The Sistine Secrets

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.

The true story behind one of the greatest masterpieces of all time. You cannot stand underneath the masterwork that is the Sistine Chapel without considering the genius and painstaking work that went into its creation. Michelangelo Buonarroti never wanted to paint the Sistine Chapel, though. Appointed by the temperamental Julius II, Michelangelo believed the suspiciously large-scale project to be a plot for failure conspired by his rivals and the “Warrior Pope.” After all, Michelangelo was not a painter—he was a sculptor. The noble artist reluctantly took on the daunting task that would damage his neck, back, and eyes (if you have ever strained to admire the real thing, you know). Andrew Graham-Dixon tells the story behind the famous painted ceiling over which the great artist painfully toiled for four long years. Linking Michelangelo’s personal life to his work on the Sistine Chapel, Graham-Dixon describes Michelangelo’s unique depiction of the Book of Genesis, tackles ambiguities in the work, and details the painstaking work that went into Michelangelo’s magnificent creation. Complete with rich, full-color illustrations and Graham-Dixon’s articulate narrative, Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel is an indispensable and significant piece of art criticism. It humanizes this heavenly masterpiece in a way that every art enthusiast, student, and professional can understand and appreciate.

When the chief prefect of archives is found mysteriously murdered in the Vatican Secret Archives, it unleashes a secret that has been safely buried for two thousand years. But a question arises from the dead: the victim was a follower of the long-lost religious group, the Cathars, a group of Medieval Christians who believes they were the heirs of the original teaching of Jesus. A renowned Daily Telegraph journalist, Jessica Keith, is assigned to cover the mysterious murder. Something unexpected happens when she meets a British numerologist, Professor Aaron Barone at a seminar in the University of London. They suddenly become fugitives when another murder takes place at his home in Hampstead. The church is trying to cover up the murder to keep their interests guarded. But the utmost of all secrets cannot be kept forever. Another secret is uncovered by the amateur art lover, Jacob Walmer. It lays embedded in the work of Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, in The Last Judgment. But it is not a discovery that the world wants to hear about. It is a secret that the church wants to bury forever, before it becomes a dark history in the modern Christian era. How will Professor Aaron correlate to the mysterious murder? What about Jacob’s attempt to solve the well-guarded puzzle in history? Will Jessica succeed in exposing the truth of her religion to the world?

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.

A comprehensive study of Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel creations describes its recent restoration, features a double gatefold that illustrates the entire ceiling, and includes a history of the artist and the chapel.

In 1508, Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. 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. 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. This fascinating book tells the story of those four extraordinary years and paints a magnificent picture of day-to-day life on the Sistine scaffolding - and outside, in the upheaval of early sixteenth-century Rome.

There will come a time when you must decide to lead the life someone else has chosen for you…or the life you want. According to legend, when a young boy asked the great Renaissance artist Michelangelo why he was working so hard hitting the block of marble that would eventually become his greatest sculpture, David, the artist replied, “Young man, there is an angel inside this rock, and I am setting him free.” In The Angel Inside, the renowned consultant and career coach Chris Widener uses Michelangelo’s words to explore the hidden potential that exists within us all. In this unforgettable tale, Tom Cook, a disillusioned American businessman, has traveled to Italy looking for direction in his life. In Florence, the last city on his tour, Tom meets a mysterious old man who opens his eyes to the art and life of Michelangelo and reveals what the artist’s work can teach him—and all of us—about the power of following your passion. Among the lessons that Tom learns over the course of the next day: The beauty is in the details Your hand creates what your mind conceives All great accomplishments start with a single swift action No one begins by creating the Sistine Chapel Whether you’re looking for a way to reinvigorate your career or searching for the courage to begin a new one, THE ANGEL INSIDE is a must-read if you want to find true meaning in your life and work. The break-out business parable that’s already sold more than 70,000 copies, The Angel Inside tells the story of a young man searching for meaning in his work and finding it in an unlikely place: the life and art of Michelangelo.

Acronyms, gematria, and other techniques reveal profound secrets of Jewish thought, cultural values, and religious perspective.

Five hundred years ago Michelangelo began work on a painting that became one of the most famous pieces of art in the world-the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Every year millions of people come to see the largest fresco painting on earth in the holiest of Christianity's chapels; yet there is not one single Christian image in this vast, magnificent artwork. This book tells how Michelangelo embedded messages of brotherhood, tolerance, and freethinking in his painting to encourage "fellow travelers" to challenge the repressive Roman Catholic Church of his time. Authors Blech and Doliner reveal what Michelangelo meant in the angelic representations that brilliantly mocked his papal patron, how he managed to sneak unorthodox heresies into his ostensibly pious portrayals, and how he was able to fulfill his lifelong ambition to bridge the wisdom of science with the strictures of faith.

Eros, art, and gorgeous blasphemyÉ Adrianna Borgia, survivor of the Borgia court, presents Michelangelo with the greatest temptations of his life while struggling herself with soul-threatening desires and heresies. Her growing passion for the painter Raphaela Bramante mirrors the sculptorÕs damnable interest in a castrato in the Sistine choir and in the ideas of secular humanism. Claimed as the epitome of Christian inspiration, MichelangeloÕs ceiling is revealed as a coup of Eros upon religion, a gorgeous blasphemy and a paean to forbidden love in the very heart of the Church.

