Michelangelo (Hardcover)

by Diane Stanley (Author, Illustrator) "LODOVICO BUONARROTI was a proud man from a respectable old family..." (more)
Key Phrases: Leonardo da Vinci, Pope Clement, Sistine Chapel

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Michelangelo Buonarroti, one of the greatest artists of all time, was not exactly a noble and humble man. Irritable, arrogant, and impatient, his perfectionism and expectations drove away many potential friends, and even provoked one would-be friend to hit him in the nose, crushing it "like a biscuit." However, what's truly important for us today is that this man ultimately became an artistic genius, mastering the three arts of the Renaissance: sculpture, painting, and architecture. From his early years, when he created the Pieta (at age 25), to his 40 years of tormented work on a monumental tomb for Pope Julius II, to his greatest masterpiece, the paintings in the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo astounded people with his almost otherworldly talent.

Diane Stanley's well-researched, vivid narrative captures the life of the creator of some of the world's most beautiful, heart-wrenching works of art. Her illustrations are fantastically elaborate and include details of many of Michelangelo's sculptures and paintings. Michelangelo is a perfect introduction to art and art history, with plenty of compelling background information about the Renaissance and life in 15th and 16th century Italy. Stanley has written many other award-winning picture-book biographies, including Leonardo da Vinci and Cleopatra. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly
There is no one like Stanley (Leonardo da Vinci; Joan of Arc) for picture-book biographyAshe brings to the genre an uncanny ability to clarify and compress dense and tricky historical matter, scrupulous attention to visual and verbal nuances, and a self-fulfilling faith in her readers' intelligence. Returning to the Italian Renaissance, she looks at Michelangelo: "In an age of great artists, he was perhaps the greatest," she posits, pointing to his masterpieces in the three major artsAsculpture, painting and architecture. Her panoramic telling of his life story, fascinating in and of itself, also illuminates papal politics, the machinations of the Medicis, the technical difficulties of painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling (an assignment so unpleasant that Michelangelo thought his rival Bramante had put the pope up to it), the heady climate of Florence and other complex topics. The illustrations again manifest Stanley's prodigious talents. Her detailed rendering of the pre-Michelangelo Sistine Chapel, for example, is dramatic, expressive and historically accurate. Unfortunately, the digital techniques she used to good effect in LeonardoAcollaging in photos of her subject's workAare not successful here. She skillfully integrates reproductions of Michelangelo's own paintings and other two-dimensional art, but when she shows him toiling on the Piet? or with other sculptures, the difference in the depths of field is jarring: one portion of her composition is flat, another seems three-dimensional. The dislocating effect blemishes an otherwise outstanding work. Ages 8-up. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; First Edition edition (August 22, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688150853
• ISBN-13: 978-0688150853
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #494,651 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!, September 25, 2000

By	Pollyanna Stickney (Kingston, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Michelangelo (Library Binding)

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!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully illustrated, well researched, and fascinating, June 23, 2001

By	Elizabeth S. Gallaway "Information Goddess" (New England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Life and Times of Michelangelo....., March 18, 2002

By	Roz Levine (Virginia) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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.