A truly glamorous National Gallery publication together with the Yale University Press, this is the first publication to explore the extraordinary artistic and personal relationship between two great Renaissance Masters, Michelangelo (1475-1564) and Sebastiano del Piombo (1485-1574). The two men met in Rome in 1511 shortly after Sebastiano's arrival from his native city of Venice, at a time when Michelangelo was finishing the Sistine Chapel ceiling. They quickly became friends, forming an alliance in the competition for artistic dominance against Raphael (1483-1520), who was then establishing himself at the centre of the Roman art world. Their creative exchange spanned three decades and they collaborated on several works, including the Nocturnal Pietà for the church of San Francesco in Viterbo, the monumental Raising of Lazarus for the Cathedral of Narbonne, and the Borgherini Chapel in the Roman church of San Pietro in Montorio. While Michelangelo was based in Florence between 1517 and 1534, the two artists kept in touch by letter and their correspondence reveals how Sebastiano acted as one of Michelangelo's closest confidents, and how Michelangelo frequently provided designs as the basis for his paintings. Yet after Michelangelo returned to Rome, the two men fell out acrimoniously, apparently because of a disagreement over whether oil or fresco should be used for the Sistine Chapel's Last Judgement. The lavishly illustrated text examines their shared preoccupation with the depiction of death and resurrection, primarily in the life of Christ, through a close analysis of drawings, paintings, and sculpture. 272 big glossy pages packed with hundreds of colour reproductions including The Risen Christ and Pieta, and Letters in facsimile. 23.5 x 28.5cm.
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