Graduate student Francesca Cappelletti's discovery of clues in a dusty palazzo cellar—pointing to what may be a lost masterwork by Caravaggio called The Taking of Christ—sparks this true account, a remarkable synthesis of history and detective story that was named one of the 10 Best Books of 2005 by the New York Times Book Review. Jonathan Harr, who won the National Book Critics Circle Award for A Civil Action, describes the baroque artist's turbulent career and the astonishing beauty of his work, and follows Cappelletti's progress from the Adriatic to Ireland and across two centuries, as she hopes to find and authenticate a masterpiece.