What do you think?
Rate this book
Selected Poems and Letters
A new translation of poetry and letters from one of the most influential artists in history
The iconic Renaissance painter and sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti was also a prolific and gifted poet. This groundbreaking collection presents verses, intense and passionate, that capture Michelangelo's eroticism and spirituality, alongside letters that provide fascinating insight into his family relations and day-to-day life as a working artist. The result is a revealing portrait of a towering figure of the Renaissance.
The iconic Renaissance painter and sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti was also a prolific and gifted poet. This groundbreaking collection presents verses, intense and passionate, that capture Michelangelo's eroticism and spirituality, alongside letters that provide fascinating insight into his family relations and day-to-day life as a working artist. The result is a revealing portrait of a towering figure of the Renaissance.
237 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2006
About the author
Michelangelo Buonarroti
259 books132 followersMichelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer of the High Renaissance period who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art. Considered as the greatest living artist in his lifetime, he has since been held as one of the greatest artists of all time. Despite making few forays beyond the arts, his versatility in the disciplines he took up was of such a high order that he is often considered a contender for the title of the archetypal Renaissance man, along with his fellow Italian Leonardo da Vinci.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 18, 2021
"This is no place for me, and I'm no painter." -Michelangelo Buonarotti, 1512
God, I just love Michelangelo so much.
(Anyways, this is a good overview of the written works of Michelangelo, and the introduction gives a concise and eloquent jumping-off point for deeper scholarship into his poetry. It's kind of annoying that this book only includes a selection of about a third of his 300+ poems, but it does note the dates and dedications where available. Michelangelo's poetry is an important part of his oeuvre and an important way to understand his deeper thoughts that he could put into words, beyond those he painted or sculpted into some of the world's most famous works of art.)
(Also, I love Michelangelo. If I haven't said that already.)
God, I just love Michelangelo so much.
(Anyways, this is a good overview of the written works of Michelangelo, and the introduction gives a concise and eloquent jumping-off point for deeper scholarship into his poetry. It's kind of annoying that this book only includes a selection of about a third of his 300+ poems, but it does note the dates and dedications where available. Michelangelo's poetry is an important part of his oeuvre and an important way to understand his deeper thoughts that he could put into words, beyond those he painted or sculpted into some of the world's most famous works of art.)
(Also, I love Michelangelo. If I haven't said that already.)
July 21, 2024
Michelangelo è noto soprattutto per le sue sculture e per le sua pitture, prima fra tutte la volta della Cappella Sistina e il giudizio universale, ma qui ho scoperto un Michelangelo è stato anche un grande rimatore. I madrigali e i sonetti fanno trasparire una modernità di scrittura e di linguaggio che, mi sento di affermare, ritroveremo solo secoli dopo.
Le lettere poi completano in modo mirabile le tante sue biografie.
Le lettere poi completano in modo mirabile le tante sue biografie.
January 3, 2023
There is something about the relationships artists have with the world that has always fascinated me. Their relationships to beauty, love, pain and art are just endlessly beautiful. The poems in this book were soo candid and beautiful and painful to read knowing the context of his sexuality.
I.Loved.This
I.Loved.This
May 2, 2024
Eccellente occasione per conoscere un diverso Buonarroti. Michelangelo era anche un poeta, dal gusto spiccatamente stilnovistico e la presente pregevole edizione di tutte le sue poesie è anche arricchita dalla corrispondenza privata che Buonarroti ebbe in forma scritta con familiari e personaggi di spicco.
Poderoso impianto critico e filologico curato nei minimi particolari.
Poderoso impianto critico e filologico curato nei minimi particolari.
July 12, 2024
Again I couldn't get into this (maybe a pattern here). I found the form too archaic and distant. There wasn't enough juice to keep me reading for the potentially interesting bits.
September 10, 2018
This excellent book is split into four sections. The first is a general introduction into the subsequent 3 sections and puts everything into context. The second section contains a selection of Michaelangelos poems, the third contains a selection of his letters and the fourth is Georgio Vasari’s first biography of Michelangelo from his Lives of the Artists. Note that the version that is usually translated and published is a later version so it is interesting to see the first version complete with its errors. Particularly the story of Michaelangelo throwing wooden planks at one of the popes.
The letters section is slightly disappointing in that despite the fact that Michelangelo was a prolific letter writer most of his letters deal with the mundanity of ordering marble for his sculptures but do not give great insight into his creative process. However, there are a couple of vignettes which are worth highlighting. In letter 11 written to his father in October 1512 there is a sentence referring to the completion of the Sistine chapel that reads “ i have finished the chapel i was painting; the pope is very happy with it, but other things haven’t turned out as well as i hoped.” Unfortunately he does not give any further details on the nature of these ‘other things’. In letter 45 sent to Benedetto Varchi in March 1547 he makes his only comment on sculpture and painting where he states “By sculpture i mean what is made by taking something away: what is done by adding something is like painting.” Other extracts from the same letter show that he rated painting and sculpture require the same level of intelligence and any debate about which was the nobler discipline was a waste of time.
The poems are intriguing and a generally split into 3 types:
1. Love Poetry
2. Religious Poetry
3. Others
Unfortunately, as with the letters it is not possible to glean much about what drives the art for which he is more famous. Michelangelo clearly viewed his poems as a separate artistic endeavour from painting and sculpting and consequently should be viewed in that light.
The letters section is slightly disappointing in that despite the fact that Michelangelo was a prolific letter writer most of his letters deal with the mundanity of ordering marble for his sculptures but do not give great insight into his creative process. However, there are a couple of vignettes which are worth highlighting. In letter 11 written to his father in October 1512 there is a sentence referring to the completion of the Sistine chapel that reads “ i have finished the chapel i was painting; the pope is very happy with it, but other things haven’t turned out as well as i hoped.” Unfortunately he does not give any further details on the nature of these ‘other things’. In letter 45 sent to Benedetto Varchi in March 1547 he makes his only comment on sculpture and painting where he states “By sculpture i mean what is made by taking something away: what is done by adding something is like painting.” Other extracts from the same letter show that he rated painting and sculpture require the same level of intelligence and any debate about which was the nobler discipline was a waste of time.
The poems are intriguing and a generally split into 3 types:
1. Love Poetry
2. Religious Poetry
3. Others
Unfortunately, as with the letters it is not possible to glean much about what drives the art for which he is more famous. Michelangelo clearly viewed his poems as a separate artistic endeavour from painting and sculpting and consequently should be viewed in that light.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews