BRUNO CONTARDI

This volume examines in detail the complex story of the architectural production of Michelangelo (1475-1564): his early works in Rome at the beginning of the 16th Century, the Florentine period between 1516 and 1534, including the Biblioteca Laurenziana, and finally the major Roman projects from 1534 to 1564, among them St. Peter`s, the Porta Pia, and Santa Maria degli Angeli. An essentially anticlassical architect, Michelangelo replaced proportion with rhythm, shunning the conventional requirments for balance and measure. The authors analyze the artist`s complex relations with his papal and Medici patrons and with his won works, whicn often failed to progess beyond the drawing board or were never completed. Michelangelo`s drawings with their impatient notations and the architect`s impetuous inventions, made them difficult for construction workers for follow. This book reproduces many annotated sketches, pen-and-ink studies, plans and renderings, along with rich black-and-white photographs of the buildings, details and sculptures Michelangelo produced. The book includes a bibliography, index of works, and index of names.