Caravaggio: A passionate life by Desmond Seward (PDF)

Description

The intense realism of Caravaggio’s work, and the contrast between the spirituality of his paintings and the earthiness of his life, have made him a source of fascination for centuries.The greatest painter of the Italian Baroque, Caravaggio was also a quick-tempered, murderous swordsman. Few artists have had a police record like his, still fewer have faced a death sentence – but when he painted, he became a mystic. The models for his Virgins and his saints were prostitutes, but his pictures are deeply spiritual.Was Caravaggio gay or bisexual, and to what extend did his sexuality influence his work? What were the causes of his self-destructive binges and endless brawling? Did the Knights of Malta murder him? Just where did he die and where was he buried? Making use of recent discoveries in Italy and elsewhere, Desmond Seward answers these questions.His book is at the same time a gripping adventure story and a study of a moody, violent genius, playing dramatically on the contrast between wonderfully creative art and a vicious private life. It uses both the pictures and contemporary crime reports to peer into Caravaggio’s mind.Praise for Caravaggio: A Passionate Life:’Seward’s scholarship is pointed, unpretentious, often amusing … Caravaggio is a lively read, and a rewarding one’ – Lynn Roberson, Fort Lauderdale Sun-SentinelDesmond Seward is a French-born British historian, educated at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge. He has written extensively on medieval history and is considered an expert on military religious orders, his work having been translated into multiple languages. He lives in the south-west of England.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Firstly an admission, I had no prior knowledge of Caravaggio or his paintings. My main area of interest is military history but after seeing the beautiful cover on this book I picked it up and browsed through the wonderful colour plates. I had to have the book to read and after ordering it from Amazon.com and sat and waited. It was worth the wait! I enjoyed the story of this most interesting man, yes its a bit short (200 odd pages) but to a person like me who had no prior knowledge or interest in this subject it filled a gap in my education. This was an interesting book to read and I just loved the colour plates of the artists work (16 colour pictures). The book has sparked an interest to learn more of this man, his times and his art. For that alone the book was worth it and the author has done his job. I would recommend this book for those who want to learn a little bit more about this man and his art.

⭐What a life … what an artist. I just loved learning about him.

⭐I have always been a fan of Caravaggio and bought this book to enhance my understanding of the artist and his paintings. This book was exactly what I wanted…not overly academic but didn’t underestimate the ability of the reader either

⭐Very readable. The author pieces together a plausible story of his life based on available evidence & scholarship, parsing through the merits and limitations of previous sources.

⭐Very interesting artist who is now recognized as famous and who painting are currently very expensive but his life was very sad.

⭐A wonderful piece to read. It was very helpful for my son. He received an A on his paper. Thank you.

⭐The author seems to have an issue with homosexuality and is biased

⭐I am fascinated by the combination in one person, of great creativity, in the service of religious ideals, with uncontrolled sexuality, violence and criminality, and depression. The relationship between these two extremes may be the modern temperament writ large. Thus, in the company of many people, I have long been interested in the art and character of the great Italian baroque artist, Michelangelo de Caravaggio (1571 — 1610). Desmond Seward’s short and readable biography, “Caravaggio: A Passionate Life” (1998) offers a good overview of a remarkable artist and deeply flawed and troubled person. Seward is an English historian who has written on the medieval and renaissance periods. He is a member of the Knights of Malta, as was Caravaggio for a brief time; and Seward’s religious perspective undoubtedly has much to do with how he sees the artist. I was not convinced by parts of Seward’s understanding of his subject. But he presents his materials well with room for his readers to disagree.Caravaggio was born in the small Italian village for which he is named, and his father died a victim of the plague early in life. From 1588 -1592 he served an apprenticeship as a painter in Milan but fled to Rome, most likely as a result of killing a policeman. In Rome, Caravaggio ultimately received recognition for his extraordinary paintings but was forced to flee the city in 1606 after killing a man named Tommasoni in a duel. (He had earlier accumulated a long police record in Rome.) He received a dispensation to join the Knights of Malta but was expelled and forced to flee after another duel in which he severely wounded a superior in the Order. Caravaggio had strong defenders in Rome, greatly aware of his extraordinary gifts, and received a papal pardon. But, knowing that he had been pardoned, in 1610 Caravaggio died a miserable death en route to Rome after drinking contaminated water. During his years in Rome and thereafter, Caravaggio was an astonishing painter, creating many masterworks, mostly on religious themes. Many of his works have been lost, but some have resurfaced in recent years.Seward gives a brief treatment of the little that is known about Caravaggio’s life and makes an effort to separate knowledge from speculation in the original source material. He does a good job in putting the artist’s life in the context of the Italy of his day, with its many states, cultures of endemic and pervasive violence, and susceptibility to natural disasters, such as floods, and plagues. He also discusses effectively the counter-reformation in the Catholic Church; and he places Caravaggio’s paintings squarely within the goals and religious outlook of the attempt to revitalize Catholicism from the challenges of Protestantism. For all the violence and difficulties in his life, Seward stresses, Caragaggio never had doctrinal difficulties that might have interested the Inquisition.Seward also discusses Caravaggio’s major paintings (the book includes good color reproductions of 16 of them) emphasizing their naturalism — Caragaggio’s attempt to paint people and things as they were — and, increasingly, their mysticism and religiosity. He is good at pointing out the violence in many of the paintings — especially the scenes of beheadings — and their use of light and of dark shadings. Seward is far less convincing on issues of sexuality. He is dismissive on issues of eroticism in Caravaggio’s art, and on the artist’s likely bisexual or homosexual orientation. The historical record may be sparse, but many viewers have found compelling evidence of eroticism in the paintings — including the paintings reproduced in his book. Seward properly emphasizes, I think, the religious, mystical nature that finds expression in Caravaggio’s art, but he downplays the violent, demonic, and sexual nature of the artist. Thus, while he properly subtitles his book “A Passionate Life”, he gives the reader less than the whole of it.As Seward points out, in many respects Caravaggio, with his great talent and equally great human flaws, is the prototype of the modern antihero. Undoubtedly, this combination accounts for much of the fascination the artist and his works continue to exert. Seward’s book sets the stage for considering the tortured relationship between Caravaggio’s life and his art; but in the end he fails to do his subject complete justice.Robin Friedman

