Told with consummate skill by the writer of the bestselling awardwinning A Civil Action The Lost Painting is a remarkable synthesis of history and detective story. An Italian village on a hilltop near the Adriatic coast a decaying palazzo facing the sea and in the basement cobwebbed and dusty lit by a single bulb an archive unknown to scholars. Here a young graduate student from Rome Francesca Cappelletti makes a discovery that inspires a search for a work of art of incalculable value a painting lost for almost two centuries. The artist was Caravaggio a master of the Italian Baroque. He was a genius a revolutionary painter and a man beset by personal demons. Four hundred years ago he drank and brawled in the taverns and streets of Rome moving from one rooming house to another constantly in and out of jail all the while painting works of transcendent emotional and visual power. He rose from obscurity to fame and wealth but success didnt alter his violent temperament. His rage finally led him to commit murder forcing him to flee Rome a hunted man. He died young alone and under strange circumstances. Caravaggio scholars estimate that between sixty and eighty of his works are in existence today. Many othersno one knows the precise numberhave been lost to time. Somewhere surely a masterpiece lies forgotten in a storeroom or in a small parish church or hanging above a fireplace mistaken for a mere copy. Prizewinning author Jonathan Harr embarks on an spellbinding journey to discover the longlost painting known as The Taking of Christits mysterious fate and the circumstances of its disappearance have captivated Caravaggio devotees for years. After Francesca Cappelletti stumbles across a clue in that dusty archive she tracks the painting across a continent and hundreds of years of history. But it is not until she meets Sergio Benedetti an art restorer working in Ireland that she finally manages to assemble all the pieces of the puzzle. Praise for The Lost Painting Jonathan