Product Description

In 1508, Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The thirty-three-year-old Michelangelo had very little experience of the physically and technically taxing art of fresco; and, at twelve thousand square feet, the ceiling represented one of the largest such projects ever attempted. Nevertheless, for the next four years he and a handpicked team of assistants laboured over the vast ceiling, making thousands of drawings and spending backbreaking hours on a scaffolding fifty feet about the floor. The result was one of the greatest masterpieces of all time.

This fascinating book tells the story of those four extraordinary years and paints a magnificent picture of day-to-day life on the Sistine scaffolding — and outside, in the upheaval of early sixteenth-century Rome.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45583 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-08
• Released on: 2006-05-08
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 8.00" h x 1.04" w x 5.20" l, .75 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From Publishers Weekly
King's historical account of the four years Michelangelo Buonarroti spent frescoing the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome is splendid, thorough and detailed. But its larger appeal lies in the way King (Brunelleschi's Dome) brings out the story's human elements. Listeners learn of Michelangelo's bitter disappointment when a project he was eagerly looking forward to (the construction of the Pope's tomb) was cancelled and that he had little experience with the art of fresco and was reluctant to take on the Sistine Chapel. King explains the craft of frescoing with involving details: for example, fresco dries quickly, so the artist could work only in small sections, and if a mistake was found after the paint dried, the whole day's work had to be chipped away and redone. Listeners also learn of Michelangelo's financial woes and family problems and the political upheavals of the time. Sklar's narration is perfect for the project. His lively and expressive reading add a realistic edge to a centuries-old tale. He speaks passionately and his accent on the Italian names and phrases is flawless.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Ross King offers a fascinating look at the Italian Renaissance through the saga of the painting of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel. King's use of detail and description enriches the journey through the art, politics, and personal rivalries that encompass both painters and popes. Reader Alan Sklar is an engaging guide as he immerses listeners in the world of the brilliant, yet difficult Michelangelo. Sklar's clear Italian brings a fluid handling of the many names. His accent is so precise and careful that it's a language lesson. Using a respectful pace, Sklar allows listeners time to absorb the many details--the complexity of fresco painting, or the byzantine negotiations over papal commissions. Intriguing armchair travel, or a fine companion to a visit to Italy. R.F.W. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
A celebrated novelist as well as a lively nonfiction writer, King casts fiction's spell as he tells the creation stories of crowning artistic achievements, first in the widely acclaimed Brunelleschi's Dome (2000), and now in this exciting account of the making of Michelangelo's magnificent Sistine Chapel ceiling frescoes. Not only is King fluent in the complicated art of frescoing, a chancy technique sculptor Michelangelo (1475-1564) was loathe to undertake, he also relishes the tumultuous politics of early-sixteenth-century Rome, particularly the escapades of the irascible, syphilitic, gourmand Pope Julius II, Michelangelo's demanding patron. Everyone in Rome was terrified of this stick-wielding, bearded, warrior pope except for moody, homely, antisocial Michelangelo, and King recounts their skirmishes with as much verve as he chronicles the arduous efforts involved in creating the most famous ceiling in the world. Brilliant and tireless, Michelangelo designed an ingenious form of scaffolding and quickly mastered fresco's secrets so that he could paint his powerful, anatomically exact Old Testament figures freehand in an inspired frenzy. King chronicles Michelangelo's aesthetic decisions and clarion triumphs over myriad forms of adversity with expertise and contagious enthusiasm. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved