Synopses & Reviews
Michelangelo was without a doubt one of the most inspirational and talented artists in modern history. One of the leading lights of the Italian Renaissance, his extraordinary talents emerged in early works such as the
Pietà for the Vatican, and the statue of
David commissioned for the city of Florence.
Michelangelo's talents were prodigious; not only was he a superb painter, he was also a magnificent draughtsman, sculptor, poet, and architect. His paintings and frescoes were largely taken from mythological and classical sources and were deployed for the main part in religious work. He managed to combine his high level of technical competence and his rich artistic imagination to produce the perfect High-Renaissance blend of aesthetic harmony and anatomical accuracy in his work.
Synopsis
Michelangelo was recognized as a great artist early in his long and prolific career. Along with a small band of contemporaries, he was responsible for sixteenth-century Florence becoming the center of a movement of artists that has permanently enriched western culture.
Essential Michelangelo looks in detail at all aspects of his work, with comprehensive commentary on 120 exmaples of his pieces. While many of these are among his most famous, others may be less well-known, but they are all equally essential to the development of Michelangelo's artistic philosophy.