The Lost Painting, by Jonathan Harr (2005)
The Lost Painting reads like a mystery, which it is. The Italian Baroque artist, Caraviggio, had fallen out of favor until the 20th Century. Little was known of the artist other than he was a revolutionary painter with a hot temper. He died under mysterious circumstances; and was probably murdered at age 38.
Less than 100 paintings by the artist are known to exist. In the mid-20th Century, scholars began a renewed interest in the artist. It was believed that one of his masterpieces, a painting called The Taking of Christ, still existed. Scholars knew what it looked like, as copies of the painting existed.
In 1989, two young art graduate students began their research into a record of the painting. They knew that the painting had been commissioned by the wealthy and influential Mattei family in 1602. The two young students, Francesca Cappelletti and Laura Testa, tracked down the current descendants and learned that the matriarch had stored all the family documents in the basement of a tiny village on the Adriatic coast. After some convincing, the students were allowed to review the family files. There, they found documentation leading them to believe that the original had been sold in the early 1800 to a buyer in Scotland.
Around the same time, an Italian art restorer named Sergio Benedetti, working in Ireland came across a painting for restoration that belonged to the Jesuit Fathers in Dublin. This painting had been hanging in hanging in dining room of the Jesuit House for over 50 years. It had accumulated considerable dirt and dust over the years. Immediately, Benedetti recognized the style of the painting and believed that it might be the original lost painting.
Benedetti was put in touch with various art historians as well as the former graduate students. After several years of continued research and restoration, the painting was acknowledged as being an authentic Caravaggio. It now still belongs to the Jesuits; but is on permanent display in the National Gallery of Ireland.
I enjoyed this book, however, it was not as good as Harr’s earlier book, A Civil Action.
Read: February 26, 2021
3 Stars
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