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)

Like a Daniel Silva book without the excitement

I liked this book which had been recommended to me. I am a Daniel Silva fan, so I couldn't help but think about his art restorer hero, Gabriel Alon. This book was very informative about the world of art, art restoration and provenance of artwork, but it was missing some excitement for me. I am not sorry that I listened, but wouldn't recommend it.

Informative & enjoyable

If you are interested in the plastic arts and/or art history, you will likely find this book interesting and maybe even exciting, as I did. For the latter, the book gets 4-stars. Otherwise, you will likely find it boring, not worth the read/listen and the book would get a 1-2 stars.

This book is not a cliff-hanger like Dan Brown's "DaVinci Code" or others of that ilk. Rather, it is a true story about the minutia of art and art history - teasing out the provenance of an art work from a myriad of subtle sources. I learned a lot from the book even if that was not its objective. The author does go overboard in trying to develop characters who are basically boring people in boring occupations. But, he tried.

Campbell Scott is a droning reader who adds little life to the reading.

Entertaining and informative

What made the experience of listening to The Lost Painting the most enjoyable?

The book provided a wonderful listening experience for me by gracefully moving between the present and the past. As the author developed each of the present day charactors (historians, curators and restoration artists), he carefully described their roles in the story. At the same time, I found myself being walked through Caravaggio's tragic life and that experience brought greater life to the works of art he left behind.

A true art mystery is solved.

This was a "page turner" listening book. I rushed to pick up where I left off whenever I could.
The author describes the processes of painting and restoring which allowed me to be able to talk about the observations the key players of the hunt for the painting made. The locations and people are portrayed like good scenes of Dan Brown thriller movie--even about the risky life of the painter himself.

I was satisfied with the way the discovery was made. Is there another book like this for my next book?

great..interesting

Would you try another book from Jonathan Harr and/or Campbell Scott?

yes

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

It was educational and like a bit of a detective story without the violence!

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

yes

Any additional comments?

Worth the money. A great relaxing read!

Really enjoyed this book!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Lost Painting to be better than the print version?

Yes, Campbell Scott is one of my favorite narrators.

What other book might you compare The Lost Painting to and why?

Similiar in some ways to Possession but fact based.

Any additional comments?

Especially liked the background concerning Caravaggio's life and wokrs...entertaining and informative.

Reminiscent of The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro

Very well told story about the efforts by art archivists, restorers, Caravaggio experts to be certain of the provenance of the painting in question. Even world-class restorer Gabriel Allon, who loved Caravaggio in the Daniel Silva espionage series might have learned something from this book.

Paintings have their own vicissitudes

Very nice biography of a painting, including biographical notes of the painter.

The narration is good.

Nonfiction that reads like a great murder mystery

The first time I listened to this book I thought it was fiction. It wasn't until the very end that I realized it was a true story. The details that are given about the artist sporadically through the book creates the feeling of watching a Shakespearian play. The narrator creates an atmosphere of both excitement and intrigue.

Fascinating search for a missing masterpiece

This is a fascinating story of the time and dedication required to track down a particular painting lost due to scant record keeping and/or clues misplaced or destroyed. The timeline reads like a novel and the life of Caravaggio himself, interspersed throughout the narrative, is incredibly interesting. Campbell Scott, as always, is an exceptional performer and elevates the book with unique character voices and a fantastic reading voice.