Art Times (December, 1998)
Michelangelo: The Complete Sculpture, Painting, Architecture will surely stand out as one of the most handsome books put out this season. As elegant as is its presentation, the book is especially valuable in that it covers the complete work of this artist in one volume, including not only his major accomplishments but those not as well known as well. Author William E. Wallace, internationally recognized authority on Michelangelo and Associate Professor of Art History at Washington University in St. Louis, offers a scholarly yet engaging look into the man, his life and his work.
In one concise volume, Wallace (art history, Washington Univ.) presents an accurately rendered life in intelligent, accessible prose. Though not footnoted, it consists of an overview with chronology of Michelangelo's life, followed by three extensive chapters on his major creations--sculpture, painting, and architecture--each illustrated with stunning photographs and post-restoration reproductions. There are several fold-out sections, including a full-color Sistine ceiling and a complete diagram of all its segments. The commentary accompanying each work is engaging, and the layout is thoughtful and well planned, corresponding to the text. While there is a plethora of worthwhile books on Michelangelo, including those that focus in depth on a particular aspect, these sumptuous reproductions are some of the best on the market. They succeed in conveying Michelangelo's grandeur and magnificence gracefully and factually and, if budgetary conditions allow, should serve as a first-choice introduction to students and interested lay readers.
Sometimes you can tell a book by its cover. William E. Wallace's big book on Michelangelo and his achievements is as beautiful inside as well as outside. Big pictures and big print make the book as easy to read as it is enjoyable to look at.
And this is the first major book on the guy since the major restoration job at the Sistine Chapel. The colors are brighter and the details clearer (especially since the Victorian drapery over some of the body parts was erased). A fabulous centerfold in Wallace's book reproduces the Sistine Chapel ceiling and identifies all the figures.
Michelangelo must have had a "Who's Who in the Bible" in hand while he was painting with the other. You can't look at the foldout without wondering how Michelangelo could have ever thought that he was only a sculptor, and couldn't paint. Any painter who spent hours and hours painting on his back precariously perched on 16th century scaffolding was driven, big time.
Wallace quotes a sonnet Michelangelo wrote about the physical agony he endured--just so Pope Julius would have a fancy canopy over his head.
Each chapter of Wallace's book testifies to the master's unrelenting attention to detail, imagination and execution. The sculpture looks as soft and pliable as the fabric and flesh it imitates. Fine photographs from numerous sources highlight nuances in stone that we've just taken for granted for 500 years.
Michelangelo epitomized Renaissance thinking about humanity's nobility. He didn't waste his time painting frivolous landscapes or carving big birds. His paint brush and chisel were the tools that changed the art world and brought popes to their knees.