By Todd Leopold CNN
Wednesday, March 5, 2003 Posted: 12:39 PM EST (1739 GMT)
(CNN) -- The painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling is an achievement that is surrounded by myth.
It has been said that Michelangelo did it alone. Not true; he had several assistants. Or that he did his work prone on his back, inches from the ceiling. That's based on a mistranslation of a word in a Michelangelo biography -- though he sometimes worked at awkward angles, it's not like he was strapped on the scaffolding for days on end.
The artist also was well paid, highly respected and extremely meticulous. The grand ceiling, a series of illustrations based on the Bible, was neither the product of a starving artist nor a blazing feat of improvisation.
But, as Ross King points out in his book "Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling" (Walker & Co.), it remains one of the great artistic feats of all time, easily identifiable, endlessly honored, gloried and parodied. [From CNN]
If your interested in the book “Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling”, the Library owns a copy.
You can request it online at the SWAN Library Catalog.
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