Titian : Nymph and Shepherd

This is a series of letters between the author and art critic, John Berger, and his daughter Katya.

This correspondance is the vehicle for a series of insights into the everyday life and the arts of the great Venetian master, Titian, following an uncanny incident at an exhibition of his work staged in Venice in 1990.

While attending the exhibition, Katya met an old man, who she became convinced was the ghost of the painter.

The man engaged her in conversation about minute peculiarities of painting some of the pictures there.

She shared the experience with her father in a letter.

He accepted the encounter at face value and discussed the historical background to the old man's remarks, seeking answers to a series of evidential questions about his daughter's encounter.

From this point on, the book sees the three of them discussing painting, bodies, animals, Greece, being a woman today, the constant enigma of existence, and daily life.

The book is illustrated with the Titian paintings that were being exhibited, enabling readers to judge for themselves what the possible visitor from four centuries ago has to say to people today.