The Lost Painting

The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece

By: Jonathan Harr

Narrated by: Campbell Scott

Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Told with consummate skill by the writer of the best-selling, award-winning A Civil Action, The Lost Painting is a remarkable synthesis of history and detective story.

An Italian village on a hilltop near the Adriatic coast, a decaying palazzo facing the sea, and in the basement, cobwebbed and dusty, lit by a single bulb, an archive unknown to scholars. Here, a young graduate student from Rome, Francesca Cappelletti, makes a discovery that inspires a search for a work of art of incalculable value, a painting lost for almost two centuries.

The artist was Caravaggio, a master of the Italian Baroque. He was a genius, a revolutionary painter, and a man beset by personal demons. Four hundred years ago, he drank and brawled in the taverns and streets of Rome, moving from one rooming house to another, constantly in and out of jail, all the while painting works of transcendent emotional and visual power. He rose from obscurity to fame and wealth, but success didn’t alter his violent temperament. His rage finally led him to commit murder, forcing him to flee Rome a hunted man. He died young, alone, and under strange circumstances. Caravaggio scholars estimate that between 60 and 80 of his works are in existence today. Many others - no one knows the precise number - have been lost to time. Somewhere, surely, a masterpiece lies forgotten in a storeroom, or in a small parish church, or hanging above a fireplace, mistaken for a mere copy.

Prizewinning author Jonathan Harr embarks on an spellbinding journey to discover the long-lost painting known as The Taking of Christ - its mysterious fate and the circumstances of its disappearance have captivated Caravaggio devotees for years. After Francesca Cappelletti stumbles across a clue in that dusty archive, she tracks the painting across a continent and hundreds of years of history. But it is not until she meets Sergio Benedetti, an art restorer working in Ireland, that she finally manages to assemble all the pieces of the puzzle.

Praise for The Lost Painting

“Jonathan Harr has gone to the trouble of writing what will probably be a bestseller...rich and wonderful...In truth, the book reads better than a thriller.... If you're a sucker for Rome, and for dusk... [you'll] enjoy Harr's more clearly reported details about life in the city.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“Jonathan Harr has taken the story of the lost painting, and woven from it a deeply moving narrative about history, art and taste - and about the greed, envy, covetousness and professional jealousy of people who fall prey to obsession. It is as perfect a work of narrative nonfiction as you could ever hope to read.” (The Economist)

©2005 Jonathan Harr (P)2005 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Jonathan Harr has gone to the trouble of writing what will probably be a bestseller...rich and wonderful...in truth, the book reads better than a thriller because, unlike a lot of best-selling nonfiction authors who write in a more or less novelistic vein, Harr doesn't plump up his tale. He almost never foreshadows, doesn’t implausibly reconstruct entire conversations and rarely throws in litanies of clearly conjectured or imagined details just for color’s sake.... If you're a sucker for Rome, and for dusk...[you'll] enjoy Harr's more clearly reported details about life in the city, as when - one of my favorite moments in the whole book - Francesca and another young colleague try to calm their nerves before a crucial meeting with a forbidding professor by eating gelato. And who wouldn’t in Italy? The pleasures of travelogue here are incidental but not inconsiderable.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“Part detective story, part treasure hunt, this book takes us from dusty basement archives to the ornate galleries of Europe’s finest art museums.... Harr provides a fascinating glimpse into the insular world of art history and restoration.... Art lovers and mystery fans should find plenty to ponder and enjoy." (Kirkus Reviews)

“Harr’s lean, observant prose provides sensory intimacy without sensory overload.... The result is a revealing portrait of a world seldom seen by ordinary folks.... At its best, Harr’s magnetic storytelling recalls Cappelletti’s first encounter with the work of Caravaggio. To her, his paintings seemed ‘to pulse with heat and life, capturing a moment in time like a scene glimpsed through a window.’” (The Washington Post Book World)

A Riveting Story

This book was mentioned as part of a sermon I listened to about a week ago. It sounded interesting, so I downloaded it, and within a half a chapter I was hooked. I even drove home "the long way" a couple times so that I could listen to more of it.
I'm not a major conisseur of the arts, but the story was so captivating. Have been raving about it to everyone. And, I learned a lot about the subject of art history!

Erudite, but boring

Harr knows his art history, from the techniques of Caravaggio to where his paintings finally landed after 4 centuries of intrigue, war and auctions. If you want to learn that information, this is your book. But if you're looking for a plot, with at least some action, you're better off elsewhere. Nothing (and I mean nothing, nada, zip, bupkus) happens in this novel. I finished it because I thought the art history aspects of the book were interesting, but this has been (so far) the most boring audio book I've heard on Audible.

Better Read than Heard

Although I am a fan of Carvaggio, reader Campbell Scott and, of course, the new freedom Audible has given me to enjoy more books than I could possibly do if I had to read them in the conventional manner--"The Lost Painting" is a not a good choice for listening. The book recounts the arduous, often tedious work in tracking down and authenticating a masterpiece of art. In order to relay this story and give all the participants their due there are too many characters, places, and terminology to contend with, and for myself I often had trouble following who was who and where was where. If I had the book in hand (which I intend to do at the library soon) I would be able to go back over confusing bits in order to remind myself of specifics. I also suspect that the printed book is indexed and/or footnoted which would aid in studying this account and that there is a valid reason for doing this. Therefore, my low rating is directly aimed at "The Lost Painting" as a rating for an "audio" book and nothing against the writer, the story, or the fabulous reader Campbell Scott.

boring

Don't listen to this book as you drive because it will put you to sleep. This is the most droning audio I've ever heard, and I'm wondering where the plot is. Maybe this is a better book in print, but in audio, it's mind-numbing boring.