M: The Man Who Became Caravaggio

by Peter Robb

Book Overview

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year As vividly and unflinchingly presented herein with "blood and bone and sinew" ( Times Literary Supplement ) by Peter Robb, Caravaggio's wild and tempestuous... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312274742
• ISBN13: 9780312274740
• Release Date: February 2001
• Publisher: Picador USA
• Length: 592 Pages
• Weight: 1.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Is the world flat ?

It might have appeared so in Carravagio's day but like Robb, he was not intimidated by so called dusty 'scholars' and 'fusspots'. Carravagio's 'style' and his rejection of the establishment are what make his work so interesting today. There is no doubt Carravagio's work was wildly controversial in his time. Robb dissects the evidence, such as it is, and invites conclusions in a direct manner from the reader. The fact that Robb's book has drawn a response from `noted historians', 'grammar nerds' and other sundry 'desk polishers' is a credit to the work. Carravagio, if he were around today might give a wry twinkle of a smile to one of his subjects. Robb includes well-selected and compelling illustrations in the book to aid his view. He does not mess around. Robb goes straight for the aorta of the reader. Carravaggio wasn't popular with his recklessness and Robb has a get there quick style that leaves the scholars and critics in his dust. Hitler said, " A man with no sense of history is a man with no ears". Robb has a sense of history in spades. So called 'historians' and flat-earthers will no doubt continue to criticise, like the Vatican in Carravaggio's day. Gallileo had imagination, so does Robb. The earth was not flat. Gallileo was right. The Vatican and its legions of scholars, scribes and `dust collectors' were wrong. Read the book. Ignore the pseudo intellectuals. ***** A Masterpiece.

All history should be written like this...

After years of sitting through droning art history classes Peter Robb finally writes the book that all histories could be modeled on- He gives us the dirt. The culture M made his art in and for is explained for us in great detail, especially the political climate of Rome at the turn of the seventeenth century and all that implied for artists and churchmen alike. Mr. Robb does not hesitate to discuss the seamier aspects of Italian life in this period and it's consequences on M's career. His analysis of the painters career and the development of his work is truly inspired. The research is painstaking, and combined with a deep understanding of human nature Mr. Robb has produced a fascinating and informative work. An absolute requirement for all art historians and painters. You'll need a catologue of the paintings to look at as you read; The book is barely illustrated. So... I was just blown away. Of course I'm a painter and am just enthralled by art history.

This Biography Reads Like a Good Mystery

There are plenty of first-rate reviews of this fine biography, so this one is really unnecessary. But I loved this unusual book so much I just wanted to put my two-cents in. Peter Robb has done a masterful job of researching the life and work of this mysterious artist and through deep digging and logical speculation has achieved a wonderful result. Whether he has hit on the truth, I'm not sure, but he convinced this reader. The book often reads like a mystery novel, tightly plotted and swiftly paced. Caravaggio (a name given the artist later because that was the town he came from) used so many names during his lifetime that the author here just refers to him as M, one of the many he used. A gifted artist whose work is so photo-realistic and beautiful it's astonishing, Caravaggio also was a nearly nightly street thug given to carousing and brawling on the streets of seventeenth-century Rome. He may, and probably was, involved in a few murders along the way. He probably would have spent his life in prison had it not been for his incredible talent and the protection of a few highly placed Church officials.Peter Robb's book has two themes intertwined here: first, the biographical details of Caravaggio's life and second, a detailed examination of most of Caravaggio's paintings. Either strand, separated from the other, would make a successful and interesting book on its own. The descriptions of the paintings often covered three or four pages each. As I read these I was simply amazed at the details. I'd look at the painting being discussed and say to myself in surprise, "Yes! Why didn't I notice that?" These descriptions are really small stories told by the paintings and imparted to the reader through Robb's words. I often wished I had an audio recording of the descriptions so that I could just listen as my eyes concentrated on the story in the paintings. Even when the described picture was not reproduced in the book, it made interesting reading and I could almost see the painting in my mind. My only wish is that the book had more reproductions of the paintings. Therefore my recommendation is that a new reader get a book of reproductions of Caravaggio's paintings and have it alongside this one for reference while reading.

Engrossing and exuberant

I picked up this book on a whim (the cover was spectacular). I don't know much about art beyond the usual suspects, i.e. extremely popular painters. I was bowled over completely by the fascinating study the author made of M. The author's prose style was immensely readable, with descriptions of the paintings that were alive and joyous and emphatically not pedantic or dry.This is not an inaccessible scholarly text. The prose is powerful, lively, and down-to-earth without a whiff of the dreaded "dumbing-down" that can infect histories written for laypeople. The author does not assume that the reader already knows the artist's influences or the course of art history, and does an excellent job of setting his subject in the context of his time. Because so little of M's actual words have survived, the author chose to tell M's story primarily through his work. I found at the end of the book that I did, in some small way, come to know M.My wish is that each of the paintings discussed in the text had been visually represented in the book, which was unfortunately not the case. My interest in reading more about art history in general and this particularly turbulent period in Rome's history has been stimulated greatly by this book. I recommend it highly and without reserve.

A Chiaroscuro Portrait

Robb's "M" is a fascinating romp through scenes of Renaissance Italy and the life of Caravaggio, known as "M" throught the book. The book in extremely readable and in many places very hard to put down. I would recommend as others have done so, to keep a book of M's works at your side for reference when Robb discusses his paintings. I bought the DK Art Book and found it to be only somwhat helpful. I would recommend Alfred Moir's "Caravaggio" as it has much better prints of the works and also includes some paintings that the DK book fails to include.