The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr
My awareness of Caravaggio probably goes as far back as grade school. I can recall reviewing old masters in art class and being so impressed by the vivid reality of the paintings. I was particularly drawn to how real a cloth draping looked in some paintings. It was as though you could actually touch it and feel the soft, velvety fabric. Back then, that was how I identified an artist — someone who could make magic with oil and pigment as to make it appear real.
In college, I took a quite a few art history classes for a political science and English major. Most of those classes took place while I was on European quarter in Munich, Rome, and London. In Rome, our professor Mary Kirn took us to the Cerasi Chapel inside the Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome where two of Caravaggio’s paintings hang in situ. The Crucifixion of St. Peter and directly opposite, The Conversion of St. Paul. In that tiny chapel, I was completely transfixed by the image Paul (a cropped image appears on the landing page of my website) and experienced a kind of conversion of my own on multiple levels, but suffice it to say, I was a hardcore Caravaggio devotee from that day on.
Since then, I’ve read just about everything I can get my hands on about the artist and his works, even attempting to translate entire Italian volumes into English using the translate app on my phone. Although this book was published in 2005, I came across The Lost Painting in late 2024 and devoured it in one sitting while on a plane to Ethiopia.
The book is an account of the discovery of an original Caravaggio painting in 1990. It is art history that reads as part mystery, part thriller, part Renaissance master class and all together, it makes for an engrossing read for anyone whether or not they have an affinity for fine art. — MJD
Summary:
Prizewinning author Jonathan Harr embarks on a spellbinding journey to discover the long-lost painting known as The Taking of Christ; its mysterious fate and the circumstances of its disappearance have captivated Caravaggio devotees for years. After Francesca Cappelletti stumbles across a clue in that dusty archive, she tracks the painting across a continent and hundreds of years of history. But it is not until she meets Sergio Benedetti, an art restorer working in Ireland, that she finally manages to assemble all the pieces of the puzzle.
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