Lazarus's Brush: a short story of Caravaggio in Messina is a three-in-one ebook. The first part is a short story of about Michele Caravaggio when he was on the run in Sicily trying to save his life. He had killed one man, a pimp from a well-connected Roman family, in a duel and injured another, a Knight of Malta, who had insulted him. He was hoping to get a pardon from the Vatican so he would no longer be threatened.
The story also briefly relates how his art changed during his flight and that when he is painting, his temper is kept under control, and how he was accused of being a pedophile.
At the center of the story is an enlightening description of his The Raising of Lazarus which points out how that painting brought about a new style of painting and
The second part of the ebook is the first chapter from A NAME IN BLOOD, Matthew Rees's full length novel about Caravaggio. It continues the analysis of his paintings and entices the reader to get the book.
Part three is a wonderful essay, "Behind the Book: Writing A NAME IN BLOOD" in which Rees explains how he became fixated on Caravaggio: "No artist has such a capacity to make everything else in a gallery ignorable as Caravaggio has," going so far as to getting into his character. He discusses Caravaggio's disappearance.
As I read Lazarus's Brush, I kept searching for images of the pictures discussed so I could better envision what was said.
Lazarus's Brush is a well-written, tempting intro into the life and work of Caravaggio. ( )