Published: April 08, 1997
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The Star's art writer used the restoration of a major painting from the city's key art gallery to create a multi-story primer on art appreciation. It included elements that make a great painting great; how to ``deconstruct'' a work to consider how it was created and divine its inspiration; how to view a work of art to best appreciate it; and so on. The painting was Caravaggio's "St. John the Baptist," and the detail many readers seemed to remember was the significance of the saint's dirty toenail - a mark of his "boy next door" approachability. Back to Front Pages Back to Slide Show