"The book examines Caravaggio's paintings within the context of 16th century Italian mores. It shows that his unparalleled intermingling of the profane and the sacred was meant to stimulate emotion, amaze the cognoscenti, and lead people to faith"-- Provided by publisher.

Recounts the search for a long-lost masterpiece by Italian Baroque master Michelangelo Caravaggio, following a young graduate student across hundreds of years and four countries to uncover the mystery of "The Taking of Christ."

Focusing on eight iconic works of art, this series reveals the history of visual imagination through the ages. A combination of reconstruction, photography and storytelling transport the viewer back to the intense moments when great works were conceived and born: the murderous, messianic world of Baroque Rome; opulent, parvenu Amsterdam; paranoid, revolutionary Paris; Victorian England suffocating beneath riches and righteousness; the madhouses and...