Hardback book with Dust Jacket by Nathaniel Harris Copyright 1981 by The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited " Michelangelo, acknowledged as one of the greatest creative figures in the history of art, was an artist of divine genius for whom art was a compulsive inner calling. Inspired by a powerful imagination, his poetry, sculpture, architecture and paintings all reflect his strong, complex character and his single-minded and passionate search for self-expression. The Medici chapel, although far from complete, offers a fuller insight than anything else into his ambition to unite sculpture and architecture into a single, forceful whole. " " Michelangelo's early artistic career was exceptional. He rejected an art of great sophistication and refinement for an art that was both monumental and intensely expressive. His Pieta in St. Peter's, Rome, the first sculpture of the High Renaissance, was a milestone in Italian sculpture, and the colossal David was technically the second greatest masterpiece of his early years. The complete anatomical authority and fluent ease of the pose portrays his mastery of the Classical idiom blended with a very powerful sense of the individual. " " Conflict between two views of life - one an optimistic, pagan rationalism, the other a rather pessimistic yearning after Christian purity - was the main cause of the emotionally disturbed character of his late paintings and sculptures. The Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel is one of the most violent and threatening Last Judgements in European painting. " Contents include: " Michelangelo: an Introduction The World of Michelangelo Ascent to Fame Troubled Times The Young Master Florentine Triumphs The Divine Michelangelo The Miracle of the Sistine The Years of Frustration The Last Years Acknowledgments " This book is in very good condition with minor wear to the dust jacket. No torn or ripped pages and no markings or writing. |