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9781916237810

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As an expert witness for the defendant in a claim brought--and won--against Sotheby's in 2014-15 for negligence and breach of contract, Spear is well placed to tell the story of the painting that turned out to be by Caravaggio and the ensuing legal battle. -- Apollo

A masterwork of Tacitus-like force, clarity and precision. . . . Spear offers a short history of modern Caravaggiomania, comments on representative examples of the painter's 60 or so known works, and takes us step by step through the legal case, in which he participated as an expert witness. . . . Enthralling. * Washington Post * As an expert witness for the defendant in a claim brought-and won-against Sotheby's in 2014-15 for negligence and breach of contract, Spear is well placed to tell the story of the painting that turned out to be by Caravaggio and the ensuing legal battle. * Apollo * A beautifully illustrated book about the [Thwaytes v Sotheby's] case. . . . It is interesting, and unusual, to see how a trial looks from the perspective of an expert witness, and if you are interested in how art experts approach questions of attribution, the book is full of insights. * Counsel Magazine * This engaging book reads like a detective novel but is in fact a knowledgeable account of a recent court case involving art. . . . This is a rare recounting of expert art historical analysis applied in a real-life circumstance, and it will be of particular value to those interested in the art market, art law, connoisseurship, or the critical evaluation of art objects. Spear includes excellent illustrations and helpful transcriptions of testimony, allowing the reader to judge the case. . . . Highly recommended. * Choice * This is a rare exploration of a legal case from the point of view of the academic art connoisseur. . . . It's a really cool angle to take, I can't stress that enough. * Anonymous Swiss Collector blog * Interesting, and unusual. . . . The book is full of insights. * Council * Spear's genre-defying book....offers any number of things to readers indirectly: it provides a very detailed account of Caravaggio's practices as a painter; it offers a glimpse of how technical analyses are conducted of paintings and the kinds of interpretation that can be made of them; it shines a bright light onto processes of valuation and sale by auction; and it illuminates when and how scholarship and the art market intersect. * Burlington Magazine *

"""A masterwork of Tacitus-like force, clarity and precision. . . . Spear offers a short history of modern Caravaggiomania, comments on representative examples of the painter’s 60 or so known works, and takes us step by step through the legal case, ­in which he participated as an expert witness. . . . Enthralling."" * Washington Post * ""As an expert witness for the defendant in a claim brought—and won—against Sotheby’s in 2014–15 for negligence and breach of contract, Spear is well placed to tell the story of the painting that turned out to be by Caravaggio and the ensuing legal battle."" * Apollo * ""A beautifully illustrated book about the [Thwaytes v Sotheby’s] case. . . . It is interesting, and unusual, to see how a trial looks from the perspective of an expert witness, and if you are interested in how art experts approach questions of attribution, the book is full of insights."" * Counsel Magazine * ""This engaging book reads like a detective novel but is in fact a knowledgeable account of a recent court case involving art. . . . This is a rare recounting of expert art historical analysis applied in a real-life circumstance, and it will be of particular value to those interested in the art market, art law, connoisseurship, or the critical evaluation of art objects. Spear includes excellent illustrations and helpful transcriptions of testimony, allowing the reader to judge the case. . . . Highly recommended."" * Choice * ""This is a rare exploration of a legal case from the point of view of the academic art connoisseur. . . . It’s a really cool angle to take, I can’t stress that enough."" * Anonymous Swiss Collector blog * ""Interesting, and unusual. . . . The book is full of insights."" * Council * ""Spear’s genre-defying book....offers any number of things to readers indirectly: it provides a very detailed account of Caravaggio’s practices as a painter; it offers a glimpse of how technical analyses are conducted of paintings and the kinds of interpretation that can be made of them; it shines a bright light onto processes of valuation and sale by auction; and it illuminates when and how scholarship and the art market intersect."" * Burlington Magazine *"

