Daniel B. Gallagher reviews of The Moment of Caravaggio by Michael Fried. Gallagher's in depth analysis thoroughly explores Fried's themes and thesis that "the extraordinary presence of 'absorption' and 'distancing' in [Caravaggio's] work" is the key to the unique achievement of his paintings. In Gallagher's own analysis of several of Caravaggio's works he calls into question Fried's assertion that "distancing" ("cutting the work free… from himself as its creator") is a central charateristic of Caravaggio's art.