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The Sistine Chapel: History of a Masterpiece 1st Edition

by Antonio Forcellino (Author), Lucinda Byatt (Translator)
3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 10 ratings
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The Sistine Chapel is one of the world’s most magnificent buildings, and the frescos that decorate its ceiling and walls are a testimony to the creative genius of the Renaissance. Two generations of artists worked at the heart of Christianity, over the course of several decades in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, to produce this extraordinary achievement of Western civilization.

In this book, the art historian and restorer Antonio Forcellino tells the remarkable story of the Sistine Chapel, bringing his unique combination of knowledge and skills to bear on the conditions that led to its creation. Forcellino shows that Pope Sixtus IV embarked on the project as an attempt to assert papal legitimacy in response to Mehmed II's challenge to the Pope's spiritual leadership. The lower part of the chapel was decorated by a consortium of master painters whose frescoes, so coherent that they seem almost to have been painted by a single hand, represent the highest expression of the Quattrocento Tuscan workshops. Then, in 1505, Sixtus IV's nephew, Julius II, imposed a change in direction. Having been captivated by the prodigious talent of a young Florentine sculptor, Julius II summoned Michelangelo Buonarroti to Rome and commissioned him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Two decades later, Michelangelo returned to paint The Last Judgement, which covers the wall behind the alter. Michelangelo's revolutionary work departed radically from tradition and marked a turning point in the history of Western art.

Antonio Forcellino brings to life the wonders of the Sistine Chapel by describing the aims and everyday practices of the protagonists who envisioned it and the artists who created it, reconstructing the material history that underlies this masterpiece.

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  1. ISBN-10
    1509549234
  2. ISBN-13
    978-1509549238
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Polity
  5. Publication date
    November 7, 2022
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    6.3 x 1.1 x 9.1 inches
  8. Print length
    250 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Excellent"
―Philippa Joseph, History Today

"This new book by Forcellino on the Sistine Chapel reveals once again the author's remarkable combination of gifts - the novelist who tells a gripping story, the historian who places the story in its social and political context, and the art critic and restorer who discusses style and the technical problems of fresco and also of painting a ceiling that will be viewed from 20 metres below and from a variety of angles as the spectators move around. Essential reading for anyone interested in one of the greatest achievements of the Renaissance."
―Peter Burke, University of Cambridge

"Antonio Forcellino gives the full history of the Sistine Chapel in a narrative that is rich in incident and full of insights. It's an engaging and accessible account of one of the world's most famous buildings―and a must-read for anyone visiting Rome."
―Ross King, author of Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling

"As a conservator, Antonio Forcellino takes us into the workshops and onto the scaffold while vividly describing the materials and techniques of the artists decorating the Sistine Chapel, from its construction to Michelangelo's sublime Last Judgment."
―William E. Wallace, Barbara Murphy Bryant Distinguished Professor of Art History, Washington University in St. Louis

"Forcellino sees the Sistine Chapel as more than just a tale of successive popes and two generations of artists laboring to create a powerful symbol of Christian spirituality and papal authority ― and that is what sets his laboriously researched book apart from other histories of the subject. He presents the chapel as a revolution in the history of Western art."
―The Catholic World Report

"Antonio Forcellino has some claim to be Italy's leading authority on Michelangelo Buonarroti. As both an art historian and an art restorer, with his invaluable insights and careful use of newly discovered documents, he scrupulously corrects the Florentine's self-inflated claims."
―Church Times

About the Author

Antonio Forcellino is one of the world's leading authorities on Michelangelo and an expert art historian and restorer who has been involved in the restoration of numerous masterpieces.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Polity; 1st edition (November 7, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 250 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1509549234
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1509549238
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.35 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.3 x 1.1 x 9.1 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 3.8 out of 5 stars 10 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Lucinda Byatt

    Lucinda Byatt

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    As a literary translator and historian, I am interested in different areas of early modern Italy history. My own book on Cardinal Niccolò Ridolfi is about Florentine politics and the structure of the cardinal's court and hoursehold in sixteenth-century Rome, based on three treatises on household management that are linked to it. The book also examines the vast income and conspicuous spending of a cardinal, during a time of calls for reform. The book ends with the conclave of 1549-50 at which Ridolfi had a good chance of being elected pope - except that he died in extremely suspicious circumstances, quite probably by poison! So the book ends with a crime scene that is unfortunately unlikely to be resolved well after four centuries later.

    Wearing my literary translator hat, I have translated numerous books from Italian into English, mainly works of non-fiction on Italian art, architecture and society. I have also translated a few fiction titles - notably some of the Don Camillo stories and a thriller set in eighteenth-century Venice. I hope you enjoy them!

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  2. Antonio Forcellino

    Antonio Forcellino

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Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
3.8 out of 5
10 global ratings

Top review from the United States

john mccoy
2.0 out of 5 stars It's a writin book with some washed out 47 photos
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2024
Verified Purchase
It's a writin book with some washed out 47 photos . I was in Italy 50 years ago and I did purchase the same
NAME book with 200 photos in it with minimal explanations. I give that book to my aunt who died and
I newer recover the book. I thought I replace it boy I made a mistake.
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Top reviews from other countries

Greg Galbraith
5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable read.
Reviewed in Canada on March 29, 2024
Verified Purchase
As someone who has visited the Sistine Chapel numerous times and read extensively on it, I found Forcellino covered some areas usually not touched on. I especially liked that he gave time to cover the Florentine painters who worked under such great time constraints in the early 1480s, and that that he gave credit to the role Pietro Perugino played in painting the chapels walls.

Visitors to the chapel leave rightfully praising Michelangelo and do not give much thought to the spectacular works on the walls. I hope to visit the chapel one more time before I shuffle off this mortal coil. This time I will treat myself to the early morning guided tour accompanying the key master as he opens the doors throughout the Vatican. It doesn't get much better than that!
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