Authors: Benjamin Blech. Roy Doliner.
Hardcover, 336 pages
Publisher: HarperOne
Publication Date: 2008-05-01


Reviews :

   

Five hundred years ago Michelangelo began work on a painting that became one of the most famous pieces of art in the world—the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Every year millions of people come to see Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling, which is the largest fresco painting on earth in the holiest of Christianity's chapels; yet there is not one single Christian image in this vast, magnificent artwork.

The Sistine Secrets tells the fascinating story of how Michelangelo embedded messages of brotherhood, tolerance, and freethinking in his painting to encourage "fellow travelers" to challenge the repressive Roman Catholic Church of his time.

"Driven by the truths he had come to recognize during his years of study in private nontraditional schooling in Florence, truths rooted in his involvement with Judaic texts as well as Kabbalistic training that conflicted with approved Christian doctrine, Michelangelo needed to find a way to let viewers discern what he truly believed. He could not allow the Church to forever silence his soul. And what the Church would not permit him to communicate openly, he ingeniously found a way to convey to those diligent enough to learn his secret language."—from the Preface

Blech and Doliner reveal what Michelangelo meant in the angelic representations that brilliantly mocked his papal patron, how he managed to sneak unorthodox heresies into his ostensibly pious portrayals, and how he was able to fulfill his lifelong ambition to bridge the wisdom of science with the strictures of faith. The Sistine Secrets unearths secrets that have remained hidden in plain sight for centuries.

...

Authors: Leonardo da Vinci.
Hardcover, 352 pages
Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
Publication Date: 2005-08-01


Reviews :

    Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) possessed arguably the greatest mind the world has ever known. Artist, draftsman, inventor, and philosopher, his contributions to modern society are profound and wide-reaching. Throughout his life, Leonardo kept dozens of notebooks, elegant studies on topics ranging from architecture to botany to philosophy—indeed nearly anything of which the human imagination could conceive.

Leonardo’s Notebooks collects a variety of the most fascinating of these studies and compiles them into one monumental volume that demystifies his insights and clearly illustrates his ideas, experiments, and observations with hundreds of his original sketches, line drawings, and paintings. Topics include Anatomy and the Movement of the Human Figure; Botany and Landscape; Engineering and Military Engineering; Physical Sciences; Aerodynamics and Flight; Geography—and more....

Authors: Giorgio Vasari.
Paperback, 616 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Publication Date: 1998-07-16


Reviews :

    These biographies of the great quattrocento artists have long been considered among the most important of contemporary sources on Italian Renaissance art. Vasari, who invented the term "Renaissance," was the first to outline the influential theory of Renaissance art that traces a progression through Giotto, Brunelleschi, and finally the titanic figures of Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, and Raphael. This new translation, specially commisioned for the World's Classics series, contains thirty-six of the most important lives and is fully annotated....

Authors:
Hardcover, 352 pages
Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art
Publication Date: 2008-11-25


Reviews :

    ...

Authors: Ross King.
Paperback, 384 pages
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Publication Date: 2003-11-25


Reviews :

    In 1508, despite strong advice to the contrary, the powerful Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the newly restored Sistine Chapel. With little experience as a painter (though famed for his sculpture David), Michelangelo was reluctant to begin the massive project.

Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling recounts the four extraordinary years Michelangelo spent laboring over the vast ceiling while the power politics and personal rivalries that abounded in Rome swirled around him. Battling against ill health, financial difficulties, domestic problems, the pope's impatience, and a bitter rivalry with the brilliant young painter Raphael, Michelangelo created scenes so beautiful that they are considered one of the greatest masterpieces of all time. A panorama of illustrious figures converged around the creation of this great work-from the great Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus to the young Martin Luther-and Ross King skillfully weaves them through his compelling historical narrative, offering uncommon insight into the intersection of art and history....

    Almost 500 years after Michelangelo Buonarroti frescoed the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, the site still attracts throngs of visitors and is considered one of the artistic masterpieces of the world. Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling unveils the story behind the art's making, a story rife with all the drama of a modern-day soap opera.

The temperament of the day was dictated by the politics of the papal court, a corrupt and powerful office steeped in controversy; Pope Julius II even had a nickname, "Il Papa Terrible," to prove it. Along with his violent outbursts and warmongering, Pope Julius II took upon himself to restore the Sistine Chapel and pretty much intimidated Michelangelo into painting the ceiling even though the artist considered himself primarily a sculptor and was particularly unfamiliar with the temperamental art of fresco. Along with technical difficulties, personality conflicts, and money troubles, Michelangelo was plagued by health problems and competition in the form of the dashing and talented young painter Raphael.

Author Ross King offers an in-depth analysis of the complex historical background that led to the magnificence that is the Sistine Chapel ceiling along with detailed discussion of some of the ceiling’s panels. King provides fabulous tidbits of information and weaves together a fascinating historical tale. --J.P. Cohen...

