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Caravaggio;: A novel
Sixteenth-century Rome was a dangerous place for a man to live in… Especially a man who made enemies easily. Caravaggio’s life in 16th-century Rome was a giddy succession of patrons and lovers, intrigues and stratagems, but above all he worked incessantly to create some of the world’s greatest masterpieces of art.His genius brought him the admiration and lavish patronage of nobles and churchmen, but his recklessness ultimately brought him suffering and exile.‘He was nothing but a swashbuckler!’ according to the Viceroy of Naples, but Caravaggio’s friend, Fra Bartolomeo, had no doubt that the hand of this arrogant young painter was ‘divinely appointed by God for His own purposes.’Indeed, Caravaggio sought always to exalt God by exalting man.Throughout his short life, Caravaggio’s egocentric and unruly temperament provoked varied opinions.In this novel, Robert Payne evokes the setting the clatter of carts on cobblestones, the heavy tread of soldiers, the tumult of brightly dressed crowds, the glitter of power and opulence, the smell of fear and sudden death.Living in such a city, Caravaggio could say that at nineteen a painter knew as much as he ever would. Already he had finished his apprenticeship, escaped from murderers, survived the plague, and lived both in luxury and in poverty.More than a story of the extraordinary and adventurous life of a great artist and the great, brawling city of Renaissance Rome, Caravaggio is a novel about the beauty, pain and complexity of being human.'Robert Payne writes wonderfully well. His description of a great artist struggling to express himself despite social difficulties and the weaknesses of his own character is movingly impressive.' The Sydney Herald'brilliantly brought to life against the colourful backdrop of Renaissance Rome.' Manchester Evening News'Payne has recreated a gallery of vivid historical personalities.' Sunday Telegram'Mr Payne has got into his skin very convincingly. He evokes the sights and colours and people of the time with a vividness that sustains the illusion that we are seeing them all through the eyes of an artist driven by a powerful talent.' Southern Evening EchoRobert Payne (1911-1983) had over a hundred books published on a wide range of subjects during his lifetime. Critics raved about ‘his vast erudition,’ ‘his magic power over words,’ and that rare ability ‘to capture the spiritual essence of his subject.’ The Russian series, in particular The Life and Death of Lenin and The Rise and Fall of Stalin, raised his reputation as biographer to enormous stature. Caravaggio is a fictional biography written in the first person.Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.
329 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1969
16 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
Robert Payne
339 books36 followersPierre Stephen Robert Payne was born December 4, 1911, in Saltash, County of Cornwall, England, the son of Stephen Payne, a naval architect, and Mireille Louise Antonia (Dorey) Payne, a native of France. Payne was the eldest of three brothers. His middle brother was Alan (Marcel Alan), and his youngest brother was Tony, who died at the age of seven.
Payne went to St. Paul's School, London. He attended the Diocesan College, Rondebosch, South Africa, 1929-30; the University of Capetown, 1928-1930; Liverpool University, 1933-35; the University of Munich, summer, 1937, and the Sorbonne, in Paris, 1938.
Payne first followed his father into shipbuilding, working as a shipwright's apprentice at Cammell, Laird's Shipbuilding Company, Birkendhead, 1931-33. He also worked for the Inland Revenue as an Assistant Inspector of Taxes in Guilford in 1936. In 1937-38 he traveled in Europe and, while in Munich, met Adolf Hitler through Rudolf Hess, an incident which Payne vividly describes in his book Eyewitness. In 1938 Payne covered the Civil War in Spain for the London News Chronicle, an experience that resulted in two books, A Young Man Looks at Europe and The Song of the Peasant.
From 1939 to 1941 Payne worked as a shipwright at the Singapore Naval Base and in 1941 he became an armament officer and chief camouflage officer for British Army Intelligence there. In December, 1941, he was sent to Chungking, China, to serve as Cultural Attaché at the British Embassy.
In January, 1942, he covered the battle of Changsha for the London Times, and from 1942 to 1943 he taught English literature at Fuhtan University, near Chungking. Then, persuaded by Joseph Needham, he went to Kunming and taught poetry and naval architecture at Lienta University from 1943 to 1946. The universities of Peking, Tsinghua, and Nankai had converged in Kunming to form the University at Lienta. It was there that Payne, together with Chinese scholars and poets, compiled and co-translated The White Pony.
In China Payne met General George C. Marshall, Chiang Kai-shek, and Mao Tse-tung, who was elusive and living in the caves of Yenan, all of whom later became subjects for his biographies. From his time in China also came the autobiographical volumes Forever China and China Awake, and the historical novels Love and Peace and The Lovers.
From China, Payne briefly visited India in the summer, 1946, which resulted in a love for Indian art. Throughout his life, Payne retained a love for all forms of oriental art.
He came to the United States in the winter of 1946 and lived in Los Angeles, California, until he became Professor of English and Author-in-Residence at Alabama College, Montevallo, 1949-54. He was the founding editor of Montevallo Review, whose contributors included poets Charles Olson and Muriel Rukeyser. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1953.
In Spring, 1949, Payne visited Persia with the Asia Institute Expedition. He received an M.A. degree from the Asia Institute in 1951.
In 1954 Payne moved to New York City, where he lived the rest of his life, interrupted once or twice a year by travel to the Middle East, the Far East, and Europe, mostly to gather material for his books, but also to visit his mother and father in England. His very close literary relationship with his father is documented in the hundreds of highly personal and informative letters which they exchanged.
In 1942, Payne married Rose Hsiung, daughter of Hsiung Hse-ling, a former prime minister of China. They divorced in 1952. In 1981, he married Sheila Lalwani, originally from India.
