Chloë Ashby

Should we judge a work by the character of its creator?

Does knowledge of the wrongs committed by Caravaggio, Picasso, Roman Polanski and other ‘monsters’ condition our response to their art, wonders Claire Dederer

Caravaggio’s self-portrait as Bacchus. The painter was often arrested for violence – but killing a man in a brawl meant permanent exile from Rome [Bridgeman Images]
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  • Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma

    Claire Dederer

    Sceptre, pp. 288, £20

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