⭐This was a birthday gift and after reading the reviews covering several biographical books about Caravaggio – which were very helpful – I chose this title.

⭐great read for art lovers and students alike.

⭐A happy shopper

⭐私がカラヴァッジョの絵画に強く魅せられるきっかけとなったのは、1986年に、ＮＨＫのＴＶ番組『ルーブル美術館』（日仏共同制作）のシリーズで、紹介された作品を観てからです。なかでも｢聖マタイの召命｣と｢聖母の死｣には、抗し難く引き込まれるものを感じて、書籍出版の『ルーブル美術館』（Ⅴバロックの光と影）を購入し、その図版を何度も眺めたことでした。 また、この年、映画『カラヴァッジオ』（デレク･ジャーマン監督）が発表され、そのサウンド・トラックを、私が当時興味を持っていたイギリスのインディ・レーベル、el（エル）のミュージシャンが担当していたことから、すぐさまCDを手に入れると、絵画と同様な深い精神性を感じて、愛聴盤になりました。こうしてカラヴァッジョという画家の名前は、私にとって特別な名前の一つになったのです。 この本『カラヴァッジョ 灼熱の生涯』は、３年程前に『週間美術館49カラヴァッジョ/ラ・トゥール』の末尾に紹介されているのを見て、その存在は知っていたのですが、最近やっと購入して読むことができました。（前置きが長くてすいません） 著者の本業は歴史家ということで、画家の置かれている時代背景からわかりやすく説明してくれています。私のような生半可にしかイタリアの絵画や歴史を知らない一般的な読者でも、理解しやすい内容でした。画家のスキャンダラスな人生そのものが興味を引きやすい点はもちろんですが、画家の不確かな評価や行動に対する著者の明快な推察も歯切れがよく、この本を親しみやすいものにしていると思います。私は毎晩、就寝前に２章くらいずつ、ベッドで横になって読みました。先に買っておいた『フェルメール デルフトの眺望』は、まだ全然読んでいません。（あはは） カラヴァッジョは近代的な精神を持った画家の先駆者だといいます。この本の｢訳者のあとがき｣を読めば、彼が前世紀の前半くらいから再評価が高まって来ていることが知れます。日本では先進国と呼ばれる過程で、ともすれば物質主義が優先され、個人の内部では荒廃や空虚が進んでしまったと言われ始めて、ずい分になります。｢聖マタイの召命｣での収税人マタイは、よく言われるように、博徒の親玉のようにも見えなくはない。金の勘定をする彼のもとに、神の子（キリスト）が現れて、光明を背に、私に従いなさいと手招きをする。それは、どこか物欲による荒廃からの、精神の救済を促す場面のようだ。こうしたところに、現代人が共鳴し、こころの慰安を感じとっても、なんら不思議は無いのでしょう。

⭐

Keywords

Free Download Caravaggio: A passionate life in PDF format
Caravaggio: A passionate life PDF Free Download
Download Caravaggio: A passionate life 2020 PDF Free
Caravaggio: A passionate life 2020 PDF Free Download
Download Caravaggio: A passionate life PDF
Free Download Ebook Caravaggio: A passionate life