. Brunette devotes a chapter each to six of Antonioni's signature films: "L'avventura", "La notte", "L'eclisse", "Red Desert", "Blow-Up", and "The Passenger". While this list is far from comprehensive, it gives a very thorough analysis of the "classic Antonioni". Even those familiar with Antonioni will find this book to be very useful. An excellent addition to any film-lover's library, no matter if s/he is a novice or a film professor. Also look for Brunette on the commentary track of the "Blow-Up" DVD.

Average customer rating:

A great study of the artist Caravaggio
Artist
Great book on the greatest of all Italian painters
Highly recommended
This is the one.

Caravaggio
John T. Spike , Michelangelo Merisi Da Caravaggio , and Michele K. Spike
Manufacturer: Abbeville Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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M : The Man Who Became Caravaggio
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Caravaggio: Painter of Miracles (Eminent Lives)

ASIN: 0789206390

Book Description

For the first time nearly every extant work by Caravaggio is reproduced in color in this lavish new 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.

Other Details:
160 color, 190 b/w illustrations. 11 x 13" trim size. Published in 2001.

Customer Reviews:

A great study of the artist Caravaggio.......2007-06-12

the quality of the research and the color of the paintings are outstanding.
Also the CD-ROM has an unbelievable amount of information on the artist's
works and their provenance.
Dr.John T. Spike's 20 years of research is shared with the reader and is so readable and engaging.

Artist.......2007-03-31

The reproductions are excellent. The binding is fine and the cover handsome. The writing is solid academically. I would have liked the book to have had more information on the artist and his life. Much is left to be done in the study of Caravaggio. His life still seems to be quite mysterious. His probable use of optics and mirrors in his work is touched on and needs further exploration. This book provides a good introduction to Caravaggio and his paintings in a handsome package.

Great book on the greatest of all Italian painters.......2006-06-28

Great book on the greatest of all Italian painters. Glorious plates. And the text is a pretty good bio.

Highly recommended .......2006-04-07

My husband and I just came back from Italy and we had to have a Caravaggio book. His painting in Vatican museum was especially memorable! I picked this book and it is very good. I agree with the earlier comments that some (not "many") pictures are poor quality (too red), but many photographs are very good, nice size for an art book and very important - it is an interesting and detailed research.

This is the one........2002-03-10

My library contains many various volumes on the subject of Caravaggio--fiction, biography, fictionalized biograp