Michelangelo: The Sistine Chapel

by Michelangelo Buonarroti

This exciting new art series combines the most popular artists with expert text and a fresh, unique, format destined to appeal to children and adults alike. Each of the Rizzoli Quadrifolios features sixteen foldout pages that open into huge poster-sized reproductions of the work, allowing readers to feel as though they have leaped into work itself. The series begins with two artists whose work continually compels audiences: Michelangelo and Van Gogh. Michelangelo: The Sistine Chapel focuses on the Italian master's work on this Vatican Chapel, the recent restorations of which have propelled interest in this site even higher.

Genres: Reference, Art

64 pages, Hardcover

First published September 13, 1992

About the author

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer of the High Renaissance period who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. Considered as the greatest living artist in his lifetime, he has since been held as one of the greatest artists of all time. Despite making few forays beyond the arts, his versatility in the disciplines he took up was of such a high order that he is often considered a contender for the title of the archetypal Renaissance man, along with his fellow Italian Leonardo da Vinci.

Reviews

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one book that I got from my sister and I am not quite sure as to why since she is more the art fan than I am. Anyway since my boyfriend has proven to also be an art fan I chose to give it to him but I grabbed it from him to be able to look at it while waiting for him at a dental appointment this morning.

Unfortunately this was one book that I was going to end up rating really bad for although it was suppose to focus on Michelangelo's work at the Sistine Chapel I was the one who was wanting to hear more about the pieces being shown.... Why the sibyls who are pagan? Who are the ignudo? Why is their a flayed skin in one piece and what is the meaning of its inclusion?

Fortunately for my ever-curious mind there was an addition in the back that went over the great painter's life and important moments before giving the reader a bit of information on the characters of the different paintings on the chapel ceiling. There was also some room left that definitely told the reader we don't know who these people are but this is our theory on who they may represent.

All in all it is a great book and although it doesn't replace the experience of being able to view the Sistine Chapel's artwork in person it does allow the non-traveling reader a chance to enjoy this beautiful artwork in the comfort of their own home while enjoying it at their leisure. A definite recommend for those who enjoy artwork, especially from the great artists of the Renaissance.

****Bonus: Wonderful thumbs-up for whoever chose the author of this book ;)

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book on the history of his painting in The Sistine Chapel.

[Bea Insta bookscatsandcoffeeuy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hermosa pieza de la historia del arte. Impactante visualmente e imprescindible para entender la magnitud de Miguel Angel a nivel pictórico.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

We got to see some of his work in Florence and it's just stunning and incredibly beautiful. Have yet to see the Sistine Chapel, so this book was fun. One of the most fascinating things I learned about him was that he was sent to live with a nursemaid (whose husband was a stonecutter) when he was a baby because his mother could not nurse him. He learned to carve stone while living with this family. Had he stayed with his family, he would probably have gone into the family business and been a banker or government worker... and we never would have seen works like The David, or The Sistine Chapel.

[ۛ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite abusing his body with little food, minimal rest, and zero care, he lived into his eighties. He outlived nine popes, and worked with five of them. They were often personal friends of his from childhood, which allowed him to be even more arrogant and petulant than he would otherwise. He seemed to have written it all down in letters and poems, and it is juicily reproduced here. This biography is as flesh and blood as Michelangelo's sculptures and paintings, a fitting framework if ever there was one.

[Heru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michaelangelo...another inspiring me forever in my life...and another The Master of Genius Universe.!!!

[A. Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the text!