Discover the fascinating, crucial, and often dangerous relationship between Michelangelo and the stone quarries of Carrara in this clear-eyed and well-researched exploration that "recounts the artist's large life and lasting works with care and reverence" (Booklist).
No artist looms so large in Western consciousness and culture as Michelangelo Buonarroti, the most celebrated sculptor of all time. And no place on earth provides a stone so capable of simulating the warmth and vitality of human flesh and incarnating the genius of a Michelangelo as the statuario of Carrara, the storied marble mecca at Tuscany's northwest corner. It was there, where shadowy Etruscans and Roman slaves once toiled, that Michelangelo risked his life in dozens of harrowing expeditions to secure the precious stone for his Pieta, Moses, and other masterpieces.
Many books have recounted Michelangelo's achievements in Florence and Rome. Michelangelo's Mountain goes beyond all of them, revealing his escapades and ordeals in the spectacular landscape that was the third pole of his tumultuous career and the third wellspring of his art. Eric Scigliano brings this haunting place and eternally fascinating artist to life in a sweeping tale peopled by popes and poets, mad dukes and mythic monsters, scheming courtiers and rough-hewn quarrymen. He recounts the saga of the David, the improbable masterpiece that Michelangelo created against all odds, of the twin Hercules that he tried to erect beside it, and of the Salieri-like nemesis who snatched away the commission, turning a sculptural testament to liberty into a bitter symbol of tyranny and giving Florence the colossus it loves to hate.
In showing how the artist, land, and stone transformed one another, Scigliano brings fresh insight to Michelangelo's most cherished works and illuminates his struggles with the princes and potentates of Carrara, Rome, and Medici Florence, who raised intrigue to a high art.
Discover the fascinating, crucial, and often dangerous relationship between Michelangelo and the stone quarries of Carrara in this clear-eyed and well-researched exploration that "recounts the artist's large life and lasting works with care and reverence" (Booklist).
No artist looms so large in Western consciousness and culture as Michelangelo Buonarroti, the most celebrated sculptor of all time. And no place on earth provides a stone so capable of simulating the warmth and vitality of human flesh and incarnating the genius of a Michelangelo as the statuario of Carrara, the storied marble mecca at Tuscany's northwest corner. It was there, where shadowy Etruscans and Roman slaves once toiled, that Michelangelo risked his life in dozens of harrowing expeditions to secure the precious stone for his Pieta, Moses, and other masterpieces.
Many books have recounted Michelangelo's achievements in Florence and Rome. Michelangelo's Mountain goes beyond all of them, revealing his escapades and ordeals in the spectacular landscape that was the third pole of his tumultuous career and the third wellspring of his art. Eric Scigliano brings this haunting place and eternally fascinating artist to life in a sweeping tale peopled by popes and poets, mad dukes and mythic monsters, scheming courtiers and rough-hewn quarrymen. He recounts the saga of the David, the improbable masterpiece that Michelangelo created against all odds, of the twin Hercules that he tried to erect beside it, and of the Salieri-like nemesis who snatched away the commission, turning a sculptural testament to liberty into a bitter symbol of tyranny and giving Florence the colossus it loves to hate.
In showing how the artist, land, and stone transformed one another, Scigliano brings fresh insight to Michelangelo's most cherished works and illuminates his struggles with the princes and potentates of Carrara, Rome, and Medici Florence, who raised intrigue to a high art.
Eric Scigliano's ancestors were quarry-men and stone carvers in Carrara. He is the author of Love, War, and Circuses: The Age-Old Relationship Between Elephants and Humans and two regional books, Seattle from the Air and Puget Sound: Sea Between the Mountains, and the co-translator of Trinh Công So'n's wartime poetry. An award-winning journalist, Scigliano has written for Harper's, Outside, Discover, and many other publications.
"Eric Scigliano works magic -- in "Michelangelo's Mountain" he
brings cold stone to brilliant, captivating life. With the tenacity
of an investigative reporter, the deep knowledge of a cultural
historian, and the infectious attitude of a "bon vivant" traveler,
Scigliano prowls the Italian countryside uncovering the mystery of
the marble that inspired Michelangelo's greatest masterpieces. "You
must listen to the stone, " the master marble cutters of Carrara
say, and in Scigliano's hands the stone yields an enchanting tale.
Bravo!" -- Bruce Barcott, author of "The Measure of a Mountain:
Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier"
"Eric Scigliano's book on Michelangelo is vivid, erudite, and
highly readable -- a fresh take brilliantly executed." -- Robin
Brooks, author of "The Portland Vase"
"From the Medici to Henry Moore, from Rome to the Renaissance to
the modern quarry workers of Carrara, Eric Scigliano weaves a
compelling narrative of marble, its mountains, and its greatest
master and apprentice, Michelangelo Buonarroti." -- William E.
Wallace, Professor of Art History, Washington University, St.
Louis
"Just as Michelangelo wrested works of genius from the grip of the
stone that possessed him, Eric Scigliano, with a Carrarese
quarryman's blood running through his veins, has chipped away at
the remarkable history of man's two thousand-year obsession with
the white mountain. His easy, almost conversational tone belies the
comprehensively researched chronicle he narrates with erudition and
wit." -- David Tripp, author of "Illegal Tender: Gold, Greed, and
the Mystery of the Lost 1933 Double Eagle"
"This is a masterful work, in many respects a new kind of narrative
nonfiction. Dancing seamlessly between past and present, Eric
Scigliano illuminates Michelangelo through the sculptor's passion
for special stone, set against the story of the stone itself and
the people who still share that passion today. His strong,
polished, yet informal prose -- reminiscent at times of the marble
he describes -- is the perfect vehicle for this remarkable
balancing act." -- Paul Robert Walker, author of "The Feud That
Sparked the Renaissance"
"This is a terrific book, original in conception and exhilarating
in its range and sweep. Eric Scigliano effortlessly marries the
vibrant and tumultuous world of "quattrocento" and "cinquecento"
Tuscan politics, philosophy, and art to his own 21st-century
travels in the region. Whether sketching a landscape, exploring the
geology of marble, following Michelangelo from commission to
commission, waxing lyrical on the curing of pork fat, or talking
stonemasonry to elderly quarrymen in a Carrara bar, Scigliano is a
deft, eloquent writer; the connections he makes are always
surprising and often revelatory. His Michelangelo emerges as a man
as much of our time and place as of his own." -- Jonathan Raban,
author of "Bad Land and Passage to Juneau"
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