Product Description

Originally painted by Michelangelo in the late 1400s, the Vatican's Sistine Chapel frescoes were painstakingly restored between 1981 and 1995, provoking great controversy. Michelangelo's original task hard required him to construct elaborate scaffolding and to spend years of his life lying on his back to pain the ceiling; the restoration was no less difficult. For centuries dust and soot had obscured the brilliance of the frescoes' coloration, the intricacy of their detail, and the eloquence of their design. Now, however, every lunette, every ceiling fresco, and the magnificent just-restored Last Judgment can be seen in a new light in the full-color illustrations of this exciting book. Each New and Old Testament scene is identified and explained in great detail, with investigations into the evolution of their designs. Photographs and descriptions of the restoration process will prove endlessly fascinating, and the insights of the project's technical overseer provide readers with an inside look at the past, present, and future of the Sistine Chapel.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #659268 in Books
• Published on: 1997-02-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.10" h x 10.22" w x 13.38" l, 4.92 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 271 pages

From Amazon.com
The restoration of Michelangelo's magnificent frescoes in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel stirred up much controversy and debate among scholars, art historians, and art lovers alike. Originally painted in the late 15th century, it took restorers 14 painstaking years (from 1981 to 1995) to remove the centuries' worth of dust and decay that had obscured the frescoes' brilliant colors and intricate designs. In 250 gorgeous full-color photographs, this unique and beautiful volume presents Michelangelo's restored chapel--perhaps the greatest masterpiece of Renaissance art--in its entirety, from the Creation to the Last Judgment, both before and after cleaning. The only definitive study of the restoration process, this book is the next best thing to actually being there.

Antique & Auction News, 5/9/97
[T]his unique volume presents the restored Sistine Chapel in its entirety, from the Creation to the Last Judgment, and features remarkable new pictures of the frescoes. . . . This beautiful lavish work will be enjoyed by both those who have been fortunate enough to have seen the chapel in person, as well as interested readers who haven't.

San Diego Union-Tribune, 3/23/97
. . . excellent . . . the most complete [book] on the restored frescoes, and the first to include the refurbished Last Judgment behind the altar. . . . The art book of the year.