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The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece
 
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The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece (Hardcover)

by Harr Jonathan (Author)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Random House (25 Oct 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0375508015
  • ISBN-13: 978-0375508011
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 16.5 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 252,994 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #86 in  Books > Art, Architecture & Photography > Subjects within Art > Religious Subjects

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Tongue in Cheek Look at Art Scholarship and Restoration, 9 April 2006
By Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)      
When I originally picked up this book, I mistakenly assumed that it was the latest page turner thriller about uncovering a lost painting. Only after about forty pages did it dawn on me that this was a nonfiction book written using fictional techniques to make the material more interesting.

Having been an art collector for many years and having spent time with many art scholars, I was impressed that Mr. Harr got it right. Lots of attention buzzes around whatever is hot in the art market, and everyone is looking to make a multimillion dollar discovery. Yet most of the people are working for a pittance in dusty archives or inadequate restoration laboratories. Above it all float those who are the recognized experts. Their proclamations hit everyone else like thunderbolts.

For those who don't know and love the art world, this book will probably be a bit of a disappointment. Although there is a lot of valuable art floating around, the stories behind it are more about tedious, hard work than about the world of the rich and famous.

To me, the book's main value was in its unending tongue in cheek humor in which the pretensions of everyone involved are regularly punctured by Mr. Harr's deft counter examples of all the mistakes they make.

I did grade the book down a bit because he romanticizes the story a lot more than it probably deserves. That makes the book a little longer than it needed to be. Also, I don't know much Italian and all the Italian phrases didn't do anything for me except make the book seem pretentious.

I also think the story is a bit slanted in the telling . . . making the original document research seem more important than it really was to the eventual discovery. The painting probably would have been identified eventually even without that work.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful view into the world of the art historian, 1 Jan 2006
By Mr. F. Ledwidge (Warsaw, Poland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
Jonathan Harr is a teacher of non-fiction writing, as well as having a fine pedigree as a writer himself and you can see why. This is a finely written and meticulously researched book about a fascinating topic, winding the story of Caravaggio himself into the detective story of how one of his lost paintings was brought to light.

The story of how the art historian 'heroes' of the piece tracked it down through the centuries, working independently is compelling. The individuals are all well-sketched and fairly presented and you do get a feel for their characters.

But the real hero of the book is the painting -'The Taking of Christ' You are left wondering how many other lost masterpieces are hanging in the shadows of old people's parlours or languishing long-forgotten in lofts throughout Europe.

The book provides an excellent window into the world of the art historian and is well worth its five stars.

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5.0 out of 5 stars If you are interested in Caravaggio get this book., 21 Feb 2006
By A Customer
forget the da vinci code, this is a real life story of artists tracing a lost masterpeice through time. A very enjoyable read and a proper page turner.
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