The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece

This book was absolutely excellent, an easy listen with a wonderful cast of characters. The storyline flows nicely despite being very complex, surrounding the incredible discovery of a Caravaggio painting in the unlikeliest of places. The rich narrative seamlessly ties together diverse characters and the underlying mystery surrounding their connection, albeit unknown to them, to the lost painting. Throughout the story, the various personalities are fleshed-out as they are followed, and the truth of the painting's history unfolds. The details were wonderful, making it easy to visualize the different places visited, the people in the story, and the various levels of connection that are made as the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. I love art and mysteries, and I loved this book. I was also pleasantly surprised by the brief but informative interview with the author. Highly recommended.

Jonathan Harr has written a story within a story, but not just the usual kind. This is a biography within a true story, a window on history glimpsed from the world of art historians. He has crafted a tale that is both suspenseful and full of human drama. The listener comes to care about the real people who populate this book, whether they are our contemporaries or lived 400 years ago in Rome.
I hated for the story to end. There is an interesting interview with Mr. Harr at the end of the book. His style is truly unique, a contemporay historian/journalist who writes non-fiction with the feel of a novel. He is writing shorter pieces now, but I hope that he will begin another full length work soon.

This story is small, compelling gem: three modern day characters hovering around the traces of genius from an artist now gone for nearly 400 years.

For some reason, this plot did not confuse me: Harr does an effective job of connecting the reader with each of the three main protagonists, and of explaining to me their separate fascinations with Caravaggio's wild brilliance. I felt the web of social relations surrounding each of the three, and the depth of their shared "Caravaggio madness", as a binding force in the book.

Harr's prose is well-suited to audio format: clear, crisp, very much to the point. He turns his fascination with technical detail into a strength: the detail takes on a life of its own at times, serving as the medium through which the searchers come into contact with the painting: and through it with Caravaggio himself. This is, after all, a story of a transformative search: one that alters the lives of two of the three main characters, and that reveals the life of the fourth.

This is neither an exhaustive assessment of the painting nor a thorough biography of the artist. Instead, it is (in effect) a thoughtful assessment of why we dig into the beauties of the past and on the pleasures and miseries of scholarship, even of obsession.

The reader is perfect: great sound, intonation and pace. Altogether a must-read.

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.

It's amazing that a book about art historians digging through archives can be so fascinating, but it is. This is a real tour de force; I cannot recommend it highly enough!

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.

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.

This is an amazing story told with finesse. I really enjoyed the detailed descriptions of archival research and art restoration. You will learn a great deal about how paintings are painstakingly traced through historical records, and how their authenticity can be proven. No, it's nothing like the Da Vinci Code - this is real scholarship and far more interesting.

The reader is fine, although he has a sad, melancholic tone that drains the energy a little; a book with this much excitement and revelation needed more enthusiasm.

yes

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

yes

Worth the money. A great relaxing read!

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.