Over a period of forty-seven years Payne had more than 110 books published. He wrote his first novella, Adventures of Sylvia, Queen of Denmark and China, when he was seven years old. Payne's first publication was a translation of Iiuri Olesha's Envy, published by Virginia and Leonard Woolf's Hogarth Press in 1936. A year later, T.S. Eliot published his novel The War in the Marshes under
Payne went to St. Paul's School, London. He attended the Diocesan College, Rondebosch, South Africa, 1929-30; the University of Capetown, 1928-1930; Liverpool University, 1933-35; the University of Munich, summer, 1937, and the Sorbonne, in Paris, 1938.
Payne first followed his father into shipbuilding, working as a shipwright's apprentice at Cammell, Laird's Shipbuilding Company, Birkendhead, 1931-33. He also worked for the Inland Revenue as an Assistant Inspector of Taxes in Guilford in 1936. In 1937-38 he traveled in Europe and, while in Munich, met Adolf Hitler through Rudolf Hess, an incident which Payne vividly describes in his book Eyewitness. In 1938 Payne covered the Civil War in Spain for the London News Chronicle, an experience that resulted in two books, A Young Man Looks at Europe and The Song of the Peasant.
From 1939 to 1941 Payne worked as a shipwright at the Singapore Naval Base and in 1941 he became an armament officer and chief camouflage officer for British Army Intelligence there. In December, 1941, he was sent to Chungking, China, to serve as Cultural Attaché at the British Embassy.
In January, 1942, he covered the battle of Changsha for the London Times, and from 1942 to 1943 he taught English literature at Fuhtan University, near Chungking. Then, persuaded by Joseph Needham, he went to Kunming and taught poetry and naval architecture at Lienta University from 1943 to 1946. The universities of Peking, Tsinghua, and Nankai had converged in Kunming to form the University at Lienta. It was there that Payne, together with Chinese scholars and poets, compiled and co-translated The White Pony.
In China Payne met General George C. Marshall, Chiang Kai-shek, and Mao Tse-tung, who was elusive and living in the caves of Yenan, all of whom later became subjects for his biographies. From his time in China also came the autobiographical volumes Forever China and China Awake, and the historical novels Love and Peace and The Lovers.
From China, Payne briefly visited India in the summer, 1946, which resulted in a love for Indian art. Throughout his life, Payne retained a love for all forms of oriental art.
He came to the United States in the winter of 1946 and lived in Los Angeles, California, until he became Professor of English and Author-in-Residence at Alabama College, Montevallo, 1949-54. He was the founding editor of Montevallo Review, whose contributors included poets Charles Olson and Muriel Rukeyser. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1953.
In Spring, 1949, Payne visited Persia with the Asia Institute Expedition. He received an M.A. degree from the Asia Institute in 1951.
In 1954 Payne moved to New York City, where he lived the rest of his life, interrupted once or twice a year by travel to the Middle East, the Far East, and Europe, mostly to gather material for his books, but also to visit his mother and father in England. His very close literary relationship with his father is documented in the hundreds of highly personal and informative letters which they exchanged.
In 1942, Payne married Rose Hsiung, daughter of Hsiung Hse-ling, a former prime minister of China. They divorced in 1952. In 1981, he married Sheila Lalwani, originally from India.
Over a period of forty-seven years Payne had more than 110 books published. He wrote his first novella, Adventures of Sylvia, Queen of Denmark and China, when he was seven years old. Payne's first publication was a translation of Iiuri Olesha's Envy, published by Virginia and Leonard Woolf's Hogarth Press in 1936. A year later, T.S. Eliot published his novel The War in the Marshes under
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 1, 2026
’Ei ole midagi armutumat kui rahvahulk.
Viimasest kui inimesest saab kohtunik, kaitsja, süüdistaja või piinaja.
Igaüks peab asuma kellegi poolele ja näitama end asjast teadlikuna.
See on tänavaõigus ja inimesele võib osaks langeda tänavakohtunike karistusi, mis on niisama halastamatud kui need, mida kohtukojas taluda tuleb.’ ...
... ’Kardinal del Monte teenijate tervitused olid igati kohased. Ometi ei vastanud ma nende tervitustele, vaid tegin aga endale oma saatjaskonna seltsis teed, ...
... ning tuletasin meelde, et ma kardinali ees liiga alandlikkult ei kummardaks, ...,
sest kardinale on palju, suuri kunstnikke aga ainult üks.’ ...
Viimasest kui inimesest saab kohtunik, kaitsja, süüdistaja või piinaja.
Igaüks peab asuma kellegi poolele ja näitama end asjast teadlikuna.
See on tänavaõigus ja inimesele võib osaks langeda tänavakohtunike karistusi, mis on niisama halastamatud kui need, mida kohtukojas taluda tuleb.’ ...
... ’Kardinal del Monte teenijate tervitused olid igati kohased. Ometi ei vastanud ma nende tervitustele, vaid tegin aga endale oma saatjaskonna seltsis teed, ...
... ning tuletasin meelde, et ma kardinali ees liiga alandlikkult ei kummardaks, ...,
sest kardinale on palju, suuri kunstnikke aga ainult üks.’ ...
July 15, 2019
Viimaste peatükkide juures oleks kirjanik justkui ära väsinud ja kiirustas lõpetama.
October 11, 2023
The life of Caravaggio is envisaged as a long letter with the artist looking back on their life. Read in Rome, so the streets really came to life.
September 10, 2013
The best Caravaggio novel.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews