Michelangelo and I: Facts, People, Surprises, Discoveries in the Restoration of the Sistine Chapel by Gianluigi Colalucci.
Michelangelo and I: Facts, People, Surprises, Discoveries in the Restoration of the Sistine Chapel by Gianluigi Colalucci. Ore Cultura srl. (2016). In English. ISBN-13:978-8866483212. 6 3/4" x 9 1/2" 255 pages Paperback. Maybe very light cover edge wear. A light bit of soiling on the leading edge of the page block - does not bleed to the page surfaces. No other previous owner markings. No tears, folds or creases to pages or covers. Binding is tight with no looseness to pages. Not ex-library, not remaindered and not a facsimile reprint. For sale by Jon Wobber, bookseller since 1978. IC25b
"Written by the author of the 14-year restoration of Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. After more than four centuries the Sistine frescoes had become difficult to understand, covered by a thick sooty patina due to various factors, and the restoration led to a real rediscovery. There were many criticisms, above all from those who had learned and interpreted Michelangelo's frescoes as if they had been a direct expression of the artist's shady and pessimistic character. Instead, exceptional colors were hidden under that veil, a brilliant style, lights and shadows interpreted with a revolutionary technique. There was a cry of scandal, of destruction, but Colalucci, who lived for years a few centimeters from the Master's work, explains to us the attention and respect with which he worked on the frescoes, never forcing his hand but always trying to restore the truth. The book is very interesting for how the progressive rediscovery of Michelangelo is told, for the description of the restoration techniques, for how the whole world that revolved around this epochal enterprise is told. Colalucci is a simple man and tells us how on a couple of occasions he went into crisis in the face of the enormous responsibility he was taking on, such as when he came to work on the hands of Adam and God on the vault or on the face of Christ at the Last Judgment. The book is not a scientific treatise but it is a popular work." - a Gogle translation from an Italian review from Goodreads.
"Written by the author of the 14-year restoration of Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel. After more than four centuries the Sistine frescoes had become difficult to understand, covered by a thick sooty patina due to various factors, and the restoration led to a real rediscovery. There were many criticisms, above all from those who had learned and interpreted Michelangelo's frescoes as if they had been a direct expression of the artist's shady and pessimistic character. Instead, exceptional colors were hidden under that veil, a brilliant style, lights and shadows interpreted with a revolutionary technique. There was a cry of scandal, of destruction, but Colalucci, who lived for years a few centimeters from the Master's work, explains to us the attention and respect with which he worked on the frescoes, never forcing his hand but always trying to restore the truth. The book is very interesting for how the progressive rediscovery of Michelangelo is told, for the description of the restoration techniques, for how the whole world that revolved around this epochal enterprise is told. Colalucci is a simple man and tells us how on a couple of occasions he went into crisis in the face of the enormous responsibility he was taking on, such as when he came to work on the hands of Adam and God on the vault or on the face of Christ at the Last Judgment. The book is not a scientific treatise but it is a popular work." - a Gogle translation from an Italian review from Goodreads.
