Before reaching the tender age of 30, Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 -1564) had already sculpted David and Pietà, two of the most famous sculptures in the entire history of art. His achievements as a sculptor, painter, draftsman, and architect are unique—no artist before or after him has ever produced such a vast, multifaceted, and wide-ranging œuvre. This is demonstrated not only by the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel but also by Michelangelo’s monumental sculptures and his unconventional architectural designs, whose forms went far beyond the accepted vocabulary of his day. Such was his renown that Michelangelo was the subject of two biographies during his lifetime.
This comprehensive tome explores Michelangelo’s life and work in more depth and detail than ever before: his life is exposed via an copiously illustrated biographical essay, and his extensive work is presented in four parts providing a complete analytical inventory of Michelangelo’s paintings, sculptures, buildings, and drawings. Gorgeous full-page reproductions and enlarged details bring readers up close to the works. This sumptuous book also takes account to a previously unseen extent of Michelangelo’s more personal traits and circumstances, such as his solitary nature, his thirst for money and commissions, his miserliness, his immense wealth, and his skill as a property investor. In addition, the book tackles the controversial issue of the attribution of Michelangelo drawings, an area in which decisions continue to be steered by the interests of the art market and the major collections.
This is the definitive work about Michelangelo for generations to come, and as an extra the slipcase converts into a book stand so that this tome can be put on display.
