ICHELANGELO

by Georg Brandes ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

The monumental Michelangelo of Denmark's Georg Brandes was published in Europe over 40 years ago; now at last we have it on these shores, excellently translated in a somewhat abridged, revised and illustrated edition. It is a work of rare erudition and eloquence, a study in the grand manner, combining the disciplines of aesthetics, history and psychology, fully encompassing the furiosa of the master, yet remaining a cool, clear-eyed, highly controlled commentary. It portrays Michelangelo as a proud, passionate, brute-faced man who worshiped ""beauty everlasting""; to him man's body was the pinnacle of being, thus he immortalized it in stone. And when, at rare moments, he loved, he tormented and consumed himself in yearning. The Brandes' text covers the Medici circle, Florence and Rome, the relationships with Tommaso and Vittoria, the Julius tomb, the Sistine Chapel, the meeting with Da Vinci, Michelangelo's old age and Christian repentance during the Counter Reformation, and the representation of Christ as Jove, the final fusion of the pagan with the pious. A tremendous tribute to a titan, Brandes' Michelangel will appeal to those who disliked the flamboyance of Stone's novel.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Frederick Ungar

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1963

Categories: NONFICTION