Caravaggio: Painter of Miracles

“Matching gorgeous prose to gorgeous artworks, Prose responds to each image as a moment of theatrical revelation, sensual or spiritual, and frequently both.” — Boston Sunday Globe

In Caravaggio, New York Times bestselling author Francine Prose offers an enthralling account of the life and work of one of the greatest painters of all time. Caravaggio defied the aesthetic conventions of his time; his use of ordinary people, realistically portrayed—street boys, prostitutes, the poor, the aged—was a profound and revolutionary innovation that left its mark on generations of artists. His insistence on painting from nature, on rendering the emotional truth of experience, whether religious or secular, made him an artist who speaks across the centuries to modern day.

Called “racy, intensely imagined, and highly readable” by the New York Times Book Review, Caravaggio includes eight pages of color illustrations, and is sure to appeal to art enthusiasts interested in one of history’s true innovators. Caravaggio is part of the “Eminent Lives” series from HarperCollins, a selection of biographies by distinguished authors on canonical figures.

Prose paints a portrait of a man torn between the sacred and the profane—a master whose life was a whirlwind of genius, violence, and exile.

• A Revolutionary Vision: Discover the master who defied convention, using street boys and prostitutes as models for saints and rendering biblical scenes with an unflinching, dramatic realism.
• The Sacred and the Profane: Delve into the paradox of a man who created some of the world's most profound religious art while living a life of brawls, scandal, and duels in 17th-century Rome.
• A Life of Genius and Turmoil: Follow Caravaggio from his position as the most sought-after painter in the city to a fugitive wanted for murder, forced into a desperate, turbulent exile.
• Master of Light and Shadow: Understand the revolutionary use of chiaroscuro that gave his paintings their signature theatrical intensity and emotional power.

Francine Prose's life of Caravaggio evokes the genius of this great artist through a brilliant reading of his paintings. Caravaggio defied the aesthetic conventions of his time; his use of ordinary people, realistically portrayed—street boys, prostitutes, the poor, the aged—was a profound and revolutionary innovation that left its mark on generations of artists. His insistence on painting from nature, on rendering the emotional truth of experience, whether religious or secular, makes him an artist who speaks across the centuries to our own time.

Born in 1571 near Milan, Michelangelo Merisi (da Caravaggio) moved to Rome when he was twenty-one years old. He became a brilliant and successful artist, protected by the influential Cardinal del Monte and other patrons. But he was also a man of the streets who couldn't seem to free himself from its brawls and vendettas. In 1606 he fled Rome, apparently after killing another man in a dispute. He spent his last years in exile, in Naples, Malta, and Sicily, at once celebrated for his art and tormented by his enemies. Through it all, he produced masterpieces of astonishing complexity and power. Eventually he received a pardon from the Pope, only to die, in mysterious circumstances, on the way back to Rome in 1610.

Francine Prose presents the brief but tumultuous life of one of the greatest of all painters with passion and acute sensitivity.

“Racy, intensely imagined, and highly readable . . . Prose brings to Caravaggio a fresh and unflinching eye.” - New York Times Book Review

“Fine biography--and a study of why revolutionary art can be reviled in its own time and revered in another.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Combines astute examination of his work with just a plain good yarn about a street tough who painted transcendent pictures.” - Entertainment Weekly

“In this engaging and informative short biography . . . Prose vividly brings [Caravaggio’s] paintings to life.” - Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Matching gorgeous prose to gorgeous artworks, Prose responds to each image as a moment of theatrical revelation, sensual or spiritual, and frequently both.” - Boston Sunday Globe

“Matching gorgeous prose to gorgeous artworks, Prose responds to each image as a moment of theatrical revelation, sensual or spiritual.” - Boston Sunday Globe

“Everything a casual reader needs to know about flamboyant Baroque artist Caravaggio... Makes you want to go to the museum.” - U.S. News & World Report

“Elegant . . . [Prose] fills out the intrigue of Caravaggio’s own life and writes terrifically about the paintings.” - Hartford Courant

“Tautly written and insightful.” - Seattle Times

“Prose’s concentrated interpretation... clearly and descriptively explicates the pioneering painter’s unique perception of the miraculous in everyday life.” - Booklist