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Title: Michelangelo (XL Series)
ISBN: 3822830550
Author:
Frank Zollner
Christof Thoenes
Thomas Popper
Publicate Date: 2007-10-01
Publish: 2007-10-01
List Price: $200.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $126.00
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $110.00
Amazon Merchant Price: $126.00
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Worth owning for the paintings
This massive book is stronger on the paintings than on the sculptures. And after all, Michelangelo is one of the greatest (to me the greatest) sculptors of all time. Still, this impressive book is certainly worth purchasing. Try to find a copy of the William E. Wallace book published in 1998 to enjoy magnificent plates on the sulptures. You might still find copies online from remainder booksellers.
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2: Strong on pictures and drawings, weak on sculpture
I received this book yesterday, and it is certainly a monumental work, weighing close to 20 pounds and superbly produced. But potential buyers should be aware that while this book is labeled as a definitive, complete guide to Michelangelo's work, its real focus are the paintings and drawings. There is probably no better book for the Sistine Chapel ceiling and the Last Judgment, with scores of extraordinary closeups of every part of each painting. The foldout of the creation of Adam is a joy to behold. Readers may or may not like the fact that probably 40% of the book is on Michelangelo's drawings, given that these are mostly preliminary sketches for sculptures or paintings, as opposed to complete drawings in their own right, as in the case of Leonardo Da Vinci. The book also covers Michelangelo's architecture very well.
But obviously many readers will buy this book because they want to see Michelangelo's sculptures, and this book is surprisingly, disappointingly weak in this area. Of course, the David gets its due and there is also good coverage of the Vatican Pieta and, oddly, the Bacchus. But many of the other sculptures, such as the Moses and the Risen Christ, get only one large and one small picture, despite the fact that the book, at over 700 pages, has space to spare. By contrast, the "Complete Michelangelo" by William Wallace provides multiple views of each and every piece of sculpture.
But most incredible, indeed inexplicable, of all, is that this book (unlike Wallace, or any other Michelangelo book that I know of) fails to provide any large pictures at all of what are, next to the David, the most iconic and powerful of Michelangelo's sculptures: his four "prisoners" in Florence. Having seen these in person, I can easily understand why artists for centuries have looked in awe at these amazing "unfinished" sculptures which show figures struggling to emerge from the marble-which is exactly what Michelangelo felt he was doing when he took his chisel to the rock. How on earth, in a book of this size and ambition, can the omission of these sculptures be explained? Indeed, no explanation is provided, and the only illustration of these four sculptures, which have so influenced modern art, is four tiny, poor quality pictures in the second section of the book that is a complete catalog of all of Michelangelo's sculptures. By contrast, the Wallace book has a four page foldout that shows the four sculptures next to each other.
In short, this book is fantastic for the paintings and drawings and a very disappointing missed opportunity for the sculptures. One can only wistfully imagine what would have been if the sculptures had been photographed as carefully and as thoroughly as the Sistine Chapel paintings. By all means get this book--and overall I am glad that I did, despite its high cost--but adjust your expectations and don't expect that this one book will suffice to fully cover all of Michelangelo's genius.
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3: Must see to believe
I've read the reviews and I've seen the pictures of this book in sales and review sites, but, believe me, none of this can prepare you for the thrill of holding this huge work in your hands (if you're strong enough). Seeing the incredible layout of, say, the Sistine Chapel frescos in close up views that very few, if any people have seen before is something you're never going to forget.
The facial expressions, the fine details, in both the paintings and the sculptures of Michelangelo, are seen throughout the book in a way only one standing within inches of the work could see. And the result is incredible and inspiring.
The amazing overall quality of the book makes the retail price, let alone a reduced price, seem like a real bargain! All art lovers owe it to themselves to BUY this BOOK!
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4: Great Pictures of Ruined Paintings
This is a magnificently made book, but it suffers from a serious problem... Michelangelo's frescos have been ruined by "restorers" who crudely stripped off his glazes and ineptly repainted them with candy colors. So the book does a phenomenal job of documenting what's left of them, but I wish they had gotten there a couple of decades ago! Aside from that, the sculptures, drawings, etc. look great.
If you want to find a good, inexpensive book that actually has nice photos of the pre-restored paintings, try Michelangelo: Sculptor, Painter, Architect by Charles Sala. You can really see the difference--THAT WASN'T DIRT, YOU MORONS!! THAT WAS PAINT!!!!!
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5: Superb quality, both in form and content
"Beautiful" describes this book. The content of the book -as little as I could read at the first browsing- is profound, yet accessible and understandable for the amateur.
The printing of the book is astounding in respect to size and quality of the paper and printing. The spreads are impecable. It is worth noting that two different types of paper were used in the book. The first section is high quality brilliant couche, while the second part (the one that reffers to the catalogs) is on a different kind. This detail adds to the quality of the book.
Highly recommended. Great value for the price.
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