This book, the first comprehensive interdisciplinary account of Michelangelo’s work as a sculptor in bronze, is the outcome of extensive original research undertaken over several years by academics at the University of Cambridge together with a team of international experts, directed by Dr Victoria Avery, a leading authority on the history, art and technology of bronze casting in Renaissance Italy.
The catalyst for this innovative project was the attribution to Michelangelo of the Rothschild bronzes – two extraordinary bronze groups of nude men on fantastical panthers – prior to their display at the Fitzwilliam Museum in 2015. First proposed by the distinguished Michelangelo scholar Professor Paul Joannides and validated by the wide-ranging research published here, the attribution to Michelangelo has now gained widespread acceptance.
As part of this pioneering project, Professor Peter Abrahams, the eminent clinical anatomist specialising in dissection, has carried out the first ever in-depth scientific analysis of the anatomy of Michelangelo’s nude figures. Abrahams’ findings have uncovered hitherto unrecognised features of Michelangelo’s unparalleled mastery of the structure and workings of the human body that give the gesture and the motion of his figures their unique expressive force.
Enigmatic and visually-striking masterpieces, the Rothschild bronzes are the focus of this multi-authored, interdisciplinary volume that contains ground-breaking contributions by leading experts in the fields of art history, anatomy, conservation science, bronze casting and the history of collecting.
Edited by:
Victoria Avery
Imprint: Philip Wilson Publishers Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 280mm,
Width: 230mm,
Weight: 2.050kg
ISBN: 9781781300633
ISBN 10: 1781300631
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 01 April 2019
Audience:
General/trade
,
Professional and scholarly
,
ELT Advanced
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Acknowledgements Foreword Preamble Introduction Visual Evidence 1. Brazen Defiance Young Michelangelo, Bronze and the David for France – Victoria Avery 2. Commission Impossible Michelangelo’s Bronze Julius II for Bologna – Victoria Avery 3. Divine Pipe Dreams Mature Michelangelo and the Mastery of Metal – Victoria Avery 4. The God of Design Michelangelo and the Decorative Arts – Timothy Clifford 5. Secular Popes, Pagan Times The Golden Age and Michelangelo’s Rothschild Bronzes – Cyril Humphris 6. An Anatomical ‘Whodunnit’ Dissecting the Rothschild Bronzes – Julia C. Ruston and Peter H. Abrahams 7. The Science of Art Technical Considerations of the Rothschild Bronzes – Arie Pappot with Robert van Langh 8. The Sculptor at Work Recreating the Rothschild Bronzes – Andrew Lacey 9. What a Ride! Brilliant Balance and the Beasts of the Rothschild Bronzes – Faya Causey 10. Duality in Art and Anatomy Men and Animals: Youth and Old Age in Leonardo and Michelangelo – Domenico Laurenza 11. Sources and Influences Michelangelo and Rustici – Paul Joannides 12. Tyrants and Lovers Subject and Meaning: the Rothschild Bronzes – Meg Galindo and William E. Wallace 13. In Search of a Patron The Rothschild Bronzes and the Case of the Missing Patron – Martin Gayford 14. Noble Minds Adolphe and Julie de Rothschild: The First Owners of the Rothschild Bronzes and their Collection - Dimitrios Zikos 15. News Travels Far The Reception of the Rothschild Bronzes – Morlin Ellis 16. The Catalyst A Brief Narrative in the First Person – Paul Joannides Notes Image Credits Bibliography Contributors Index
Victoria Avery (BA, MA, PhD, University of Cambridge) has been Keeper of Applied Arts at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, since 2010, prior to which she was Associate Professor in the History of Art Department, University of Warwick (2005?10). She has researched, lectured and published extensively on Italian Renaissance sculpture, most recently co-authoring with Paul Joannides, A Michelangelo Discovery (2015). She was awarded the Premio Salimbeni 2012 for her British Academy-funded monograph, Vulcan's Forge in Venus' City: The Story of Bronze in Venice, 1350?1650 (2011) and has also published on various aspects of the applied arts, including the co-authored Fitzwilliam Museum exhibition catalogue, Treasured Possessions from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment (PWP, 2015).
Reviews for Michelangelo: Sculptor in Bronze
This lavishly illustrated and scholarly book is ... fascinating reading. * Galleries * This book is a game-changer. It provides a completely new - and indeed long overdue - integrated interdisciplinary approach to Michelangelo studies. -- Eike Schmidt, Director of the Uffizi, Florence
