As Catherine Puglisi points out in the most beautiful Caravaggio book ever, the soulful, tormented, ethereally talented painter has become a pop icon, with a "full-blown industry of Caravaggio publications." Puglisi's book is a standout in this crowded field. With remarkable evenhandedness, she sifted through the scholarship and discoveries--and the trash--of the past 20 years and wrote a Caravaggio book that does justice to the painter's glorious work. She doesn't skimp on the juicy parts of his life, however: she candidly but coolly recounts and appraises the bits of historical evidence for his sexuality (both hetero and homo), his use of whores and ruffians as models, and his many scrapes with the law. All the while, she focuses the reader on the paintings, aptly describing such naturalistic, groundbreaking works as The Calling of St. Matthew, of 1599.

Preface

Part One From Lombardy to Rome 1571-1600

 1 Lombard Roots

 2 Rome

 3 In Cardinal del Monte's Household

Part Two Success in Papal Rome 1600-1606

 4 'Most Famous Painter'

 5 Private Commissions

PartThree Exile 1606-1610

 6 Naples and the Maltese Adventure

 7 FinalYears

 Epilogue

Checklist of paintings

Appendices

Notes

Bibliography

Photographic Acknowledgements

Index of works

General index