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|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review:
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0 of 4 found the following review helpful:
 UPSET Nov 30, 2009
I can not review because I HAVE NOT RECIEVED THE BOOK YET. This is the second time in a month that I have ordered the book and the second time I have not recieved it.......
What is wrong with your ordering and shipping dept...? I have had no problems in the past.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 AMAZING. You MUST read this book! Jul 18, 2009
This book rocks. I really couldn't put it down; it was absolutely fascinating. I read it after visiting Rome and seeing the Sistine Chapel and it totally added to/changed my perspective... and I am now even more impressed by and interested in Michelangelo's work (and that of other Renaissance artists) than I was before. I am so glad I got this book!
6 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 Interesting But Flawed May 21, 2009
This book explores the interesting thesis that Michelangelo's ceiling is an intricate work of transgressive art that expresses the artist's disdain for the Vatican and papacy. The thesis is not without plausibility and is supported with intriguing observations. However, the discussion of other works of art and Renaissance culture call into suspicion the credibility of the authors. For example, they claim that the great Laocoon sculpture in the Vatican Museum was "commissioned" by Greeks at the time of their victory in the Trojan War! This is clearly impossible, as the work is attributed to the 1st century B.C., and no sculptor alive at the time of the ancient war with Troy would have crafted such an illusionistically convincing and physically energetic representation of the human body. It makes one wonder if the authors really know what they are talking about.
Also, the authors regurgitate the popular, uncritically accepted picture of Fra Savonarola's presence in Florence, which is derived from a few short paragraphs about him in Jacob Burkhardt's "Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy," a view that is simplistic and which has been refuted by Savonarola scholarship. This body of writing seems to be completely unknown to the authors.
It is also nothing new that the ceiling has Neo-Platonic themes. Art historians have pointed this out for decades, or at least as long as I taught art history in college courses (over 30 years). I've taught this for years, so I don't see that there is any big secret to this. The authors also overplay the idea that the ceiling has nothing to do with Christ, but is purely linked to Michelangelo's love of Judaism. It is not a matter of rocket science to realize that the only reason the Old Testament scriptures are known throughout the world is the result of the presence of Christianity, of which the Catholic church is a major part. Michelangelo depicts Old Testament prophets, including major prophets whose words play a role in Messianic exegesis. Are we to ignore all this, and not see even an implication of the presence of Christ in Michelangelo's design?
The arguments of hidden insults are interesting, but there are aspects to the authors' discussion that indicate either ignorance or claims to an originality to their thesis that is not merited. They also offer up a bizarre dissussion of what it is like to be in the Sistine Chapel as a visitor; according to them it is a thoroughly confusing and stressful experience. I've been there four times, and found their scenario somewhat bizarre.
Another question is aroused by the authors' claim that Michelangelo was painting all these secret and hidden messages in the hope that some day art history would discover them. At the time Michelangelo lived, there was no discipline of art history as we know it today, so there again a claim is made that, when one thinks about it, does not have much weight.
5 of 14 found the following review helpful:
TIMNOW Apr 27, 2009
This book was very disappointing. The writing is simple-minded and the scholarship amateurish. If you know anything about Michelangelo and his times, you will laugh out loud at some of the assertions made by the authors. They never let the facts get in the way of their thesis that Michelangelo was secretly a Jew who hated the Church. A mean-spirted book.
2 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 A masterpiece for the Curious Apr 05, 2009
Not everyone is a history buff, let alone an art history buff, but if you are then this book is for you. The authors' research and insight are a treasure for anyone interested in learning more about Michelangelo's hidden meanings or great Renaissance art in general. An exciting read, I couldn't put it down.
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