Caravaggio in India: 5 novels about art to read today

Indian Express

24-04-2025

'Mary Magdalen in Ecstasy', a painting believed to have been lost for centuries until its rediscovery in a private collection in 2014, is one of the most famous pieces in the art world. It depicts one of Jesus's most faithful disciples being transported to God's presence by angels where she listens to heavenly choirs. Caravaggio's interpretation of the Biblical story confines the supernatural experience entirely to Mary's facial expression, as opposed to previous artists who had depicted her as physically ascending to heaven with angels at her side.
With the piece on display at Delhi 's Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, in collaboration with the Italian Embassy Cultural Centre, up until May 18, we look at novels that may enhance your appreciation of art, painters and the contested world of commerce and criticism they operate in today.
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt is the winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. It tells the story of 13-year-old Theodore Decker and how his life changes when he steals a painting, The Goldfinch, by 17th century Dutch painter Carel Fabritius, after a bomb explosion at The Metropolitan Museum of Art kills his mother.
The Collector by John Fowles is the story of a lonely young man, Frederick Clegg, who kidnaps an art student he is obsessed with and locks her up in his farmhouse's cellar. He plays all sorts of games with her — sexual, psychological and otherwise — to make her fall in love with him. When that doesn't work, he takes it up a notch.
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier is about the famous painting by 17th century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer of the same name. It fictionalises the story of the girl who may have modeled for the painter after becoming employed in his house as a servant. It explores themes of class, feminism and appreciation of art.
The Raphael Affair by Ian Pears is the story of an art historian arrested for breaking into a church so that he can find a hidden painting by Italian Renaissance painter Raphael. Before he can lay his hands on it, however, it lands up with a famous art dealer, thickening the plot — is the painting an original? Who is the dealer acting for? Moreover, as more and more lives get put in jeopardy, is this artwork worth killing for?
Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut is the story of a fictional expressionist painter who calls himself a 'museum guard' and gives tours of his house to interested visitors but keeps a barn off-limits, raising suspicions that he has hidden innumerable masterpieces inside that are original or stolen. One day, a woman arrives on his property and gets the tour, but also forces him to give up his reclusivity and reflect on the art of his lifetime.