Caravaggio

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book for a Great Artist
Review: Caravaggio is one of the greatest artists of the 17th century. In a very brief period of time he managed to exert a influence over all of European painting.

Caravaggio was the original bad boy of the art world. He was willing to use well known prostitutes as models when portraying the Virgin Mary or to show saints with dirty feet. This offended authorities in Baroque Rome and Caravaggio was often a trial to his patrons. During the majority of his active career he was on the lam fleeing from a murder charge. He burst on the Roman art scene during the height of its influence and spent his last days in Malta in the company of the knights.

Although Caravaggio's influence was immense immediately after his death where his masterful use of light and shadow was immitated by countless lesser artists. For a number of years Caravaggio's reputation declined. Raphael's influence dominated academic art and Caravaggio's relatively harsh realism was in disfavor. It was only in the 1950's when a major evaluation occurred.

This book by Howard Hibbard is probably the first of these modern reevaluations of Caravaggio and it is still one of the best. Professor Hibbard is one of the country's leading art historians and he brings considerable scholarship to his study of Caravaggio's work. Although there are plenty of other books on Caravaggio, I think that this book is still the best of lot in terms of understanding Caravaggio's art (his life was sufficiently messy and his sexuality ambiguous to spur the mills of contemporary scholarship for many years). Professor Hibbard's writing is sufficiently free from academic claptrap to make it an invaluable guide to both the specialist and the novice.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Book for a Great Artist
Review: Caravaggio is one of the greatest artists of the 17th century. In a very brief period of time he managed to exert a influence over all of European painting.

Caravaggio was the original bad boy of the art world. He was willing to use well known prostitutes as models when portraying the Virgin Mary or to show saints with dirty feet. This offended authorities in Baroque Rome and Caravaggio was often a trial to his patrons. During the majority of his active career he was on the lam fleeing from a murder charge. He burst on the Roman art scene during the height of its influence and spent his last days in Malta in the company of the knights.

Although Caravaggio's influence was immense immediately after his death where his masterful use of light and shadow was immitated by countless lesser artists. For a number of years Caravaggio's reputation declined. Raphael's influence dominated academic art and Caravaggio's relatively harsh realism was in disfavor. It was only in the 1950's when a major evaluation occurred.

This book by Howard Hibbard is probably the first of these modern reevaluations of Caravaggio and it is still one of the best. Professor Hibbard is one of the country's leading art historians and he brings considerable scholarship to his study of Caravaggio's work. Although there are plenty of other books on Caravaggio, I think that this book is still the best of lot in terms of understanding Caravaggio's art (his life was sufficiently messy and his sexuality ambiguous to spur the mills of contemporary scholarship for many years). Professor Hibbard's writing is sufficiently free from academic claptrap to make it an invaluable guide to both the specialist and the novice.

Rating:
Summary: A Caravaggio handbook.
Review: Hibbard unfolds Caravaggio's life, style and works with a firm grip , avoiding what normally bores the uninitiated but retaining an interesting approach for those who are well versed in the works of this 16th century genius. He avoids a biased approach which very often taints the ever increasing number of Caravaggio critics. Though new material has since been published, this book still retains the requisites of a must -to -read

Rating:
Summary: Caravaggio 101
Review: If you want to learn about Caravaggio, this is a classic, covering all of his works. With emphasis on the paintings, they are arranged in chronological order. Personal background, of which little is known, provides only a surface analysis on the artist's personality. Technique, style and other art aspects are covered in depth and used as a basis of dating the works. Also, discussed is symbolism, often relating the Bible stories the subjects depict. Hibbard clearly sets Caravaggio's progression in historical context and how it parallels his artistic development.
From various sources and his own conclusions, he offers psychological speculation (and indentifies it as such) into the works' personal significance for Caravaggio as the creator. Even so, this is not a biography and the personality analysis is rather dry and minimal. Relationships with his peers are treated equally as briefly.
Appendices of contemporary sources are included, in Italian, usually (original language) and translated into English, which are interesting to peruse, but provide little more to flesh out Caravaggio's personality. The reproductions of the paintings are mostly black and white, with 8 colour plates in the middle of the book. The writing style is straightforward and easy to follow, but rather flat. Even so, this is a very insightful and important work, so I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: Caravaggio 101
Review: If you want to learn about Caravaggio, this is a classic, covering all of his works. With emphasis on the paintings, they are arranged in chronological order. Personal background, of which little is known, provides only a surface analysis on the artist's personality. Technique, style and other art aspects are covered in depth and used as a basis of dating the works. Also, discussed is symbolism, often relating the Bible stories the subjects depict. Hibbard clearly sets Caravaggio's progression in historical context and how it parallels his artistic development.
From various sources and his own conclusions, he offers psychological speculation (and indentifies it as such) into the works' personal significance for Caravaggio as the creator. Even so, this is not a biography and the personality analysis is rather dry and minimal. Relationships with his peers are treated equally as briefly.
Appendices of contemporary sources are included, in Italian, usually (original language) and translated into English, which are interesting to peruse, but provide little more to flesh out Caravaggio's personality. The reproductions of the paintings are mostly black and white, with 8 colour plates in the middle of the book. The writing style is straightforward and easy to follow, but rather flat. Even so, this is a very insightful and important work, so I recommend it highly.

Rating:
Summary: Transcends the usual assigned texts
Review: In one of my last classes for my degree, this book was the required text. I am awed by Caravaggio's work anyway, but combine that with Howard Hibbert's insightful text and you have an amazing book. I would definitely recommend this text for anyone interested in this fantastic artist.

Rating:
Summary: A Book Of The Arts!
Review: This is a beautiful book. As a divorced hardworking mother of 3, I spend all of my time reading this book to my children, Isaul (age 90) Gabriella (age 16) and Kraquel (age 3) I also read it to my co-workers where I work, a prositute. This is truley a work of art.