The New York Times Bestseller '[An] earth-shaking exposé of clerical corruption' - National Catholic Reporter In the Closet of the Vatican exposes the rot at the heart of the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church today. This brilliant piece of investigative writing is based on four years' authoritative research, including extensive interviews with those in power. The celibacy of priests, the condemnation of the use of contraceptives, the cover up of countless cases of sexual abuse, the resignation of Benedict XVI, misogyny among the clergy, the dramatic fall in Europe of the number of vocations to the priesthood, the plotting against Pope Francis – all these issues are clouded in mystery and secrecy. In the Closet of the Vatican is a book that reveals these secrets and penetrates this enigma. It derives from a system founded on a clerical culture of secrecy which starts in junior seminaries and continues right up to the Vatican itself. It is based on the double lives of priests and on extreme homophobia. The resulting schizophrenia in the Church is hard to fathom. But the more a prelate is homophobic, the more likely it is that he is himself gay. 'Behind rigidity there is always something hidden, in many cases a double life'. These are the words of Pope Francis himself and with them the Pope has unlocked the Closet. No one can claim to really understand the Catholic Church today until they have read this book. It reveals a truth that is extraordinary and disturbing.

Part of The Complete Idiot's Guides® popular religion and history titles. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Jewish History and Culture contains information about Jews in early American history through the 19th century as well as coverage of Jewish history and culture in the places you might least expect - Asia and South America.

The authors of "277 Secrets Your Dog Wants You to Know" (20,000 copies in print) bring readers a purrfectly bewitching "cat-alog" of unusual and useful information about cats.

The Miserere by Italian composer Gregorio Allegri (1582-1652) is one of the most popular, oft performed and recorded choral pieces of late Renaissance/early Baroque music. Yet the piece known today bears little resemblanceto Allegri's original or to the piece as it was performed before 1870.

Recounts Michelangelo's creation of the Sistine Chapel ceiling and discusses modern efforts to restore the artwork

Art historian Simonetta Carr draws on recent scholarship that challenges the traditional view of Michelangelo as a recluse. Readers will also learn about the complex and fluid era of the Italian Renaissance and how the times affected his life and work. Lavish photos, informative sidebars, a time line, glossary, and suggestions for further readings add value, while 21 hands-on activities help young readers identify with the artist and his work.

Hope, Not Fear shares the wisdom we all need to come to terms with death. .

A wildly entertaining and surprisingly educational dive into art history as you've never seen it before, from the host of the beloved ArtCurious podcast We're all familiar with the works of Claude Monet, thanks in no small part to the ubiquitous reproductions of his water lilies on umbrellas, handbags, scarves, and dorm-room posters. But did you also know that Monet and his cohort were trailblazing rebels whose works were originally deemed unbelievably ugly and vulgar? And while you probably know the tale of Vincent van Gogh's suicide, you may not be aware that there's pretty compelling evidence that the artist didn't die by his own hand but was accidentally killed--or even murdered. Or how about the fact that one of Andy Warhol's most enduring legacies involves Caroline Kennedy's moldy birthday cake and a collection of toenail clippings? ArtCurious is a colorful look at the world of art history, revealing some of the strangest, funniest, and most fascinating stories behind the world's great artists and masterpieces. Through these and other incredible, weird, and wonderful tales, ArtCurious presents an engaging look at why art history is, and continues to be, a riveting and relevant world to explore.

Painted on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, 28 years after Michelangelo completed the glorious and hopeful ceiling, The Last Judgment is full of stark images depicting the End of Days. James Connor uses the famous fresco as the lens by which to view the end of the Renaissance, arguing that Michelangelo's imagery and composition reflect the religious and political upheavals of the time. Combining his flair for storytelling with incisive historical analysis, Connor demonstrates how the Counter-Reformation arose from the ashes of Renaissance Italy, and how that sea change altered the course of Western history.

Dreaming of Michelangelo is the first book-length study to explore the intellectual and cultural affinities between modern Judaism and the life and work of Michelangelo Buonarroti. It argues that Jewish intellectuals found themselves in the image of Michelangelo as an "unrequited lover" whose work expressed loneliness and a longing for humanity's response. The modern Jewish imagination thus became consciously idolatrous. Writers brought to life—literally—Michelangelo's sculptures, seeing in them their own worldly and emotional struggles. The Moses statue in particular became an archetype of Jewish liberation politics as well as a central focus of Jewish aesthetics. And such affinities extended beyond sculpture: Jewish visitors to the Sistine Chapel reinterpreted the ceiling as a manifesto of prophetic socialism, devoid of its Christian elements. According to Biemann, the phenomenon of Jewish self-recognition in Michelangelo's work offered an alternative to the failed promises of the German enlightenment. Through this unexpected discovery, he rethinks German Jewish history and its connections to Italy, the Mediterranean, and the art of the Renaissance.