""A masterwork of Tacitus-like force, clarity and precision. . . . Spear offers a short history of modern Caravaggiomania, comments on representative examples of the painter’s 60 or so known works, and takes us step by step through the legal case, ­in which he participated as an expert witness. . . . Enthralling."" * Washington Post * ""As an expert witness for the defendant in a claim brought—and won—against Sotheby’s in 2014–15 for negligence and breach of contract, Spear is well placed to tell the story of the painting that turned out to be by Caravaggio and the ensuing legal battle."" * Apollo * ""A beautifully illustrated book about the [Thwaytes v Sotheby’s] case. . . . It is interesting, and unusual, to see how a trial looks from the perspective of an expert witness, and if you are interested in how art experts approach questions of attribution, the book is full of insights."" * Counsel Magazine * ""This engaging book reads like a detective novel but is in fact a knowledgeable account of a recent court case involving art. . . . This is a rare recounting of expert art historical analysis applied in a real-life circumstance, and it will be of particular value to those interested in the art market, art law, connoisseurship, or the critical evaluation of art objects. Spear includes excellent illustrations and helpful transcriptions of testimony, allowing the reader to judge the case. . . . Highly recommended."" * Choice * ""This is a rare exploration of a legal case from the point of view of the academic art connoisseur. . . . It’s a really cool angle to take, I can’t stress that enough."" * Anonymous Swiss Collector blog * ""Interesting, and unusual. . . . The book is full of insights."" * Council * ""Spear’s genre-defying book....offers any number of things to readers indirectly: it provides a very detailed account of Caravaggio’s practices as a painter; it offers a glimpse of how technical analyses are conducted of paintings and the kinds of interpretation that can be made of them; it shines a bright light onto processes of valuation and sale by auction; and it illuminates when and how scholarship and the art market intersect."" * Burlington Magazine *

This is a rare exploration of a legal case from the point of view of the academic art connoisseur. . . . It's a really cool angle to take, I can't stress that enough. -- Anonymous Swiss Collector blog A masterwork of Tacitus-like force, clarity and precision. . . . Spear offers a short history of modern Caravaggiomania, comments on representative examples of the painter's 60 or so known works, and takes us step by step through the legal case, in which he participated as an expert witness. . . . Enthralling. -- Washington Post As an expert witness for the defendant in a claim brought--and won--against Sotheby's in 2014-15 for negligence and breach of contract, Spear is well placed to tell the story of the painting that turned out to be by Caravaggio and the ensuing legal battle. -- Apollo

This engaging book reads like a detective novel but is in fact a knowledgeable account of a recent court case involving art. . . . This is a rare recounting of expert art historical analysis applied in a real-life circumstance, and it will be of particular value to those interested in the art market, art law, connoisseurship, or the critical evaluation of art objects. Spear includes excellent illustrations and helpful transcriptions of testimony, allowing the reader to judge the case. . . . Highly recommended. -- Choice This is a rare exploration of a legal case from the point of view of the academic art connoisseur. . . . It's a really cool angle to take, I can't stress that enough. -- Anonymous Swiss Collector blog A masterwork of Tacitus-like force, clarity and precision. . . . Spear offers a short history of modern Caravaggiomania, comments on representative examples of the painter's 60 or so known works, and takes us step by step through the legal case, in which he participated as an expert witness. . . . Enthralling. -- Washington Post As an expert witness for the defendant in a claim brought--and won--against Sotheby's in 2014-15 for negligence and breach of contract, Spear is well placed to tell the story of the painting that turned out to be by Caravaggio and the ensuing legal battle. -- Apollo

Author Information

Richard Spear, Affiliate Research Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, is a specialist in Italian baroque painting. His principal publications include Caravaggio and his Followers, Domenichino and The ‘Divine’ Guido: Religion, Sex, Money and Art in the World of Guido Reni. He co-edited Painting for Profit: The Economic Lives of Seventeenth-Century Italian Painters, the basis of his most recent book, Dipingere per profitto: Le vite economiche dei pittori nella Roma del Seicento.While teaching at Oberlin College, he directed the Allen Memorial Art Museum and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Art Bulletin.

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