Michelangelo: His Epic Life
- ISBN-10
- 024129942X
- ISBN-13
- 9780241299425
- Series
- Michelangelo
- Category
- Art, Renaissance
- Pages
- 688
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2017-03-02
- Publisher
- Fig Tree
- Author
- Martin Gayford
Description
'An absorbing book, beautifully told and with the writer fully in command of a huge body of research' Philip Hensher, Mail on Sunday There was an epic sweep to Michelangelo's life. At 31 he was considered the finest artist in Italy, perhaps the world; long before he died at almost 90 he was widely believed to be the greatest sculptor or painter who had ever lived (and, by his enemies, to be an arrogant, uncouth, swindling miser). For decade after decade, he worked near the dynamic centre of events: the vortex at which European history was changing from Renaissance to Counter Reformation. Few of his works - including the huge frescoes of the Sistine Chapel Ceiling, the marble giant David and the Last Judgment - were small or easy to accomplish. Like a hero of classical mythology - such as Hercules, whose statue Michelangelo carved in his youth - he was subject to constant trials and labours. In Michelangelo Martin Gayford describes what it felt like to be Michelangelo Buonarroti, and how he transformed forever our notion of what an artist could be. 'It is a measure of [Michelangelo's] magnitude, and Gayford's skill in capturing it, that you finish this book wishing that Michelangelo had lived longer and created more' Rachel Spence, FT 'One of our most distinguished writers on what makes modern artists tick ...It is very difficult to cut through the thicket of generations of scholarship and say anything new about David, the Sistine Chapel, The Last Judgement, the Basilica of St Peter's or many of Michelangelo's other masterpieces, but Gayford manages to do so by encouraging us to think - and look - at both the obvious and the overlooked' Sunday Telegraph 'Only the most ambitious biographer can take on the talent of Michelangelo Buonarroti' The Times.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
Michelangelo: The Artist, the Man and his Times
By William E. WallaceMichelangelo worked hard to transform the ancient and weathered marble block into the Bacchus. He ate meals, slept, took pleasure in the company of fellow Florentines, and discovered just how extensive werethesins ofRome.
-
Michelangelo: Sculptor and Painter
By Barbara A. SomervillProfiles the life of Italian artist and sculptor Michelangelo, well known for his marble statue of David and his painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
-
Michelangelo
By Michelangelo Buonarroti, Roberto Carvalho De MagalhaesDiscusses the style and technique of the Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor, Michelangelo Buonarroti.
-
The Life of Michelangelo
By Hellmut WohlThe Life of Michelangelo
-
Michelangelo
By Michelangelo Buonarroti, Ludwig GoldscheiderA classic piece of literature on the work and life of Michelangelo.
-
Michelangelo: A Life in Six Masterpieces
By Miles J. UngerAn account of the life of the revolutionary art master is told through the stories of six of his greatest masterpieces including the Pietà , David and the Sistine Chapel, revealing how each expanded the medium's range and reflected the ...
-
The Life of Michelangelo
By David HemsollHe tells the grand story of the artist’s expansive career, profiling his working habits; describing the creation of countless masterpieces, from the David to the Sistine Chapel ceiling; and illuminating his relationships with popes and ...
-
Michelangelo: The Young Artist who Dreamed of Perfection
By Philip WilkinsonPresents the life of the Renaissance artist, covering his childhood, the early recognition of his talent, the patronage of his work by the Medicis and the Vatican, and the creation of his masterpiece, the "Sistine Chapel."
-
Michelangelo: And the Reinvention of the Human Body
By James Hall'. . . Michelangelo was constantly flaying dead bodies, in order to study the secrets of anatomy, thus beginning to give perfection to the great knowledge of design that he...
-
Michelangelo: Painter, Sculptor, and Architect
By Tim McNeeseHis accomplishments ran from sonnets and love poems to the most famous sculptures, paintings, and buildings ever created. Michelangelo is frequently considered the Creator of the Renaissance.