Customer Reviews

Michelangelo: The Vatican Frescoes

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an absolutely superb book, largely because the reproductions of the frescoes are excellent and really capture the colors that you see when you visit the Chapel. I have found many art books disappointing, because they simply fail to capture the works they present. I first saw this book in an American bookstore after visiting the Sistine Chapel, and really thrilled to see if after looking at several other books where colors were much duller and the images simply not as sharp. In addition to its fine colors, the book provides many fine closeups of each individual section. The text is also very good, describing the subjects of the painting, the history behind the paintings, ansd also the recent restorstion. This is a must-have book!

Ive seen portions of the old paintings in other publications, but there's nothing like this VERY COLLECTIBLE piece. Its a treasure, because of the painstaking care in preserving the original authenticity of the works, and allowing you to closely examine the "before" detail, and then the "after" restoration detail. Most of all, the book allowed me to gain an appreciation that I never had for this great artist. Thanks

The scope of this edition is astounding. With closeups of each individual section and a glorious 4-page foldout of the entire ceiling, all the majesty of Michelangelo's masterpiece is brought breathtakingly to life. If you can't afford to fly to Italy to see the original, buy this book.

The photographs in this book are too good to be believed. I have never had an art book on the Sistine Chapel before that so moved me.
It was obviously produced with great care -- the colors look perfect, the focus is perfect. I can't rave about this book enough. And so complete! You will know every nook and cranny of the Chapel when you finish this book.
Well worth more than what you pay for it.

Being an admirer of the magnificent Michelangelo I am very pleased to have acquired this book. The pictures are beautifully printed. By the end of the book I wish to revisit the Sistine Chapel to view those parts printed in the book which I have obviously missed with my naked eyes. The details of the restoration work is an added bonus. To get the most of this book, please read it together with "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling" by Ross King. You will not regret the experience. Michelangelo's frescoes are simply sublime!

For those that want a closer look at the Vatican Frescoes, this is as good as it gets. This book shows Michelangelo's work in their newly restored splendor. It is scarcely imaginable that one man could have created such beauty. It surely reminds us of what we are all capable of reaching.

I found this book to be a very beautiful presentation of Michelangelo's fresco's inside the Sistine Chapel. The pictures are very clear and the text is good, although the fact that it is written by non-native English speakers is apparent. Anyone wanting to remember their experience of viewing the Sistine Chapel in Rome will be pleased by buying this book. At least I was.

The image quality in this book is excellent. I have never been to Vatican. So it's hard to judge whether the color is right. I just try to use this book to study anatomy after Michelangelo. For some parts of frescoes, this book provides enlarged pictures. Some images show the frescoes before restoration, although not in detail. In general, it's a great reference book for my study.

Before making a purchase, I carefully compared several books on the Sistine Chapel, because what's the point of buying a book on the Chapel that doesn't do justice to the splendor of that magnificent place? I quickly learned that there is no point in buying a pre-restoration book, because the candle smoke and incense of centuries had buried Michelangelo's vibrant colors under a film of dingy gray. There are those who believe that the restoration team went too far and left the colors brighter than Michelangelo would have intended, but I would refer such skeptics to the Master's "Doni Tondo" in the Uffizi Gallery, which should settle that question, I think.

So, what more would I want from a post-restoration book? Excellent, bright, clear photos of the paintings, clearly organized so that one can refer back and forth between the overall scheme of the Chapel and the individual frames, and a worthwhile explanatory text is an added bonus. But really, it's the photos that matter.

This book blew me away - it is everything I was looking for and more. In addition to a lavish and complete look at the frescoes as a whole and individually, it includes very interesting comparison photos of the pre-restoration condition, and an appendix on what they did and why. I can imagine no better treatment of this subject.