Caravaggio_ A Life Sacred and Profane - Andrew Graham-Dixon [0]
Caravaggio
A Life Sacred and Profane
PENGUIN BOOKS
Contents
List of Illustrations and Illustration Acknowledgements
Maps: Milan, c. 1590; Rome, c. 1600; Valletta, c. 1607; Naples, c. 1610; Italy, c. 1610
Preface and Acknowledgements
Part One: Milan, 1571–92
Part Two: Rome, 1592–5
Part Three: Rome, 1595–9
Part Four: Rome, 1599–1606
Part Five: The Alban Hills, Naples, Malta, Sicily, Naples, Porto Ercole, 1606–10
Epilogue
Illustrations
Notes
Further Reading
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For more than twenty-five years, Andrew Graham-Dixon has published a weekly column on art, first in the Independent and more recently, the Sunday Telegraph. He has written a number of acclaimed books, including A History of British Art and Renaissance, and is twice winner of the Hawthornden Prize, Britain’s top prize for writing about art. He is one of the leading figures in broadcasting in the UK, having presented seven major television series on art for the BBC.
PENGUIN BOOKS
CARAVAGGIO
‘The author’s insights into the individual paintings are remarkable, but what really gives the book its pep is the author’s picking apart of the scanty evidence about Caravaggio’s private life, the prostitutes and friends who people his paintings, and the seedy world of late-Renaissance Rome through which he swaggered’ Andrew Holgate, Sunday Times, Books of the Year
‘Remarkable … Sheds fresh light on the painter whose hot temper was as renowned as his work … uncovers details on pivotal events during the artist’s turbulent career’ Roya Nikkhah, Sunday Telegraph
‘Highly readable … thorough and elegant … Caravaggio has done the artist proud’ Ian Thomson, Spectator
‘Andrew Graham-Dixon’s absorbing biography leaves no stone unturned … he is an entertaining art historian’ Economist
‘Graham-Dixon’s excellent new book … the complexity of Caravaggio’s character as well as his art is vividly evoked by Graham-Dixon throughout this book … Graham-Dixon’s biography will surely quickly establish itself as the outstanding introduction to Caravaggio’s life and art’ Brian Allen, Standpoint
‘Andrew Graham-Dixon brings the bad-boy genius of the seventeenth century to life as vividly as if he were one of today’s pop stars. His book is scholarly, perceptive and very well written’ John Richardson
‘An entertaining read … an engaging and well-written account of Caravaggio’s life’ Sheila McTighe, Art Quarterly
‘A beautifully paced narrative … its tremendous narrative drive … steers the story fluently and plausibly between the pitfalls of academic dryness and overdone speculation. As a human story it is ultimately tragic’ Charles Nicholl, Sunday Times
To the memory of my mother, Sue, who first awoke my love of reading, writing and looking at art
List of Illustrations
All works are by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610), unless otherwise stated.
1. Portrait of Caravaggio by Ottavio Leoni (1578–1630), c. 1621–5 but clearly based on a life drawing originally done in c. 1595–1606, Biblioteca Marucelliana, Florence, Italy. Photo: Scala, Florence. Drawing: black chalk heightened with white on blue paper, 9.2 x 6.4 in. (23.4 x 16.3 cm).
2. The sacro monte at Varallo, Italy. Copyright © Sabine Tilly.
3. The sacro monte at Varallo, Italy. Copyright © Sabine Tilly.
4. The Lamentation by Guido Mazzoni (1450–1518), 1492, Church of Sant’Anna dei Lombardi, Naples, Italy. akg-images/De Agostini Picture Library. Terracotta.
5. Mary Magdalen by Donatello (c. 1386–1466), 1453–5, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Florence, Italy/The Bridgeman Art Library. Gilt wood, height 74 in. (188 cm).
6. Portrait of Carlo Borromeo by Carlo Dolci (1616–86), Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy/The Bridgeman Art Library. Oil on canvas (octagonal), 36.8 x 30.3 in. (93.5 x 77 cm).
7. The Adoration of the Shepherds by Simone Peterzano (1540–96), 1578–82, Charterhouse of Garegnano, Milan, Italy/Alinari/The Bridgeman Art Library. Fresco.
8. Venus and Anchises, The Farnese Gallery (detail) by Annibale Carracci (1560–1609), begun