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Michelangelo and the Viewer in His Time
Today most of us enjoy the work of famed Renaissance artist Michelangelo by perusing art books or strolling along the galleries of a museum—and the luckier of us have had a chance to see his extraordinary frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. But as Bernadine Barnes shows in this book, even a visit to a well-preserved historical sight doesn’t quite afford the experience the artist intended us to have. Bringing together the latest historical research, she offers us an accurate account of how Michelangelo’s art would have been seen in its own time.
As Barnes shows, Michelangelo’s works were made to be viewed in churches, homes, and political settings, by people who brought their own specific needs and expectations to them. Rarely were his paintings and sculptures viewed in quiet isolation—as we might today in the stark halls of a museum. Instead, they were an integral part of ritual and ceremonies, and viewers would have experienced them under specific lighting conditions and from particular vantages; they would have moved through spaces in particular ways and been compelled to relate various works with others nearby. Reconstructing some of the settings in which Michelangelo’s works appeared, Barnes reassembles these experiences for the modern viewer. Moving throughout his career, she considers how his audience changed, and how this led him to produce works for different purposes, sometimes for conventional religious settings, but sometimes for more open-minded patrons. She also shows how the development of print and art criticism changed the nature of the viewing public, further altering the dynamics between artist and audience.
Historically attuned, this book encourages today’s viewers to take a fresh look at this iconic artist, seeing his work as they were truly meant to be seen.
As Barnes shows, Michelangelo’s works were made to be viewed in churches, homes, and political settings, by people who brought their own specific needs and expectations to them. Rarely were his paintings and sculptures viewed in quiet isolation—as we might today in the stark halls of a museum. Instead, they were an integral part of ritual and ceremonies, and viewers would have experienced them under specific lighting conditions and from particular vantages; they would have moved through spaces in particular ways and been compelled to relate various works with others nearby. Reconstructing some of the settings in which Michelangelo’s works appeared, Barnes reassembles these experiences for the modern viewer. Moving throughout his career, she considers how his audience changed, and how this led him to produce works for different purposes, sometimes for conventional religious settings, but sometimes for more open-minded patrons. She also shows how the development of print and art criticism changed the nature of the viewing public, further altering the dynamics between artist and audience.
Historically attuned, this book encourages today’s viewers to take a fresh look at this iconic artist, seeing his work as they were truly meant to be seen.
- GenresArt
240 pages, Hardcover
Published June 15, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 30, 2019
If all of Michelangelo’s works were held in one museum, this would be an expert-led tour through his greatest. It specifically examines Michelangelo’s design decisions based on how his viewer would see the work, (structure, environment, audience, tricks of the eye and perspective, etc.). Hard to tell if this is a book for renaissance buffs or lay people, and I thought the lens could have been a tad more defined, but overall this was a neat exploration!
November 26, 2017
This book doesn't give a clear, complete biographical account on Michelangelo's life. Mainly, because that was not what the author strived to do. Rather, with this book she hoped to give some different views, and an addition to what we know about his live and work.
However, for someone like me, who's already read some biographical books about Michelanglo, Barnes' 'Michelangelo, and the viewer of his time' didn't seem to offer many, if any, new perspectives at all. Furthermore, she sometimes loses herself in iconographical explanations, not really chosing one, simply stating them all, and finishing with; '... whatever it may be...', thus abandoning any explanation in the end.
Another thing which quite bothered me, was her returning to the old - already refuted - assumption that Michelangelo's relationship with Tommaso de' Cavalieri was "homosexual". When reading letters from that period by any two random male friends you will discover that they will be filled with compliments, just like Tommaso's and Michelangelo's. It was a different time, where people spoke to one another in a vastly different manner. The only thing we can honestly discern from their letters is mutual respect and admiration for one another, nothing else. Furthermore, Michelangelo lived a celibate life, putting love and passion into his work and friendships. He actually taught his students not to let women and love distract them from their work, and living by this philosophy himself for 89 years. Whether Michelangelo ever had romantic feelings for a man (or a woman) cannot be proven, not from his work, nor from his letters.
Other than that, as an art historian, I know how incredibly difficult it is to write something fundamentally new and innovative, especially about an artist about whom a lot has already been written. So I applaud her at having written a book about Michelangelo at all.
However, for someone like me, who's already read some biographical books about Michelanglo, Barnes' 'Michelangelo, and the viewer of his time' didn't seem to offer many, if any, new perspectives at all. Furthermore, she sometimes loses herself in iconographical explanations, not really chosing one, simply stating them all, and finishing with; '... whatever it may be...', thus abandoning any explanation in the end.
Another thing which quite bothered me, was her returning to the old - already refuted - assumption that Michelangelo's relationship with Tommaso de' Cavalieri was "homosexual". When reading letters from that period by any two random male friends you will discover that they will be filled with compliments, just like Tommaso's and Michelangelo's. It was a different time, where people spoke to one another in a vastly different manner. The only thing we can honestly discern from their letters is mutual respect and admiration for one another, nothing else. Furthermore, Michelangelo lived a celibate life, putting love and passion into his work and friendships. He actually taught his students not to let women and love distract them from their work, and living by this philosophy himself for 89 years. Whether Michelangelo ever had romantic feelings for a man (or a woman) cannot be proven, not from his work, nor from his letters.
Other than that, as an art historian, I know how incredibly difficult it is to write something fundamentally new and innovative, especially about an artist about whom a lot has already been written. So I applaud her at having written a book about Michelangelo at all.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews