A review by babs_jellymuck
Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King
5.0
This book took me soo damn long, but I can't complain after reading how painfully long and agonizing it was for Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel. I obviously have no concept of "soo damn long."
I really enjoyed the detailed history lessons, il papa terrible, the parallels of Michelangelo and Raphael, and the direct quotes taken from correspondence at that time. With that being said, although this book conveniently has some photographs tucked in and black and white visuals interspersed, they were too tiny and few. I think it would be best paired with an internet source, or even better, a detailed book with photographs of the Sistine Chapel. King describes all the frescoes in such tantalizing details I had to keep getting up to search what specific part he was referring to. I was especially bummed when he described the last pieces done by Michelangelo as being some of the greatest and most triumphant (the ones surrounding Jonas such as the Crucifixion of Haman and the ignudi) which were cropped out of the image included in the book.
I'm left feeling like I should probably go to Italy and see this ceiling with my own eyes as soon as possible. Since that's not really an option...there is this website that allows you to take a virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel to the tune of an echoey choir. It is a must-have for this read for those of you who, like myself, don't have the disposable income to see it first-hand:
http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/index_sistina_en.html
I really enjoyed the detailed history lessons, il papa terrible, the parallels of Michelangelo and Raphael, and the direct quotes taken from correspondence at that time. With that being said, although this book conveniently has some photographs tucked in and black and white visuals interspersed, they were too tiny and few. I think it would be best paired with an internet source, or even better, a detailed book with photographs of the Sistine Chapel. King describes all the frescoes in such tantalizing details I had to keep getting up to search what specific part he was referring to. I was especially bummed when he described the last pieces done by Michelangelo as being some of the greatest and most triumphant (the ones surrounding Jonas such as the Crucifixion of Haman and the ignudi) which were cropped out of the image included in the book.
I'm left feeling like I should probably go to Italy and see this ceiling with my own eyes as soon as possible. Since that's not really an option...there is this website that allows you to take a virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel to the tune of an echoey choir. It is a must-have for this read for those of you who, like myself, don't have the disposable income to see it first-hand:
http://www.vatican.va/various/cappelle/index_sistina_en.html