Master of Shadows

A Providence Journal Best Read of 2009

“Engaging, instructive and thought-provoking, all at once. . . . Mark Lamster is a brave writer. . . . His affection for his subject is so complete—and completely convincing—his style is so gracefully unpretentious and his research is so thorough.” —The Los Angeles Times

“A different kind of artist’s biography. . . . Gripping reading.” —St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Highbrow and brilliant.” —New York magazine

“An illuminating look at a side of the great painter usually kept in the shadows.” —The Daily Beast

“An exhilarating portrait of an age as dramatic and richly toned as one of Rubens’s gigantic canvases.” —Ross King, author of Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling

“Imagine that Pablo Picasso, in addition to painting the most famous masterpieces of the twentieth century, had also devoted decades of his life to secret diplomacy aimed at preventing another world war. That is exactly what Peter Paul Rubens, the most revered painter of his era, did in seventeenth-century Europe. Mark Lamster tells this little-known story with a combination of brio and historical erudition bound to appeal to anyone who cares about beauty, passion, war and peace. I couldn’t put it down.” —Susan Jacoby, author, The Age of American Unreason

 “In elegant brushstrokes … Mark Lamster gives us here a vivid portrait of 17th century Europe and the political intrigue that led to the modern world.” —Russell Shorto, author, The Island at the Center of the World

“A fascinating study.” —The Telegraph (London)
 
“When people think of Peter Paul Rubens . . . they probably conjure up images of rosy-cheeked, buxom women, proud courtiers, and grand historical scenes. . . . Mark Lamster does nothing to dispel that familiar impression but a great deal to modify it.” —The Providence Journal

“Rubens’s story surprises and dazzles.” —Kirkus

“This adroitly crafted biography of Rubens brings to life an artist so busy wheeling and dealing with the crowned heads of Europe that it’s amazing he found the time to put brush to canvas. Lamster’s account engages the student of history as much as it opens the eyes of those who love Rubens’s art.” —Timothy Brook, author, Vermeer’s Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World

 “An exceptional book.” —Library Journal

“Master of Shadows is a fascinating account, as lively as it is informed. This utterly intriguing narrative has the knowledge and verve that infuse Rubens’s brushstrokes; Lamster writes with the panache and enthusiastic engagement, as well as the capability, warranted by his marvelous subject.” —Nicholas Fox Weber, author, Le Corbusier: A Life

 “Art, war, diplomatic intrigue, secret spy missions—all rendered with the erudition of a scholar and the deft touch of a gifted writer. This is exactly what popular history should be. I was utterly transfixed by this book.” —Jonathan Mahler, author, The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld

“Piercing the darkened, secret world of agents, operatives, and diplomats is a difficult task at the best of times–and in Rubens’s case, one thought impossible–but Mark Lamster brilliantly succeeds at shedding light on this most enigmatic, and aptly dubbed, Master of Shadows.” —Alexander Rose, author, Washington’s Spies: The Story of America’s First Spy Ring

“Mark Lamster, a master of vivid writing, provides a highly readable account of the national rivalries and endemic warfare that fostered secret diplomacy in seventeenth-century Europe. Master of Shadows is a page-turner not to be missed.” —Lita-Rose Betcherman, author, Court Lady and Country Wife: Two Noble Sisters in Seventeenth-Century England