Michelangelo and the Reform of Art
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
A study of Michaelangelo's associations with reformers, and concern over the fate of religious art.
Explores Michelangelo's awareness of artistic tradition as a means of understanding his relation to the profound religious uncertainty of the sixteenth century. Alexander Nagel studies the artist's associations with reform-minded circles in Italy, and reveals Michelangelo's sustained concern over the fate of religious art.Michelangelo was acutely conscious of living in an age of religious crisis and artistic change, and for him the two issues were related. Michelangelo and the Reform of Art explores Michelangelo's awareness of artistic tradition as a means of understanding his relation, as a devoutly Christian artist, to the profound religious uncertainty of the sixteenth century. Concentrating on Michelangelo's lifelong preoccupation with the image of the dead Christ, Alexander Nagel studies the artist's associations with reform-minded circles in early sixteenth-century Italy, and reveals his sustained concern over the fate of religious art in his own day. Within the context of reform, Michelangelo's art reflects an artistic and religious culture where self-conscious archaism mingles with aggressive innovation, and ambivalence regarding the role of images yields radical aesthetic experimentation. A reassessment of Michelangelo's work, this revisionist study sheds new light on High Renaissance and Mannerist art as a whole.
'… engages in a subtle tracing of reformist concerns in Michelangelo's work… Much scope for thought is opened up, and this, surely, is the sign of a good book.' The Art Book
'This is not only one of the most important books written on Michelangelo in recent years but it is probably also the most challenging … essential reading.' Apollo
ISBN: 9780521662925
Dimensions: 264mm x 184mm x 21mm
Weight: 980g
320 pages