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| The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican | 
 enlarge | Authors: Benjamin Blech, Roy Doliner
Publisher: HarperOne
Category: Book
List Price: $26.95
Buy New: $16.49
You Save: $10.46 (39%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (16 reviews)
Sales Rank: 4107
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.8 x 1.3
ISBN: 0061469041
Dewey Decimal Number: 759.5
EAN: 9780061469046
ASIN: 0061469041
Publication Date: May 1, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Release Date: April 29, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Five hundred years ago Michelangelo began work on a painting that became one of the most famous pieces of art in the world—the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Every year millions of people come to see Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling, which is the largest fresco painting on earth in the holiest of Christianity's chapels; yet there is not one single Christian image in this vast, magnificent artwork. The Sistine Secrets tells the fascinating story of how Michelangelo embedded messages of brotherhood, tolerance, and freethinking in his painting to encourage "fellow travelers" to challenge the repressive Roman Catholic Church of his time. "Driven by the truths he had come to recognize during his years of study in private nontraditional schooling in Florence, truths rooted in his involvement with Judaic texts as well as Kabbalistic training that conflicted with approved Christian doctrine, Michelangelo needed to find a way to let viewers discern what he truly believed. He could not allow the Church to forever silence his soul. And what the Church would not permit him to communicate openly, he ingeniously found a way to convey to those diligent enough to learn his secret language."—from the Preface Blech and Doliner reveal what Michelangelo meant in the angelic representations that brilliantly mocked his papal patron, how he managed to sneak unorthodox heresies into his ostensibly pious portrayals, and how he was able to fulfill his lifelong ambition to bridge the wisdom of science with the strictures of faith. The Sistine Secrets unearths secrets that have remained hidden in plain sight for centuries.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 More interesting then the Da'Vinci Code May 16, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
I am not going to spoil this mysterious book for all "you" readers out there, but I would like to explain that this book is meant to become the greatest "secrets" of all time...
The LA Times raved about this book May 14, 2008
4 out of 7 found this review helpful
I just read this in the LA Times:
[..]
LA TIMES BOOK REVIEW
'The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican' by Benjamin Blech and Roy Doliner
The inclusion of unorthodox symbolism in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling
May 11, 2008
MICHELANGELO studied the Kabbalah and Talmud? It's all right there, above our heads, as Benjamin Blech and Roy Doliner demonstrate in their fascinating study of the Sistine Chapel, "The Sistine Secrets" (HarperOne: 336 pp., [..]). I understand the desire to reach Dan Brown's audience with the book's provocative subtitle -- "Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican" -- but this book is hardly a "Da Vinci Code" knockoff. The authors, both experts on Judaica, scoured Michelangelo's work and found many oddities, raising such questions as: Why does the serpent in Eden have arms? Why, in that scene, is the Tree of Knowledge a fig tree instead of an apple tree? And, hey, why does the shape of "The Last Judgment" resemble the tablets of the Ten Commandments?
The Florence of the Medicis, the authors explain, was a community receptive to the Jews in a time of tumult and intolerance elsewhere. Jewish philosophy and thought filtered down to the young artist through master tutors, such as Pico della Mirandola. It was the search for an all-embracing religious philosophy, the authors suggest, that led Michelangelo to draw on alternative sources for his biblical subjects and to "brilliantly hide inside these works antipapal messages more in keeping with his true universalistic feelings." Like the best art historians, the authors give us a fresh context for the times, never hesitating to make contemporary parallels: The Medicis, for instance, gave to Florence "the feeling of a new golden age, comparable in many ways to the popular spirit . . . when the Kennedy family brought the feeling of 'Camelot' to Washington." This is a stimulating exploration that makes familiar masterpieces seem strange and new.
-- Nick Owchar
An enjoyable and informative read! May 10, 2008
7 out of 10 found this review helpful
A composite of history, art, and religion..Obvoiusly, well-researched. The authors, Rabbi Benjamin Blech and Roy Doliner have collaborated on their own work of art, The Sistine Secrets. Fact and fiction are clearly delineated, most often with explanation. Those who read and find this book a stretch of the truth may only be limited by their own fear of the unknown, thus being close-minded. Accepting the integrity of the authors, I welcome their refreshing approach and open-mindedness. Truly a collboration of perspective, belief, and research. The Sistine Secrets is an enjoyable and informative read for the scholar and novice alike. Kudo's to all involved in this endeavor!
 Nothing more than a Far-Fetched Theory. May 9, 2008
5 out of 16 found this review helpful
I didn't like it. I would have liked for the authors to announce in the title or cover that the book is about how their theory of the kabbalah/judaism influenced Buonarrotti, sometimes in a really far-fetched manner. It's really more a history of Judaism revised with the excuse of the artwork. For a more balanced historic view I prefer Ross King's "The Pope's Ceiling".
Quite The Masterpiece ! May 7, 2008
13 out of 16 found this review helpful
Just as the Sistine Chapel was a piece of art so too is this piece by Benjamin Blech in uncovering century old secrets. Between the book's progression and its shocking depiction of the secrets behind a timeless masterpiece, this work is without a doubt one of the most important prints of the decade.
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