Sistine Chapel

The story behind the timeless Renaissance revealed.

The Shocking Secrets of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Artwork The recent cleaning of the Sistine Chapel frescoes removed layer after layer of centuries of accumulated tarnish and darkness. The Sistine Secrets endeavors to remove the centuries of prejudice, censorship, and ignorance that blind us to the truth about one of the world's most famous and beloved art treasures. Some images that appeared in the print edition of this book are unavailable in the electronic edition due to rights reasons.

Contains nearly three hundred photographs taken by Takashi Okamura showing the entire Ceiling, individual panels showing such scenes as the Creation of Adam and the Deluge, and details of prophets, sibyls, nudes, and other stunning figures.

The art of the Sistine Chapel, decorated by artists who competed with one another and commissioned by popes who were equally competitive, is a complex fabric of thematic, chronological, and artistic references. Four main campaigns were undertaken to decorate the chapel between 1481 and 1541, and with each new addition, fundamental themes found increasingly concrete expression. One overarching theme plays a central role in the chapel: the legitimization of papal authority, as symbolized by two keys—one silver, one gold—to the kingdom of heaven. The Sistine Chapel: Paradise in Rome is a concise, informative account of the Sistine Chapel. In unpacking this complex history, Ulrich Pfisterer reveals the remarkable unity of the images in relation to theology, politics, and the intentions of the artists themselves, who included such household names as Botticelli, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Through a study of the main campaigns to adorn the Sistine Chapel, Pfisterer argues that the art transformed the chapel into a pathway to the kingdom of God, legitimizing the absolute authority of the popes. First published in German, the prose comes to life in English in the deft hands of translator David Dollenmayer.

Every day up to 22,000 tourists visit the Sistine Chapel. In collaboration with the Edizioni Musei Vaticani, this book reproduces close-up views of Michelangelo's supreme work in new photography of the restored Sistine Chapel. It covers the frescoes of the 15th century, the ceiling and the Last Judgement.

The Santa Maria Antiqua Complex in the Forum in Rome was probably established at the foot of the Palatine Hill in the 6th century. Over the following 600 years it was decorated with a unique series of frescoes bearing evidence of imperial, papal and monastic influences. Abandoned in the 9th century, limited use probably continued up to the 11th century. By the 17th century the complex was completely buried under the rising floor of the Forum. Excavations in 1900 exposed a largely intact complex containing hundreds of 6th-11th century frescoes, in some places over four layers deep and a unique Chapel of Medical Saints which suggests this was also an incubation site. The English Press hailed the site as the 'Sistine Chapel of the Ninth century'. Lavish illustrations of these frescoes, following recent restoration, make this book an indispensible resource, not only for those working on the church but also for those interested in contemporaneous material in medieval sites especially in Rome, Europe and Byzantium. This monograph contains the proceedings of an International Conference held at the British School at Rome on 4-6 December, 2013. It reports results of the major project of preservation and research led by the Soprintendenza and carried out over the last 12 years on the fabric of the church, its frescoes, floor, wall and ceiling mosaics, its drainage and infrastructure. Much of the restoration was funded by the World Monuments Fund. The conference also marked the 75th anniversary of the death of Gordon Rushforth, the first Director of the British School at Rome and the author of one of the earliest key papers on the S. Maria Antiqua site.

Michelangelo's frescoes on the Vatican's Sistine Chapel ceiling are arguably one of the greatest masterpieces of western art. The text and color images in this volume together explore central themes concerning this extraordinary fresco style, bringing information into focus for the general reader and for the tens of thousands of people who visit this masterpiece yearly. 36 color plates.

Describes events leading up to the creation of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, with information about the life of Michelangelo, as a man and an artist; and includes discussion of the controversial restoration project of the 1980s, with before and after photographs.