First published in 1953, this book remains a classic piece of literature on the work and life of Michelangelo (1475-1564). It continues to be the only volume to contain illustrations of all his paintings, sculpture and architecture.

The book is designed to serve both the student and the art lover: the fine quality reproductions emphatically illustrate Michelangelo's genius, while the text surveys the ideas and theses of the world's leading scholars on the painting, sculpture and architecture of Michelangelo and provides a detailed and sophisticated commentary with extensive bibliographical notes.

The exhaustive selection of plates devoted to the paintings of the Sistine Chapel provides an invaluable record of their condition before the recent controversial cleaning, while ten colour plates show some of the paintings in their restored state, offering the works to the reader's eye for close discrimination.