Caravaggio: Quadrifolio (Rizzoli Quadrifolio)

Rating:
Summary: Amazing Book about a PHENOMENAL artist!!
Review: Anything showing photos of this fellow's incredible oevre would probably deserve the highest praise even without editorial guidance. But just browsing thru this one will stun anyone not familiar with Caravaggio, which is probably 98% of the populace.Ms. Puglisi interweaves the artist's life and times around the glorious color photos. The print may be a tad small,but the fact that there's around two spaces between each line of text makes it, IMHO, even easier to read than otherwise. The raw,harrowing originality of this artist are beyond description, and his life is a near match. He died violently before the age of 40...Especially recommended for those (mainly males) who may think that Art and Art History are less than manly pursuits!! (Yes there are plenty of guys out there who think like this.) Give this book, the author,publisher, and the artist way more than five stars!!

Rating:
Summary: A valuable contribution but print is hard to read.
Review: I have been looking for recent books on Caravaggio for use in an art history class that I will give this Spring. I've done "spot" reading of this text, and found fascinating insights. However, it is hard for me to understand why such difficult to read silvery grey text was used. Perhaps younger eyes than mine would not have problems with this choice. However, my eyes rebelled rapidly, and although fascinated with the message, the medium proved exhausting. The font choice and size are also, in my opinion, poor ones. I suppose the aim was to produce a beauiful book, and it is that, but in my opinion the book's function of transmitting information is undercut by the odd typography design.

Rating:
Summary: Size does matter
Review: I picked up this book a while back when it first came out. I couldn't put it down. As a figurative artist, learning about Caravaggio is a most. Ms. Puglisi's language is down to earth. The book is extremely well presented, including the high quality plates. Unfortunately, some people have complained about the small gray print which makes it hard to read. The print is not an obstacle when you immerse yourself in the life, painting technique and history of this most interesting artist.

Rating:
Summary: Engaging and informative
Review: The lavish reproductions of Caravaggio's work here are reason enough to get this lovely book. The text is engrossing, and can be easily read in 1-2 weeks. Caravaggio's life and work are both dealt with very well by Catherine Puglisi, and the writing is quite good. On the other hand, the silvery text is pretty, but clearly not functional for people with less than good sight. The book is also on the smallish side (Phaidon does not seem to make the really huge books like Abbeville or Abrams).

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.