A bold and provocative biography that captures the dark, violent spirit of Caravaggio, the world's first modern painter. In M, Peter Robb presents the wild and tempestuous life of Caravaggio, an artist who threw out Renaissance dogma to paint with dazzling originality and fierce vitality. Set against the backdrop of the sixteenth century, marked by the Inquisition and Counter-Reformation, Caravaggio's art and life were a provocation to the culture of his time. Robb's skilled prose echoes the qualities of Caravaggio's art, arresting and suspending time to reveal what the author calls "the theater of the partly seen." Caravaggio, known variously as Marisi, Moriggia, Merigi, and sometimes simply M, leaps through these pages like quicksilver, an immensely attractive character with an astonishing connection to the glories and brutalities of life. As art critic Robert Hughes has said, "There was art before him and art after him, and they were not the same." M is a must-read for anyone interested in the fascinating world of Italian Renaissance art, offering a fresh and provocative perspective on one of history's most brilliant and influential artists.