Authors: Roberta Edwards.
Paperback, 112 pages
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Publication Date: 2005-09-08

Authors: Frederick Hartt. David Wilkins.
Paperback, 736 pages
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Publication Date: 2006-04-13
Edition: 6th

Reviews :

   

This book focuses on works of art, their creators, and the circumstances affecting their creation. This revision is designed to provide readers with a more streamlined approach to understanding Italian Renaissance art without losing the enthusiasm and appreciation that Hartt demonstrated for this area and which earlier editions of this book conveyed so successfully. Italy and Italian Art; Duecento Art in Tuscany and Rome; Florentine Art of the Early Trecento; Sienese Art of the Early Trecento; Later Gothic Art in Tuscany and Northern Italy; The Beginnings of Renaissance Architecture; Gothic and Renaissance in Tuscan Sculpture; Gothic and Renaissance in Florentine Painting; The Heritage of Masaccio and the Second Renaissance Style; The Second Renaissance Style in Architecture and Sculpture; Absolute and Perfect Painting: The Second Renaissance Style; Crisis and Crosscurrents; Science, Poetry, and Prose; The Renaissance in Central Italy; Gothic and Renaissance in Venice and Northern Italy; The High Renaissance in Florence; The High Renaissance in Rome; High Renaissance and Mannerism; High and Late Renaissance in Venice and on the Mainland; Michelangelo and the Maniera.

...

Authors: Frank Zollner. Johannes Nathan.
Hardcover, 695 pages
Publisher: Taschen
Publication Date: 2007-08-01
Edition: 25th

Reviews :

    TASCHEN's 25th anniversary - Special edition! Special bestseller price Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) possessed one of the greatest minds of all time; his importance and influence are inestimable. This XXL-format comprehensive survey is the most complete book ever made on the subject of this Italian painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, scientist and all-around genius. With huge, full-bleed details of Leonardo's masterworks, this highly original publication allows the reader to inspect the subtlest facets of his brushstrokes. * Part I explores Leonardo's life and work in ten chapters. All of his paintings are interpreted in depth, with The Annunciation and The Last Supper featured on large double-spreads. * Part II comprises a catalogue raisonn? of Leonardo's paintings, which covers all of his surviving and lost painted works and includes texts describing their states of preservation. * Part III contains an extensive catalogue of his drawings (numbering in the thousands, they cannot all be reproduced in one book); 663 are presented, arranged by category (architecture, technical, anatomical, figures, proportion, cartography, etc). This sumptuous TASCHEN offering is the most thorough and beautifully produced Leonardo book ever published, and this special edition offers it for a third of the usual price....

Authors: Michel Lienard.
Paperback, 64 pages
Publisher: Dover Publications
Publication Date: 2006-12-15
Edition: Dover Ed

Reviews :

    ...

Authors: Laurie Schneider Adams.
Paperback, 432 pages
Publisher: Westview Press
Publication Date: 2001-02
Edition: 0

Reviews :

    The most up-to-date and complete text on Italian Renaissance art and its artists yet published, with over 400 illustrations, 215 in color. This introductory text on Italian Renaissance art and the artists who made it by the author of "A History of Western Art" and "Art Across Time" focuses on the most important and innovative artists and their principal works. The emphasis is on selectivity and understanding, and minor artists will be considered only briefly when relevant to the major artistic developments. The text also focuses on style and iconography, and on art and artists incorporating different methodological approaches to create a wider understanding and appreciation of art. Italian Renaissance Art contains over 400 illustrations, of which 215 are in full color integrated with the text and large enough to be properly viewed. There are also maps, plans and diagrams where appropriate. Painting, sculpture, and architecture are covered. The book contains a glossary, historical chronology, selected bibliography and index as well. This introductory text on Italian Renaissance art and the artists who made it by the author of A History of Western Art and Art Across Time focuses on the most important and innovative artists and their principal works. The emphasis is on selectivity and understanding, and minor artists will be considered only briefly when relevant to the major artistic developments. The text also focuses on style and iconography, and on art and artists incorporating different methodological approaches to create a wider understanding and appreciation of the art. The book contains over 400 illustrations, of which 215 are in full color integrated with the text and large enough to be properly viewed. There are also maps, plans and diagrams when appropriate. Painting, sculpture, and architecture are covered. The text begins with the late Byzantine work of Cimabue and continues into the Renaissance precursors of the fourteenth century: Giotto, Duccio, Simone Martini, the Lorenzetti. The context of early humanism and the role of Petrarch is also discussed. The artistic backlash after the plague of 1348 follows and the work of Orcagna and Andrea da Firenze. The Quattrocento, with Masaccio, Donatello, and Brunelleschi in Florence, is a particularly rich century and in-depth consideration of major artists and their works is only possible if well organized and focused. The text concludes with the High Renaissance and the transition to Mannerism with Michelangelo, Bramante, and Raphael in Rome,Leonardo in Milan and Titian in Venice..Throughout the text boxed asides contain descriptions of artistic media and techniques as well as discussions of background information necessary to the study of Renaissance art. Aside from the major artistic centers of Florence, Rome and Venice the text covers artistic developments in Siena, Rimini, Pienza,Umbria, the Marches, Naples, Verona, Ferrara, Mantua and other locations. The book contains a glossary, historical chronology, selected bibliography and index.

"A clearly written, straightforward account of the story of Italian Renaissance art from its origins to Mannerism. The bulk of the material centers around central Italian painting, as it should, but other important, smaller centers are also included. The discussion of the various art forms is nicely balanced.... I especially liked the sidebars which add necessary material--historical, literary, technical and so forth--to the text without encumbering it.... This is a very good book which should furnish us with the new anduseable text we have been waiting for. I would certainly use it in my classroom." -Bruce Cole, Distinguished Professor, Chairman, department of the history of art, Indiana University...