224 pages, hardback, 260 x 216 mm, 100 illustrations
PRICE: £40.00
ISBN: 978 1 907372 02 5
Customers in the US or Canada, CLICK HERE
See also SPECIAL OFFERS
Michelangelo's masterpiece The Dream (or Il Sogno) has been described as one of the finest of all Italian Renaissance drawings and is amongst The Courtauld Gallery's greatest treasures. Executed in c. 1533, when Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) was at the height of his career, this magnificent work exemplifies Michelangelo's unrivalled skill as draughtsman and his extraordinary powers of invention. Accompanying an exhibition at the Courtauld, this catalogue examines this celebrated work in the context of an exceptional group of closely related drawings by Michelangelo, as well as some of his original letters and poems and works by his contemporaries.
The Dream is one of Michelangelo's 'presentation drawings', a magnificent and famous group of highly refined compositions which the artist gave to his closest friends. These beautiful and complex works transformed drawings into an independent art form and are amongst Michelangelo's very finest creations in any medium. The Dream was probably one of a superb group made for a young Roman nobleman with whom Michelangelo was in love, Tommaso de' Cavalieri, who was celebrated for his outstanding beauty, gracious manners and intellect. This group forms the heart of the exhibition and includes The Punishment of Tityus, The Fall of Phaeton, A Bacchanal of Children and The Rape of Ganymede. In his Life of Michelangelo (1568) the biographer and artist Giorgio Vasari praised these exceptional works as "drawings the like of which have never been seen" - and they are still regarded as amongst the greatest single series of drawings ever made.
Michelangelo's drawings for Cavalieri have not been seen together for over twenty years and this is the first time ever that The Dream will be shown as part of this group. Exceptionally also, The Fall of Phaeton will be reunited with two earlier verions of this composition, one of which carries an inscriprion in Michelangelo's hand requesting Cavalieri's approval of the preliminary design.
"One of the greatest (yet smallest) shows you will ever see."
Laura Cumming, The Observer
"An intriguing exhibition …. By far and away the most accomplished study of the subject yet."
Brian Sewell, Evening Standard
"A curatorial and scholarly triumph ... the catalogue essays do full justice to the power of Michelangelo's intellect, as well as to hand and eye."
Richard Dorment, Telegraph
"A sensational exhibition in more ways than one …. It is the most intimate encounter with Michelangelo yet staged by a British gallery."
Jonathan Jones, The Guardian
Save £15 when you buy these three books together. These beautifully illustrated catalogues accompany important exhibitions of Old-Master drawings: Michelanglo at the Courtauld Gallery, London; major artists of the German-speaking world at The National Gallery of Art, Washington; and such masters as Carpaccio, Dürer, Callot and Boucher at The Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento. More
You could save £10 when you buy two of these books together. These beautifully illustrated catalogues accompany important exhibitions of Old-Master drawings: Michelanglo at the Courtauld Gallery, London; major artists of the German-speaking world at The National Gallery of Art, Washington; and such masters as Carpaccio, Dürer, Callot and Boucher at The Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento. More
In late 2007 the National Gallery of Art, Washington, acquired one of the finest private European holdings of Old Master drawings – the Wolfgang Ratjen Collection – including 120 German drawings. This unique survey of drawings includes work by many of the most important artists from the German-speaking areas of Europe, including Switzerland and Austria. More
Save £25 when you buy these four books together. These beautifully illustrated catalogues accompany important exhibitions of Old-Master drawings: Michelanglo at the Courtauld Gallery, London; major artists of the German-speaking world at The National Gallery of Art, Washington; such masters as Carpaccio, Dürer, Callot and Boucher at The Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento; and significant French draughtsmen of the eighteenth century from the Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor. More
This catalogue accompanies the first ever loan exhibition of drawings from Waddesdon Manor, the house that was built and furnished by Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839-1989) to show off his works of art and to entertain the fashionable world. More
In the library of Sir John Soane’s remarkable house at 13, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, several volumes of Italian architectural drawings of the 16th and 17th centuries have remained until today one of London’s hidden treasures. They have never been catalogued before in detail. More
The sculptor and draughtsman John Flaxman (1755-1826) is here celebrated and described in six essays followed by a catalogue illustrating the various directions of his work. More