Meister: Caravaggio

by Eberhard König

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (15711610) was an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily. His paintings, which combine a realistic observation of the human state, both physical and emotional, with a dramatic use of lighting, had a formative influence on Baroque painting. In this volume, numerous large-sized illustrations showcase the artist s oeuvre; authoritative texts illustrate the decisive stages in the artist s life and in the development of his work, explaining their significance in the context of his time and for the following generations of artists."

Genres: Nonfiction, Art

120 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Marc Lamot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good introduction to life and work of Michelangelo de Caravaggio. Beautiful, large illustrations. A coffee table book, I know, but with good textual explanations.

[Regina Andreassen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good book for people who are who do not consider themselves art experts but wants to have some relevant knowledge in the field. This is a book which I couldn’t stop reading. Before I write my views, I would like to note that there seems to be several reviews about this same books but which appear under a different title, so while here the rating seems low the same book has a higher rating when it has a slightly different name. I am reviewing the hardcover, 2013 edition. The correct details of the book are: Caravaggio, Masters of Italian Art, the author is Eberhard König and the publisher is H. F Huffman in 2013. I assume the 2013 is an improvement of the previous edition so I believe some of the negative reviews may be of previous editions rather than this one.

The writing of the commentary is elegant, clear, and fluid. The book displays beautiful illustrations of Caravaggio’s works, and most of them are large yet not to the point of being distorted. I recommend future readers to observe the pictures from different angles and adjusting the distance between your eyes and the book. I found that this method provided me with a more-in-depth understanding of each of the artworks that I was examining; further, by doing this, I noticed details that otherwise I could have overlooked.

My main complaint is the layout of some pages and the font size of the main text. The font size should have been larger, and although this could have increased the number of pages by 70, I am sure it would have enhanced my enjoyment of the book, but I know that the Masters of Italian Art collection is usually rather condensed and the books do not have more than 150 pages. Frankly, due to the lay out, it can be rather frustrating to see the illustrations of the artworks two or three pages after the author explores them or vice versa, and this happened to often in this book.

Do I recommend this book? Absolutely! And guess what? It is a very affordable book, you get quality for a relatively small sum of money 😀

[Al Maki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a reference work on one of the formative painters of the Baroque; the man who probably established the standard for chiaroscuro. Excellent plates with an informative commentary which focuses on the works themselves rather than the extraordinary life of their painter. His life deserves a movie starring Viggo Mortensen, scripted by Arturo Perez-Reverta.