Rating: 
Summary: Transfering the image to the narative
Review: This book owes more to the conciet of paul robb than it does carravagio. How extensive a conciet that is. Robb denys us the sight of these post renaissance masterpieces by a man who wrote nothing with detailed dicriptions that draw on comtemporary language. His love of the paintings is overwhelming. They are drawn out in such a way that the search for the realised painting is as tantillising as the turn of each page. Dragging the reader through the painters excesses, from rome to sicily and on to malta. Go there.
Rating:
Summary: Caravaggio
Review: This is a fascinating book. It gives the reader a nearly physical experience of life in the Renaissance Italy that Caravaggio knew. The descriptions of specific paintings is absolutely right: even without the excellent illustrations. What also becames clear, was exactly how new, different, bold and shocking was Caravaggio's art. No biography of Caravaggio can concentrate on Caravaggio the artist-inovator and ignore Caravaggio the rebel-bad-boy. The presentation of the sexual indescretions, the equivical social status and ideological independence which caused the rift between Caravaggio and the incresingly conservative authorities in Rome read like chapers from a Mario Puzo godfather novel.
Rating:
Summary: A detailed account.
Review: Very good account of what M's life MAY have been like. A little hard to read due to some of the author's "Australiansims" -- words such as "yakka" and contractions such as "M've'd". A good read though. There are almost no pictures in this book, which I found to be very frustrating until I bought a book of Caravaggio's paintings to use as a reference.
Rating: 
Summary: Stunning, dark and utterly absorbing
Review: When I read this book, I knew very little about Caravaggio except a few of his paintings. After I'd finished reading, I felt that I could understand Caravaggio's world a lot better. Robb's superb descriptions really enable you to feel the streets of 17th century Rome under your feet; he brings the slightly disreputable side of Caravaggio's existence so vividly to life that it's like watching a film. Most of the art books I have read are written in a rather stuffy kind of language, but Peter Robb's is so easy and enjoyable to read that it's a complete pleasure (I'm a teenager and it was like listening to someone chatting about Caravaggio as opposed to your typical monograph). Understandably, some people might not like the complete irreverence for history and Great Men, but I think Caravaggio would have approved. With Robb's easy use of slang, and modern translations, history is brought to life and Caravaggio's turbulent art is finally provided with a background. I found Robb's treatment of Caravaggio's supposed homosexuality very open and frank, and I particularly enjoyed his discussion of Amor Victorious (or Cupid, or Love, depending on the various names). All in all, I would thoroughly recommend this. It may not be High Art, but it brings the history to life and achieves the very difficult task of making the most controversial artist a little more understandable. Brilliant read.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning, dark and utterly absorbing
Review: When I read this book, I knew very little about Caravaggio except a few of his paintings. After I'd finished reading, I felt that I could understand Caravaggio's world a lot better. Robb's superb descriptions really enable you to feel the streets of 17th century Rome under your feet; he brings the slightly disreputable side of Caravaggio's existence so vividly to life that it's like watching a film. Most of the art books I have read are written in a rather stuffy kind of language, but Peter Robb's is so easy and enjoyable to read that it's a complete pleasure (I'm a teenager and it was like listening to someone chatting about Caravaggio as opposed to your typical monograph). Understandably, some people might not like the complete irreverence for history and Great Men, but I think Caravaggio would have approved. With Robb's easy use of slang, and modern translations, history is brought to life and Caravaggio's turbulent art is finally provided with a background. I found Robb's treatment of Caravaggio's supposed homosexuality very open and frank, and I particularly enjoyed his discussion of Amor Victorious (or Cupid, or Love, depending on the various names). All in all, I would thoroughly recommend this. It may not be High Art, but it brings the history to life and achieves the very difficult task of making the most controversial artist a little more understandable. Brilliant read.
Rating: 
Summary: a real disappointment
Review: Wow, I must say I disagree with so many of the reviews. I was deeply disappointed with the book. I was expecting a fascinating historical biography of a magnificent painter, and got a typographical error ridden screed, railing against the Catholic church (not defending them, but hey, been there, read that), and a boring habit of finding strains of homoeroticism in every inch of exposed skin. I'm truly not a bitter prude or anything, just a very bored reader of very mediocre, predictable work. Sorry.
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