Caravaggio

A Life Sacred and Profane

By: Andrew Graham-Dixon

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

In the tradition of John Richardson's Picasso, a commanding new biography of the Italian master's tumultuous life and mysterious death. For four hundred years Caravaggio's (1571-1610) staggering artistic achievements have thrilled viewers, yet his volatile personal trajectory - the murder of Ranuccio Tomasini, the doubt surrounding Caravaggio's sexuality, the chain of events that began with his imprisonment on Malta and ended with his premature death - has long confounded historians. In a bravura performance, Andrew Graham-Dixon delves into the original Italian sources, presenting fresh details about Caravaggio's sex life, his many crimes and public brawls, and the most convincing account yet published of the painter's tragic death at the age of thirty-eight. With illuminating readings of Caravaggio's infamous religious paintings, which often depict prostitutes and poor people, Graham-Dixon immerses readers in the world of Italy at the height of the Counter-Reformation and creates a masterful profile of the mercurial painter's life and work.

©2010 Andrew Graham-Dixon (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Michael Angelo Marsi Caravaggio

A mis remarkable telling of a tortured life of a great painter, despite all produced a great volume of work with realistic and very emotional religious paintings base on bible stories interpreted like no other before or since. I listen and looked in you tube and google at the paintings and that help to squire a better idea for me. Love the reader.

Author and Narrator Bring Caravaggio to Life

Andrew Graham-Dixon's biography is a riveting read that brings Caravaggio to life. I am always leery of biographies on people who have gaping holes in their background, but Graham-Dixon fills them admirably well by looking at the places and paintings that defined Caravaggio's life in those periods where little is known about him. Edoardo Ballerini's narration is mesmerising as usual. This is a magical read because of the author's superb ability to make readers feel like they know Caravaggio. I cried from the shere beauty of the ending, one of the best endings for a book I have read.

Truly Sacred, truly beautiful, sadly profane...

As a devoted admirer of Caravaggio, I was drawn to this biography because of the detail and scholarly research. However, I found it to be much more than I expected. The author's deep spiritual insights and beautiful descriptions of the "Holy Works" created by Caravaggio, brought me close to tears several times. Caravaggio, was clearly a man of divided devotions and divine talent...A troubled and lonely soul.

The narrator is exceptional in both tone and feeling. If you love classical art, tragedy and The Bible. This is a book worth your time.

Loved it.

Great narrative that moved along nicely but was very detailed. I took many notes and reviewed many chapters.

Deep dive into a life shrouded in mystery

The depth of the writing covering technical aspects of painting, historical contexts in which Caravaggio lived and worked and the psychological states of the artist presented this still mysterious artist’s life in as great a detail as I’ve ever come across.