Book Review: The Dragon’s Trail: The Biography of Raphael’s Masterpiece by Joanna Pitman. A Touchstone Book, published by Simon & Schuster. ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-6513-3.
Find it here on Goodreads.
In The Dragon’s Trail, Pitman tells the story of a renowned classic masterpiece by one of the Renaissance’s most famous artists. I doubt that anyone can stand in front of (or simply look at a print of) one of Raphael’s paintings without being moved by the beauty and talent of the artist’s brush. His painting, St. George and the Dragon – commissioned in 1506 – was painted when Raphael was only twenty-three years old. But Pitman does not simply tell the story of how it was painted or the reason for the painting, but follows the long lifespan of this wonderful painting throughout the following centuries until the present day.
This is a tale not only about a painting, but its owners and their place in history, including kings, revolutions, wealth and poverty and stretches from Italy, England and Russia to America. Pitman writes beautiful, dramatic prose which reads more like a novel than a book of art history or history. The Dragon’s Trail is both a book for the lay person and the art lover alike, but, most of all; the passion with which the book is written is contagious. Pitman’s love of art and especially this artwork is brought vividly to life in this volume.
I can suggest this book to lovers of history, art and the Renaissance. But, though the book’s dust jacket does carry a beautiful colour rendition of the painting, I would have liked to see a colour print of the painting inside the book as well and not one in greyscale. Perhaps in the next edition?
For overall enjoyment and readability, I give this book four and a half out of five stars. Definitely a volume I’ll read again.
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