The Lost Painting
book by Jonathan Harr
The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece is a 2005 non-fiction book by the author Jonathan Harr. The book traces the discovery in the 1990s of a Caravaggio painting, through experts' comparing two versions of the picture, and their trying to discern which was the original of The Taking of Christ (c. 1602). The book is an extension of an article that had appeared in the New York Times Magazine in December 1994. One of the people whose life is recounted in the book is the Oxford philosopher and ontologist of the infosphere Luciano Floridi.
In 2006, Variety reported that Miramax might produce a film version of the book.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “The Lost Painting” is book by Jonathan Harr. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Lost, Painting and book, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “book by Jonathan Harr” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 29, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7748692. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2005, 1602, 1994 and 2006.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Lost Painting”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Lost Painting primary sources, The Lost Painting archive and Lost research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Lost Painting”?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The Lost Painting” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.