Miguel Ángel (Basic Art)

by Gilles Néret

Italian-born Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475–1564) was a tormented, prodigiously talented, and God-fearing Renaissance man. His manifold achievements in painting, sculpture, architecture, poetry, and engineering combined body, spirit, and God into visionary masterpieces that changed art history forever. Famed biographer Giorgio Vasari considered him the pinnacle of Renaissance achievement. His peers called him simply “Il Divino” (“the divine one”). This book provides the essential introduction to Michelangelo with all the awe-inspiring masterpieces and none of the queues and crowds. With vivid illustration and accessible texts, we explore the artist’s extraordinary figuration and celebrated style of terribilità (momentous grandeur), which allowed human and biblical drama to exist in compelling scale and fervor. Through the power hubs of Renaissance Italy, we take in his major commissions and phenomenal capacity for compositional schemes, whether the famous Medici library in Florence, or the extraordinary 500-square-meter ceiling (1508–1512) in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. From the towering David to the aching grief and faith of The Pietà and the vivid drama of the Sistine Chapel’s Last Judgment, this is a succinct, dependable reference to a true giant of art history and to some of the most famous artworks in the world.

Genres: Art

96 pages, Hardcover

Published September 15, 2016

About the author

Gilles Néret (6 November 1933 - 3 August 2005) was a French art critic and historian, journalist and curator. He wrote extensively on the history of erotica.

He organized several art retrospectives in Japan and founded the SEIBU museum and the Wildenstein Gallery in Tokyo. He directed art reviews such as L’Oeil and Connaissance des Arts and received the Elie Faure Prize in 1981 for his publications. Since 1992, Néret was an editor for Taschen, for which he has written catalogues raisonnés of the works of Klimt and others, as well as the author of Erotica Universalis.

Reviews

[Daniela Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Con tintes casi poéticos este libro narra la vida de uno de los pintores y escultores más famosos y reconocidos del renacimiento, es interesante como compara sus obras con las de Leonardo y Rafael, como estos contrincantes fueron de gran utilidad para su trabajo.

[Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

amé aprender más de miguel ángel y de su talento representando, lo que él consideraba, esa belleza humana ideal que tanto lo atormentaba y le hacía sufrir. "para miguel angel la belleza humana es un reflejo de la belleza celestial y por consecuencia debe elevar el alma cuando se contempla."
néret hace un increíble trabajando explicando, mediante sus obras, el sufrimiento moral y culpa que miguel ángel sentía por ser taaan católico y taaan re gay.
adoré darme cuenta de que he truly didn't give a fuck, su carácter era fuerte y le daba igual insultar a quien fuera con tal de establecer su propio arte como superior. igual no se puede ignorar que miguel ángel era dema misógino y problemático (será que le damos un pass por ser los 1500s?? eh). lo que no se puede negar es que su pasión por la anatomía y talento inigualable marcó la historia, no solo italiana, sino que mundial. art was never the same. escultor, pintor, poeta, arquitecto y más... un verdadero genio.

[Lirio Acosta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me gusto que está ilustrado, te explican las pinturas y esculturas, también un podo de su vida pero enfocado en sus obras.

[Oscar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me ha pasado un poco como con el de Leonardo, pero en este sí le dan un poco más de bola a otras inquietudes del autor.