Customer Reviews

Michelangelo and The Pope's Ceiling

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I enjoy reading biographies and Mr. King is one of the better writers when documenting those periods of European History he chooses. He wrote a wonderful book about Brunelleschi, and now offers readers and even more ambitious work on Michelangelo and Pope Julius II. Many writers seem to often stray, and are too sweeping and inclusive of other persons and events that also took place during the time they are documenting. Mr. King gives enough information to keep his subjects and their pursuits in context without diluting the premise of his books.

The painting of the Sistine Chapel may seem like too well worn a subject for another book but the author dispels so many misconceptions about the events that were involved in this creation that his clarifications are worth the read on their own. The book also includes magnificent color plates and numerous black and white drawings that make the book all the more interesting. But the images add to the book, they do not act as a crutch for an author lacking information.

Did Michelangelo paint while lying on his back, the book answers that question by sharing a letter and diagram of Michelangelo that he penned himself sharing the manner by which he worked? Were the frescoed ceiling and vaults designed and painted by Michelangelo on his own, how long did the work really take, and how close did the work come to be handed over to another artist before its completion?

The author also demonstrates the influence and politics that were a daily part of working for The Vatican and this particular Pope. Mr. King will share the discovery and rapid rise of the artist Raphael who was painting at The Vatican simultaneously with Michelangelo. Bramante who was to initiate the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Cathedral was also always present, in the shadows or in front, scheming or openly attempting to influence who would gain specific commissions for the Pope. And there is also the famous/infamous Savonarola who held great influence with the artist who painted the 12,000sf ceiling at a time when approving of the doomed holy man could mean death to those who shared his thoughts.

I have no way of knowing which person or architectural marvel Mr. King will turn to next. He explores several fascinating people in this work that would fill several additional books. I only hope that he continues to produce these eminently readable and enjoyable studies of History and her participants.

A well written account of Michelangelo's life,personality and various works. It also gives a flavour of the history and times he lived in as well as including relevant photographs that are beautiful. It includes so much detail that really added to my enjoyment of the book.

I'm not a fan of historical books but the topic of arts intertwigled with the Papacy was too good for me to resist. The book is a very well written, real non-fiction page-turner, which does not have the typical hundred names and hundreds places and dates of the typical historical book. It has plenty of interesting facts about the time of Michelangelo's fresco paintings, and places the topic well in the time and place context of such an age. However, there is a relatively small proportion of the book that is specifically focused on the topic of the title. Rather, the author sidetracks time and time again on events that occur at the time when the Sistine Chapel ceiling was being painted. Although not related, the topics described are quite interesting and the overall narration flows quite well.

This is definetly not a biography on Michelangelo, neither is it a compendium on fresco painting. It is a very good historical book, which could have been complemented with plenty of more insights into the subject matter rather than delving on tangents.

Appreciators of art, particularly the classics, will have a field day with Ross King's Michelangelo & The Pope's Ceiling, not just because it gives a blow-by-blow account of how one man, figuratively if not literally, could achieve a creation of such power, grace, and style that it still remains today one of the most famous works of art in the world. Add to that a complex history of the papacy and European monarchies and you've got a wonderful narrative, supplemented by accurate technical information on exactly how the whole thing was brought about.

If you've seen the film The Agony and the Ecstacy, you've only gotten a fraction of the story behind the Sistine Chapel ceiling and indeed, the perceptions of one man painting while on his back that have lingered are in large part due to tales like it. However, as King is quick to point out, while Michelangelo's genius was the driving force there were other artists involved who get the short shrift of history.

The book also gives generous space to Raphael, the rival and artist working elsewhere in the Vatican at the time and, naturally, to the amazing character of Julius II, a pope who clearly did not conform to tradition. Elements of both the Sistine ceiling and Raphael's work are given thoughtful attention and analysis.

The detailed descriptions of the methods and techniques employed by the artists were interesting, but in some instances went on for too long and took something away from the narrative flow that had been established. Even so, it was very educational and entertaining.

King exhibits a masters touch in his descriptive writing, panache and almost daily record of the artists life. The reader is taken into the work area of the master and provided a firsthand knowledge of how the conditions of this era played upon the capability of producing artistic results. The descriptions of the personalities of King's characters reflect the detailed research this author has done with much discipline to properly set the atmosphere for the reader. The description of the diferences between Michelangel's and Raphael's use of assistants and teaching is a typical, interesting side story. " He ( Michaelangelo) was interested in instilling his art in only "noble people"....and not in plebeins"
King also is not intimidated by other authors writing on this era. In fact, it is refreshing to see his references to Condivi,George Bull, and Lehmann in much of his storytelling.
Truly a "keeper" for the grndkids to read as an into to Michaelangelo Buonarroti

I know I'm a lone voice on this, but I felt the same way about Brunelleschi's Dome. This book really should have been fascinating: it is so chock full of very interesting information about a range of very interesting subjects... from the art itself to Michelangelo's whiny family to the crazy Pope who wants to be a soldier. Between the fights, battles, and plagues it should have been an action-packed adventure through the streets of 15th century Rome. Somehow, though, the author's writing style is so dry that it has taken me months to get through this book, when it should have only taken a few days. I kept wanting to get back to it, but when I picked it up I would get so bored that I would quickly put it down again.

