Discovering Caravaggio: The Art Lover's Guide to Understanding Symbols in His Paintings

The book has fairly good reproductions of the art, but the "discovering" part of it didn't bring me a lot of insights. In the works of others, there is more insight into the symbolism, particularly the arcane religious symbolism that was used in his time. The authors take a lot of the long-standing legends about Caravaggio at face value, and they did not apply skepticism evenly throughout the work. Furthermore, they seemed more interested in genitalia and breasts than in the less obvious details of the works. If the book is meant to aid discovery, then it should point out things that are less obvious.The overlays with cutouts are actually a good idea, but end-up being a utilized in a way that doesn't capture all of the important details. Only getting 2 stars instead of one because of fairly high quality images, and a few areas-- like the discussion of severed heads-- that were somewhat thought provoking.

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571 - 1610) remains one of the most revered Italian artists of his time and continues to influence artists today for his extraordinarily realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, and for his dramatic (an much imitated) use of lighting. It is then appropriate for authors Stefano Zuffi and Philippe Daverio to approach the fifty one of the master's paintings with attention drawn to details of each of these paintings with the useful technique of making overlay pages with die-cut windows to heighten the readers attention to specific details. While this may sound like a teaching lesson carried too far, the drama the authors create in using this technique is so successful that they provide ways to examine Caravaggio's particular gifts as a painter better than anyone has attempted to date.This book serves not only the academic world but also the art lover world. Written as an accompaniment to an exhibition at Rome's Scudrie del Quirinale on the four hundredth anniversary of Caravaggio's death, the book serves as a catalogue - if only the exhibition had been able to showcase all of the paintings included here: they are spread throughout the world in museums and this is probably the only time the public can obtain an overview of the genius' spectrum in such an intense setting. In addition to the very famous paintings of this artist are lesser known paintings, beautifully reproduced on quality paper with excellent color saturation (the book is published by Rizzoli). Such paintings as 'The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew' and 'The Conversion of St Paul', using the die-cut windows allow us to study carefully the faces of the subjects, allows appreciation for the first time the depth of understanding and spiritual sensitivity of these depictions.This may be the first book to invite the critical eye to details of paintings whose impact is so strong that without the guidance of Zuffi and Daverio many of these incredible details may go unnoticed or overlooked. This is a fine treasury of Caravaggio's work and a very well written book of both admiration and critical examination. Very highly recommended. Grady Harp, November 10

I DON'T HAVE WORDS SUFFICIENT ENOUGH TO DESCRIBE MY "LIVING AND ENDURING JOY" SINCE RECEIVING THIS MASTERPIECE OF, PERHAPS, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, THIS, OH, SO VERY HUMAN BEING, VIRTUALLY APPEARS TO BE PRESENT IN THE SCENES AND AT THE VERY TIME OF THE EVENTS HE DEPICTS, AS HE CAPTURES AND PRESERVES THOSE MOMENTS IN VIRTUALLY BREATHTAKING, DRAMATIC FASHION, SUCH SO,THAT HE BRING YOU ALMOST LITERALLY, INTO THE SCENE WITH HIM. I REMAIN IRREVERSIBLY CONVINCED THAT HE BE THE GREATEST AND SUPREMELY MOST PASSIONATE ARTIST OF ALL TIME. HIS GENIUS TRANSCENDED HIS OWN BEING AND SOARS TO THE VERY HEAVENS WHILE HERE ON EARTH, IT GRIPS ONE'S VERY SOUL. ' AWESOME' DOESN'T EVEN BEGIN TO DO JUSTICE TO THIS PRECIOUS VOLUME. SO ENGAGING IS THIS GEM OF PUBLISHING, THAT I BOUGHT 2 OF THEM; ONE, THE INDESCRIBABLY BEAUTIFUL HARDCOVER EDITION AND ALSO THE SOFT-COVER VOLUME, WHICH I USE FREQUENTLY TO SHOW TO MOST PEOPLE. THE HARD-COVER VOLUME I PROUDLY LET ONLY SPECIAL FRIENDS PERUSE AT THEIR LEISURE. I DON'T THINK I HAVE EVER "LOVED" A BOOK AS I DO THIS TRUE MASTERPIECE OF PUBLISHED "CARAVAGGIO"!

The concpt is so good--intro placing the painting in the context of C's life and development; the overleaf highlighting important parts of the painting are extremely helpful. My only reservation is about the quality of the bookbinding; some pages were stuck and actually took off some color when pulled apart. But the idea is so good; the writing is very appropriate and I value the book as a good starting point to understand this very complicated and significant artist.

This is an awesome book. I had even ordered one for my friend. I needed to understand some of the symbolism in Caravaggio's paintings. We had seen some of his work at the Kimball and loved his work. I highly recommend this book.

This beautiful picture book of Caravaggio's work is extraordinary. Very well done! The author's choice to highlight parts of each painting draws the viewer into Caravaggio's amazing art. Descriptions are also helpful. From someone who has seen Caravaggio's pieces in Florence and Roma, this is a true gem. Great price too!

"Windows" frame certain aspects of a painting before one turns a page to see it in its entirety. A refreshing way to look at a painting and a prompt to look more closely. This is a wonderful book......

This is an excellent book with a vey unique way of presenting Caravaggio's work. Brand new, shrink-wrapped book that arrived ahead of schedule - very pleased with this book and the entire process.

Caravaggio is one of my favourite artists but it is always tricky to order something without being able to have a good look at it first and decide if it offers value for money.I would highly recommend this book because it not only gives you great reproductions of his masterpieces but also highlights points of interest in his works by clever use of "cut-outs" on pages that sit on top of the paintings. I will happily browse through this book and then look at the actual paintings and be able to understand and appreciate Caravaggio's genius even more.If you like Caravaggio, this is the book for you.

I purchased this for my partner and it is a really good book, excellent detail and the picture frame bits add to seeing bits you may not know the meaning of.good for the coffee table and dipping in and out of. image quality is excellent to.

The book was in immaculate condition!!! Thank you!!!