Synopsis
The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican is considered the epitome of the great Italian Renaissance and this richly illustrated volume guides readers through the history of the chapel and its world famous frescoes by Michelangelo. Covered in depth is the acclaimed restoration in which the frescoes were cleaned of centuries of dirt and grime bringing to light the original colors of Michelangelo's masterpiece.
Reviews
Any serious art book collection must upgrade its holdings to include recent photographs of the Sistine Chapel after the cleaning, as our understanding of the paintings on the ceiling and walls has since changed radically. Here are three titles complementing one another and various aspects of the images revealed by the restoration. The slender, slipcovered Michelangelo and Raphael is an updated version of the official publication of the Vatican Museum illustrating the Sistine and Pauline chapels and the stanzas and loggias of Raphael. A best seller to tourists in Rome, it records the histories of the chapels with clear, elegant reproductions and descriptive text. There are full-color foldouts of the restored Sistine ceiling and Last Judgment by Michelangelo showing the breadth and scope of these paintings. The wall decorations, life cycles of Moses and Christ by Botticelli, Signorelli, Ghirlandaio, and Roselli, under the direction of Perugino, are explained in terms of their historical and contemporaneous significance. Raphael's great frescoes in the stanzas and his paintings in the picture gallery are fully represented, though restoration is now being done in the Stanza della Signatura. The Sistine Chapel covers this chapel, including Michelangelo's ceiling and Last Judgment and the wall decorations, and is a reprint of an official Vatican publication that has been sold to tourists for many years. This edition, however, is expanded to contain a final chapter on the restoration, describing the method and materials used to reveal the brilliant color scheme. The text is by the curator of the Vatican Museums, and the reproductions are handsome and bright. Part of Braziller's "Great Fresco Cycles of the Renaissance" series, Partridge's book focuses on Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling. Partridge (art history, Univ. of California) also demonstrates the technique employed in creating fresco. Showing an illustration of the scaffolding used by Michelangelo and rebuilt by the restorers, the book includes a comprehensive diagram establishing the order of each panel in the grand design as well as a reconstruction of the exterior of the chapel. While the first part of the book contains black-and-white reproductions, the plates and commentaries in the latter half are in full color but are rather dark compared with the reproductions in the other two titles. Like the rest of the series, Michelangelo contains a glossary of fresco terms Any visitor who has toured these collections will appreciate the chance these books provide for more leisurely study. Scholars and students will benefit from the recent reproductions, which are a major factor in this recommendation of all three titles.?Ellen Bates, New York
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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