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KING, ROSS: : Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling

LONDON.CHATTO & WINDUS,2002.

ISBN 0701171197.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.[Complete number line 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1.] FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn and no price-clip to dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean, glossy laminated,colour photographic illustrated dw/dj,with black+purple lettering; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Assumed(?) inevitable sunning/fading to spine/backstrip of dw/dj,some light,superficial scoring and indents to dw/dj panels - all without penetration or affecting the boards beneath; and unobtrusive 'ghost' residue of an adhesive label towards top,right-hand corner of front dw/dj panel.Top+ fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright, tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners, appears unread - apart from my own collation. Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,publisher's original plain maroon cloth boards with bright, crisp,blocked gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain dark blue endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,viipp+1-371pp [paginated] includes contents list/table, 31 chapters and an epilogue,48 b/w historical reproductions/ illustrations throughout the text and the book, 12pp modern colour photographs of detail from the ceiling painting,in 1 block,between pp182/83,chapter+epilogue notes,b/w illustrations and colour plates lists/tables,an extensive 15pp bibliography,an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,dedication with acknowledgements to it's reverse,and 2 b/w historical geographic (Italy) and city (Rome) maps verso+recto page. In 1508,Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.He had been strongly advised against doing so.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. Indeed,Michelangelo himself was reluctant, considering himself a sculptor rather than a painter.Nevertheless,for the next four years he and a hand-picked team of assistants laboured over the vast ceiling,making thousands of drawings and spending back-breaking hours on a scaffold fifty feet above the floor.The result was one of the greatest masterpieces of all time. 'There is no other work to compare with this for excellence,nor could there be,' wrote Vasari in his 'Lives of the Artists.' See also,my book ID rja662917 - Giorgio Vasari: LIFE OF MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI [FOLIO SOCIETY edn.]. Ross King's fascinating new book tells the story of those four extraordinary years.Battling against ill health,financial difficulties, domestic problems and inadequate knowledge of the art of fresco,Michelangelo created figures so beautiful that,when they were unveiled in 1512,they stunned his onlookers.Working with brushes made from hogs' bristles,and pigments manufactured by monks in Florence,he and his assistants painted nudes in such detail that modern anatomy has yet to find names for some of their muscles. From Michelangelo's ground-breaking studies of the human form to his bitter rivalry with Raphael,who was working on the neighbouring Papal Apartments,Ross King paints a magnificent picture of day- to-day life on the Sistine scaffolding - and outside,in the upheaval of early sixteenth-century Rome. The author of 'Brunelleschi's Dome',a highly praised account of how the Renaissance architect Brunelleschi constructed the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence.He has also written two novels,'Domino' and 'Ex-Libris.' Please contact seller,for correct shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! ** N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE. ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.
Not SIGNED.

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