Caravaggio

Rating:
Summary: no, that's not this book
Review: WARNING! the editorial reviews and reader reviews on this page have nothing to do with this book! puglisi's text is a hefty phaidon paperback; the book you buy here is a slim rizzoli hardback. the quadrifolio is actually a set of folded up posters glued into a hard binding. there is a meager introduction, no critical apparatus, no captioning or text describing the paintings, no page numbering, no table of contents, no index. the reproductions themselves are not optimally color balanced, veering sometimes toward green, sometimes toward red. fine if you want it, but don't expect puglisi's magnificent volume.

Rating:
Summary: austere, gorgeous, comprehensive
Review: Well, after reading all the gripes below about the unreadable silverish fonts, I have to say I must have really young and healthy eyes. I already give up on the typically crammed, eager-to-please format of your run-of-the-mills books on art. This is an art-book format that I have been looking all over: clean, simple, austere, lavishly illustrated, coupled with an in-depth critical discussion. I don't mind paying the high price tag if the buy is this satisfying. Many of my friends have been ooh-ing and aah-ing ever since I left this book on the living room table. I have only gone through a quarter of Puglisi's text and it so far engrossed me completely.