I don't want to not recomend this book... it is well researched and about some very fascinating subjects. Other people might not mind the dry writing style. But you might want to read a chapter before you buy it to see if you take to it.

I got this book as a BDay gift and although being a history fan, I tought it is gonna be just way too much information about Sistine Chapel's painting, but how wrong I was. This book is written so wisely and interstingly that I couldn't put it down. The way Ross King talks about not only Michelangelo's life and art but also other great artists of his time; in addition a nice mixture of art hstory and history surrunding these characters are absolutely fascinating. Having recently visited Italy, I am kicking myself why I didn't read this book before my trip. If you like history and in particular European history, you won't regret reading it. Because of this book and my fascination with Europe, I just purchased a book on Papcy named "Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes." So far it is pretty intersting, I will post my comments once I am done with the book.

This is a fascinating story if you're interested in art and italy! brings the best of both worlds and you'll have trouble putting the book down!

A well-written book that balances the telling of the rich history of the time with the many human stories involved in the painting of the Pope's ceiling. How the story ends is no mystery, but the wealth of information and well-drawn characters (especially the complex, brilliant and often impossible Michelangelo)will hold your interest chapter by chapter. The brilliant Michelangelo was a celebrity in his own time, but was still human, exasperated by relatives who wanted to trade on his fame, constantly complaining about his finances and often a source of misinformation that enhanced the self-image he seemed to enjoy of the long-suffering martyr for his art. Reading this book before you walk through the doors of the Sistine Chapel will enable you to look up and appreciate the ceiling through enlightened eyes.

None of Michelangelo's other works ever won him quite the same renown as his fresco in the Sistine Chapel, a building now virtually synonymous with his name. Almost immediately after Michelangelo unveiled it in 1512, the fresco became like an academy for artists, who had since long been using the Sistine Chapel as storehouse of ideas. They treated works of Michelangelo as some kind of a portfolio through which they concocted new ideas. The prestigious style of buon fresco generated intense interest, in particular, among a new generation of painters that pioneered a movement later known as mannerism.

MICHELANGELO AND THE POPE'S CEILING recounts the beguiling, fascinating story of the four extraordinary years Michelangelo Buonarroti spent laboring over the 12,000 square feet of the vast ceiling made up of concave vaults, spandrels, and lunettes. The works marked an entirely new direction in which he had brought the power, vitality, and sheer magnitude of works of sculpture into the realm of painting.

The commission, however, did not commence on an auspicious note, as Michelangelo had meager experience as a painter, let alone working in the delicate medium of fresco and painting bent-back the concave and curved surfaces of vaults. Having been a masterful sculptor who had unveiled the statue "David" four years prior to the pope's summon, his rival Bramante took advantage of his lack of experience to thwart Michelangelo's ambitions and so to destroy his reputation. Such alleged conspiracy as perceived by Michelangelo made the dreadful commission all the more invidious. He would either refuse the Sistine project, and in doing so incurred the ire of Pope Julius II, or else failed miserably in his attempt through lack of experience.

The outcome of Michelangelo's works had proudly (and vindictively) served as a triumphant reply to the sneer of his insidious rival, who had once stated that he would be unable to paint overhead surfaces because he understood nothing of foreshortening. What Michelangelo had achieved was exactly the sheer opposite: he demonstrated how vastly more daring and successful his foreshortening technique had become following four years on a special scaffold he designed for the purpose. It was through the power, arm-raced politics, vicious personal rivalries, and a constant paranoia over the possible hiatus of the commission that Michelangelo achieved a virtuoso performance at the summit of his powers.

Battling against illness, financial difficulties, consistent changes of assistantships, domestic problems, family drama, predatory rival of the commission, and the pope's impatience and petulance, Michelangelo created his masterful scenes - The Creation, The Temptation, The Flood, The Crucifixion of Haman, The Brazen Serpent, David and Goliath - so beautiful that the telling movements lent the figures their verisimilitude and intense drama.

The book is not a critique of Michelangelo's art works, but to a small extent it does make comparison to works of Raphel, a brilliant young painter who was working in fresco on the neighboring Stanza del Segnatura, the papal apartments. Michelangelo's ability to generate, in a short space of time, so many of hundreds of postures for the Sistine's ceiling stunned the young artist. Raphael's works after 1512, the unveiling of Michelangelo's fresco at Sistine, manifested absorption of Michelangelo's style: the tumult of bodies, throngs of figures in dramatic, muscle-straining poses showing gradations of tone along anatomically accurate knots of muscles.

Ross King has written a brilliant book that combines uncommon insight on Michelangelo's works with historical facts. Woven through the artist's progress on the Sistine commission was history of upheaval during 16th century Italy, when Pope Julius II devoted on military campaigns against other Italian city states and against Louis XII of France. Niccolo Machiavelli defended Florence, Michelangelo's hometown, against Julius's attacking forces bent on restoring the Medicis to power. MICHELANGELO AND THE POPE'S CEILING painted a portrait of life in Michelangelo's Rome, on the ingenious scaffold in Sistine Chapel, as well as the daily minute history of Italy. It is a book through which history and art converge.

2004 (32) © MY