La Tour's nocturnes, where the peculiar silence is imbued with spiritual meditation, are among the paintings most often reproduced, but his extraordinary The Fortune Teller and St. Jerome show him to be a master of light.

Georges de La Tour-ranks with Vermeer and the Le Nains among those seventeenth-century painters whose unmistakable talent is matched only by the aura of mystery that surrounds the artists themselves. La Tour's nocturnes, where the peculiar silence is imbued with spiritual meditation, are among the paintings most often reproduced, but his extraordinary The Fortune Teller and St. Jerome show him to be a master of light and draughtsmanship. Consigned to quasi-oblivion for three centuries, the artist's life has remained a mystery despite intense research work in the twentieth century.

Distinguished art historian Jacques Thuillier presents the current state of research on La Tour, placing his oeuvre in the specific context of the Lorraine region, where he lived and worked, its institutions, customs, and ways of thinking. Political history naturally plays an important part, but economic, social, cultural and religious history, as well as the daily life of the period are also taken into account. The author demonstrates why this appealing and enigmatic artist must be placed among the greatest European masters, supplying a firm chronology and carefully researched attributions of his paintings as well as thoughtful and provocative observations about his work, life,and career. In the process, La Tour's startling individuality finally begins to emerge and his genius appears all the more astounding.

The first monograph to take into account the full range of information on Georges de La Tour, this beautifully designed volume includes stunning sequences of details that shed new light on our understanding of the painter's style and techniques, as well as a catalogue raisonn with reproductions of all works known to thie day. With a complete corpus of archival docu ments that form the basis of our knowledge of La Tour's life, this erudite and delightfully written study is certain to become the essential reference work on this important and fascinating artist, as well as on the period as a whole.

INTRODUCTION

A YOUNG PAINTER FROM VIC

 The World of Lorraine

 La Tour's Calling

 Apprenticeship

 The Voyage to Italy

 La Tour Before La Tour?

THE CERTAINTIES OF REALISM

 The Return to Lorraine

 Marriage to Diane

 The Move to Luneville

 La Tour, tile Provincial Painter

 Caravaggesque Realism: The Albi Apostles

 The First "Series": St. Peter and St.Jerome

 The Half-figure Genre Scenes

 The Large Single-figure Paintings

PAINTING, TRIUMPH, AND TRAGEDY

 Errors and Misfortunes of Ducal Policy

 Disastrous Times

 La Tour, the Duke, and the King

 La Tour and the Tragedy of Lorraine

 "Refuge" in Nancy and Paris

 The Artist's Response

 The Advent of the Night Pictures

 The Great Daylight Masterpieces

 The Development of the Nocturnes

MEDITATION SHATTERED

 Hard Times in Lorraine

 Georges de La Tour, "Lord" of Luneville

 GloW and Isolation

 The Great Nocturnes

 From Georges to Etienne de La Tour

 La Tour Today

DOCUMENTARY SOURCES

CATALOGUE OF WORKS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX OF PROPER NAMES