Michelangelo and the Art of Letter Writing

"Michelangelo's extant correspondence is the most abundant of any artist. Spanning 67 years, it comprises roughly 1,400 letters, of which 500 were written by Michelangelo himself. Biographers and art historians have combed the letters for insight into Michelangelo's views on art, his contractual obligations, and his relationships. Literary scholars have explored parallels between the letters and Michelangelo's poetry. Nevertheless, this is the first book to study the letters for their intrinsically literary qualities. In this volume, Deborah Parker examines Michelangelo's use of language as a means of understanding the creative process of this extraordinary artist. His letters often revel in witticisms, rhetorical flourishes, and linguistic ingenuity. Close study of his mastery of words and modes of self-presentation shows Michelangelo to be a consummate artist who deploys the resources of language to considerable effect"--Provided by publisher.

List of contents

Introduction; 1. The role of letters in biographies of Michelangelo; 2. From word to image: epistolary rhetoric and artistic form; 3. From experience to expression: representations of captivity in Michelangelo's art, poetry, and letters; 4. Michelangelo's words: saying, doing, meaning.

About the author

Deborah Parker is Professor of Italian at the University of Virginia. She has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Villa I Tatti - the Harvard Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, as well as numerous others. The author of many articles, as well as the book Bronzino: Renaissance Painter as Poet (Cambridge University Press, 2000).

Product details

• Authors: Deborah Parker, Deborah (University of Virginia) Parker, Parker Deborah
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 19.06.2014
• EAN: 9781107415263
• ISBN: 978-1-107-41526-3
• No. of pages: 190
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > General and comparative literary studies; ART / History / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / European / Italian, ART / European, ART / Individual Artists / Monographs, Italy, History of Art, Literary studies: general, Italian, Renaissance art, Individual artists, art monographs, Renaissance style, Literary studies: c 1500 to c 1800, Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, LITERARY CRITICISM / Novel as Form