It's murder going home Book

What a treat. This book felt like the best read I've had in a long time. This may seem unfair to some of the great books I've read recently, but this one was at the same time instructive and of very easy access. It covered everything from the technical aspects of painting frescos to the artistic concerns that went into the vault of the Sistine Chapel, to the geo-political landscape of Italy at the beginning of the 16th Century.

The books starts with Michelangelo's early career and how he landed the commission to fresco the vault of the Sistine Chapel. It was very interesting to see the life of a tradesman in those days. The author goes over Michelangelo's character and his relationships with various figures of the days. As the book follows the progress on the vault, we are made privy to the ever changing political landscape and the ongoing competition with Raphael, as each one pushes the boundaries of art.

I have read quite a bit about the Papacy during the Middle-Ages and this was a very nice refresher of the events in Northern Italy at the time. The book is as much about Pope Julius II as it is about Michelangelo. But the real focus of the book is the fresco and its numerous panels and figures. The author walks us over all the difficulties, tribulations, and inventions that continually happened throughout the project.

The book has many illustrations and nice color plates of the entire vault. But for some reason, it is missing the two pendentives from the altar wall that were considered by Michelangelo's contemporaries as his best work. There are also other works, notably by Raphael, that are not depicted and I had to go to the Internet in order to see them. But it was still a very enjoyable read that gave me a new prespective on this cornerstone of Western culture.