Michelangelo Buonarroti was a very complicated being. Not only
was he a multitalented artist--renowned equally as a sculptor,
painter, and architect--he was also an impressive military
engineer, student of Dante, and poet in his own right. What is
more, his behavior was full of contradictions. He was renowned for
his fiery temper and yet wrote tender love poetry. In spite of his
legendary impatience, he committed himself to tasks that required
years of sustained attention. He skimped on his own food and
lodging, paying little attention to his own bodily needs, and yet
created some of the most beautiful human figures ever imagined. He
constantly complained about not having any money but amassed a
considerable fortune that kept his family comfortable for two
centuries. Though he enjoyed the reputation of being a solitary
genius, he directed dozens of assistants, quarrymen, and
stonemasons to carry out his work.Still more Michelangelos were
invented by others. The sixteenth-century artist and biographer
Giorgio Vasari made him into an artistic savior, imagining that a
gracious God had given the world Michelangelo to inspire and
perfect the arts. His family transformed part of their home (the
Casa Buonarroti) into a shrine to their famous forebear. In the
twentieth century, novelists and movie producers have portrayed him
as a tortured, manic genius.This exhibition catalog explores
multiple facets of Michelangelo's life, art, and reputation.
Beginning with portraits of the artist, examples of his literary
works, printed editions of his poetry, and an example of modern
music inspired by his sonnets, the catalog shows representative
examples of his work as a military engineer, architect, anatomist,
poet, painter, and sculptor. Lavishly illustrated, including five
fold-out 11" x 14" pages, this book provides viewers an
unprecedented opportunity to grasp the range of Michelangelo's
ambitions and accomplishments, revealing a man and a myth that are
even greater than we might have imagined.
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