Valentin de Boulogne : beyond Caravaggio

The first comprehensive English monograph on an outstanding 17th-century artist



In the years following Caravaggio's death, the French-born painter Valentin de Boulogne (1591-1632) emerged as one of the greatest masters of naturalistic painting, demonstrating the influence of Caravaggio's style and subject matter. This book, the first complete monograph of his work in English, features more than 50 lushly illustrated paintings by Valentin, as well as numerous comparative works that help situate his oeuvre.



Essays by an international team of experts explore Valentin's masterful depictions of everyday life as well as the tumult and violence of 17th-century Rome, where he lived and worked. This comprehensive survey brings to light a radical but under-recognized practitioner of realism whose powerful works prefigured the modernity of 19th-century artists such as Gustave Courbet.



Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Distributed by Yale University Press

Exhibition Schedule:

The Metropolitan Museum of Art
(10/06/16-01/16/17)

Musée du Louvre, Paris
(02/20/17-05/22/17)

Bowing to no one : Valentin's ambitions / Annick Lemoine -- Success and failure in a violent city : Bartolomeo Manfredi, Nicolas Tournier, and Valentin de Boulogne / Patrizia Cavazzini -- Valentin and his artistic formation in Rome / Gianni Papi -- Painting from life : Valentin and the legacy of Caravaggio / Keith Christiansen -- Valentin in the Grand Siècle / Annick Lemoine -- Valentin : a French painter / Jean-Pierre Cuzin -- Catalogue / Keith Christiansen and Annick Lemoine.