Jonathan Harr
In the late 1980′s two art history students in Rome, working on a project to determine which of two paintings was a Caravaggio and which was a copy, discovered information about the history of a “lost” Caravaggio. That painting, “The Taking of Christ”, had disappeared from public view centuries ago. Harr’s book is the story of the hunt for that painting. To give any more details would detract from a reader’s enjoyment of the book, but suffice it to say that it’s a fascinating story that reads like a well-written novel.
I was most interested in the sections about painting restoration in which Harr takes the reader into art museums’ back rooms. Some of the techniques the restorers use are surprisingly low tech.