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Title: Michelangelo
ISBN: 0060521139
Author:
Publicate Date: 2003-05-01
Publish: 2003-05-01
List Price: $6.99
Average Customer Rating: 5.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $3.49
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $3.22
Amazon Merchant Price: $6.99
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1: easy to read biography for kids and adults alike
Michelangelo is an interesting look into the life of Renaissance superstar artist, Michelangelo Buonarroti from birth to death. Born in Italy March 6, 1475, Michelangelo was destined to become an artist and knew this is what he wanted from a young age. He was raised in various homes, by a nurse in the village of stonecutters and later in the home of the ruler of Venice, Lorenzo Medici who recognized his talent and brought him to live with him as his own sons. At the age of thirteen he begged his father to become a lowly artist's apprentice working in fresco for the time of three years. His true love was though not painting, but sculpture. Michelangelo eventually created some of the worlds' most famous art artworks including the sculpture of David and the painting inside the Sistine Chapel and worked on countless commissions for several popes and rulers trough out Italy. Many interesting facts that children will be sure to pick up on, including Michelangelo's work with corpses to study the human form and his feud with another Renaissance superstar Leonardo Da Vinci, keep this book interesting and exciting.
Stanley's interesting illustrations are unique. She combines photographs of true artwork (it is hard to copy a master!) with her own paintings to create a visually stimulating illustration. This book would be good for any adult that is wanting a "more than basic" but easy reading book about the life of Michelangelo.
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2: Entertaining for my five-year-old daughter
With popular culture grabbing my daughter's attention so powerfully, it was nice to have some high brow material that could compete with the Disney genre. My favorite part was when my girl asked, "Why doesn't God just stretch his finger a little more like this [stretched her finger] to touch Adam?" The whole book is a single bed time reading for a parent to a child. It reads a bit like a cliff hanger with the reader along for the ride through Michaelangelo's challenges and accomplishments.
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3: The Life and Times of Michelangelo.....
Born March 6, 1475 in the little stonecutter's village of Caprese, about fifty miles east of Florence, and left in the care of a nurse, Michelangelo "fell asleep to the odd lullaby of chisel striking stone. Years later he remarked that his love of sculpture must have come to him along with his foster mother's milk." From an early age, Michelangelo wanted to become an artist. His father, ashamed that his son wanted to enter such a lowly profession, tried to literally beat the idea out of him, but the headstrong and determined child would not give in, and in 1488 was apprenticed to the famous painter, Domenico Ghirlandaio. After only one year his unrivaled talent was noticed by Lorenzo de'Medici, a great and generous art lover and patron. He brought Michelangelo into his palace and treated him as one of his sons, encouraging his art. But upon Lorenzo's untimely death, Michelangelo was sent back to his father's house, and cast in the role of family breadwinner, "a role he would play for the rest of his life." And so it was that the difficult and disagreeable, perfectionist Michelangelo's greatest masterpieces, The Pieta, David, and the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, were commissioned works by patrons and popes..... Diane Stanley's intriguing biography takes the reader on a compelling and suspenseful journey as she details the life and times of the greatest artist of the Renaissance. Her easy to read and engaging text is rich in history, art, drama, and anecdotes, and complemented by her ingeniously creative and innovative illustrations. Together word and art captures the essence of the arrogant and tormented artist, and brings Michelangelo and the Renaissance to life on the page. Perfect for youngsters 9-12, Michelangelo is a well researched and spellbinding introductory biography, and another marvelous addition to Ms Stanley's superb series.
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4: Beautifully illustrated, well researched, and fascinating
Award-winning author Stanley presents a stunning picture book biography of true Renaissance man Michelangelo Buonarroti, who came to master the arts of sculpting, painting and architecture in fifteenth and sixteenth century Italy. Stanley blends information about Michelangelo and his life as an artist with historical detail to set the scene, and then introduces a fascinating cast of personalities that include his first master Domenico Ghirlandodaio, the Warrior Pope he offended, and his contemporary Leonardo Da Vinci, who was Michelangelo's envy and rival.
Stanley reproduces and discusses Michelangelo's greatest works (David, the Sistine Chapel, the Pieta) then adds details such as fresco painting techniques and the gruesome necessity of dissecting cadavers to study anatomy. Quotes from Michelangelo's own letters enrich the text; it is a tragedy that he destroyed many of his personal papers before his death.
A full-page illustration to exemplify the narrative compliments each page of text; the text pages are decorated with period coins, coats of arms, stonecutting tools, portraits, sketches and reproductions. The illustrations are an unusual mix of paintings which feature scanned images of Michelangelo's works of art, including drawings and sketches, sculpture and paintings.
Stanley's paintings (which show the housing, dress and goods of the poverty stricken as well as the palace-dwellers) seem flat when paired with Michelangelo's dimensional artwork, and the contrast is a bit awkward. Her paintings imitate the style of the times in color, layout and subject, while still following the narrative. A richly-hued historical map of Italy explains the government of the time as well as the layout of the country, while the author's note opposite gives a defines the Renaissance. Bibliography & permissions are provided; the absence of a timeline and glossary may disappoint teachers.
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5: I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!
While browsing through a local bookstore I chanced upon Michelangelo by Diane Stanley. What a beautiful book! Not only were the pictures captivating, but the information was excellent. Michelangelo's famous picture of the creation of the moon and stars that graces the Sistene chapel is on the cover. My children were enthralled as I read how Michelangelo spent many hours dissecting human cadavers at a local morgue, becoming so familiar with the human body that he was able to make his works come alive with breathtaking detail. I will look for more books by this same author. Children(and adults)will read this book over and over. A great addition to your home library!
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