Why read The Sistine Secrets?

Book cover of The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican

Book description

The Shocking Secrets of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Artwork

The recent cleaning of the Sistine Chapel frescoes removed layer after layer of centuries of accumulated tarnish and darkness. The Sistine Secrets endeavors to remove the centuries of prejudice, censorship, and ignorance that blind us to the truth about one of the…

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Topics

Michelangelo

Genres

European history

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Sistine Secrets as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Martin Bodek

Author

I wish I had discovered this book before I visited the Sistine Chapel, rather than after it. On the other hand, it's possible that if I did so, I would still be in there staring up at the ceiling. The authors make *such* a marvelous case, and fill in so many supporting backstory details that it does feel that it is absolutely open-and-shut.

Nevertheless, they still responsibly dedicate the opening chapters to explain that protest art itself is a thing, and provide sterling examples, including the art already present on the walls of the Sistine Chapel before Master Buonarotti began…

From Martin's 3 favorite reads in 2023.