The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican [With Poster]

by Benjamin Blech and Roy Doliner

Book Overview

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 Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling, which is 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. The Sistine Secrets tells the fascinating story of how Michelangelo...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061469041
• ISBN13: 9780061469046
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: HarperOne
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Surprising and Fun

I love the history of art and I am often fascinated by both the psychology of the artists in renaissance Italy as well as intricate geopolitical backdrop in which this particular work was ensconced. The authors do an incredible job of painstakingly detailing the historical veracity of their claims, which to be honest I was skeptical about before reading the book. Their discoveries are enlightening, entertaining and not the least bit shocking. I applaud them for tackling such a controversial topic with scholarly aplomb. To the critics who harp on minor points or site comparisons to the Da Vinci Code, I would firstly recommend actually reading the book, and second I would point out that this work sites references for all claims which can, with a bit of time and effort on your part, be easily corroborated. Its easy to throw stones from the peanut gallery, a bit more challenging to open your mind to these new and exciting ideas. A most thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening read.

Innovative

The authors have done a fantastic job presenting material-whether one agrees or disagrees-that is both eye-opening and informative. The cross-section of art and religion is well-known but this book takes it to another level. Read the book and draw your own conclusions. The book cover is spectacular!

Time well spent

I saw the 20/20 Special and was intrigued. The scholars interviewed seemed open to at least some of the ideas. (And where they weren't, or expressed doubt, I thought the evidence could go either way). Since I also felt the authors came off well, I spent Sunday reading the book. Time well spent. It was smart, insightful, and eye opening. You don't have to agree with every conclusion to walk away convinced of many, and having learned a lot. It's a fascinating book and topic and I would encourage everyone to read the book and draw your own conclusion...the summaries, mine or anyone else's, don't nearly do this book justice.

Making the Abstract, concrete: research for the gentle reader

I have recently finished "The Sistine Secrets" and find it to be artfully crafted, intelligently written and accurate in its research. The writers have something of import to say and they say it well. Unlike the Da Vinci Code this book inspires the reader to think of "treasure" in terms of truth seeking rather than gold. Yet it captures the imagination with as much excitement. I particularly find the tie-in to Deaf cultural studies and the references to the refined gestural communication of their language to be a fascinating angle for analyzing the images in question. The ability to combine such a range of disciplines into a cohesive "map" for the reader to follow the research is brilliantly done and will have appeal to both the serious scholar and the gentle reader of more popular fare. These authors are able to take abstract images and compellingly suggest concrete reasons for the artistic positional/gestural choices, historical context, personal artists' perspective, political impact and much more. You may be excited, angered, thrilled, humored or shocked by the revelations in this book but as the authors say at the end of the last chapter: "All the world is a very narrow bridge - the point is this - to have no fear." The exploration of truth requires a lack of fear for what it might expose. Luane Davis Haggerty Ph.D. Leadership and Change through the Arts, Antioch University Assistant Professor of Creative and Cultural Studies National Technical Institute of the Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology