Michelangelo

Michelangelo's frescoes on the Vatican's Sistine Chapel ceiling of 1508-12 are arguably one of the greatest masterpieces... (more)

Michelangelo's frescoes on the Vatican's Sistine Chapel ceiling of 1508-12 are arguably one of the greatest masterpieces of Western art. But as recognizable as such images as The Creation of Man are today, the fresco as a whole remains enormously enigmatic. Indeed, while many writers have analyzed these world-renown frescoes, few have presented the ceiling comprehensively or have done justice to its multileveled complexity. In this volume, Professor Loren Partridge lucidly and concisely presents the fundamental concerns of this highly challenging work, revealing the intriguing associations that Michelangelo hoped his viewers would draw among the central narratives, the pendentives, the Prophets and Sibyls, the Ancestors of Christ, the medallions, and the ignudi. Professor Partridge discusses such issues as the fresco program's subjects, the nature of its patron, its cultural, philosophical, and religious contexts, and Michelangelo's inventive fresco technique, particularly his newly revealed adventurous use of color. In the end, he illuminates the splendor of Michelangelo's endlessly inventive conception of humankind's willed ascent toward spiritual understanding. (less)

(more)

An illustrated biography of Michelangelo, the Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor. (more)

An illustrated biography of Michelangelo, the Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor. (less)

His genius wasn't always given free rein. At the insistence of the Pope, he painted the glorious ceiling of the Sistine ... (more)

His genius wasn't always given free rein. At the insistence of the Pope, he painted the glorious ceiling of the Sistine Chapel when he would have much rather been carving marble. He also enjoyed designing and planning St. Peter's Basilica, the center of the Catholic faith. He even wrote Insightful, emotional poetry. In this gripping biography of Michelangelo, learn what influenced his art and his actions, and find out why he is still important today. (less)

Describes the life of the Italian Renaissance artist and examines some of his paintings and sculptures. (more)

Describes the life of the Italian Renaissance artist and examines some of his paintings and sculptures. (less)

(more)

Michelangelo (1475-1564) marked the beginning of the modern artist, the artist who claims total freedom with no compromi... (more)

Michelangelo (1475-1564) marked the beginning of the modern artist, the artist who claims total freedom with no compromise. As sculptor, painter, architect and poet, he continued the tradition of the early renaissance and pushed it to its extreme. Although working for princes, lords and pontiffs, he turned the traditional status of the artist from that of a craftsman subordinated to the wishes of his patron into that of a creator with the ultimate power to make aesthetic decisions, prepared to risk his career from the sake of individualism and freedom. In 1512, Michelangelo climbed down for the last time from the scaffolding on which he had spent four years of his life painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling, a fresco covering an area of a thousand square meters with over three hundred figures illustrating the Old Testament Book of Genesis. (less)