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  • The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican
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The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Benjamin Blech (Author), Roy Doliner (Author), James Cameron Stewart (Narrator),
4.4 out of 5 stars 836 ratings

麻豆区

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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.

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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  1. Listening Length
    11 hours and 18 minutes
  2. Author
    Benjamin Blech, see all
  3. Narrator
    James Cameron Stewart
  4. Audible release date
    Aug. 8 2017
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Tantor Audio
  7. ASIN
    B074CN3GMM
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
Next slide of product details

Product details

Listening Length 11 hours and 18 minutes
Author Benjamin Blech, Roy Doliner
Narrator James Cameron Stewart
Audible.ca Release Date August 08 2017
Publisher Tantor Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B074CN3GMM
麻豆区 Rank

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
836 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the content amazing, fascinating, and well-researched. They also appreciate the beautiful illustrations that bring a deeper understanding of the artist.

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ContentIllustrations
7 customers mention "Content"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book amazing, fascinating, and well-researched. They say it opened up new worlds for them.

"Loved this book! So many revealing facts I was not aware of. I found the history of the Popes very disturbing but highly intriguing...." Read more

"Absolutely amazing book. So many facts I had no idea about. Will plan my trip to see it all in real life. Highly recommended book." Read more

"This is a wonderful book, filled with beautiful illustrations. Michelangelo received a classical education. He studied Greek, Latin, and Hebrew...." Read more

"Good book" Read more

4 customers mention "Illustrations"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book filled with beautiful illustrations. They say the paintings bring a deeper understanding of the artist.

"This is a wonderful book, filled with beautiful illustrations. Michelangelo received a classical education. He studied Greek, Latin, and Hebrew...." Read more

"...the creation of the sculptures and paintings bring a deeper understanding of the artist. Overall...fascinating!" Read more

"Very well written and researched! Extremely 8nteresting read from an artistic, religious as well as political perspective!" Read more

"beautiful book..." Read more

Top reviews from Canada

  • Manuel Matas
    5.0 out of 5 stars this book is a revelation
    Reviewed in Canada on March 25, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    This is a wonderful book, filled with beautiful illustrations. Michelangelo received a classical education. He studied Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. He read the Torah and Talmud and he studied Kabbalah. The authors, a rabbi and an art historian, show how he worked hidden kabbalistic symbols into his painting of the Sistine Chapel. It is almost like reading a detective story combined with an historical novel. Seeing the hidden messages and images in his painting is a revelation.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • John
    4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
    Reviewed in Canada on December 17, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Good book
    Helpful
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  • Ross Coburn
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous Book
    Reviewed in Canada on March 1, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    The Hebrew perspective on the Sistine ceiling details was revelatory.
    Helpful
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  • Isabel Inkster
    5.0 out of 5 stars Loved this book
    Reviewed in Canada on January 4, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Loved this book! So many revealing facts I was not aware of. I found the history of the Popes very disturbing but highly intriguing. The details behind the creation of the sculptures and paintings bring a deeper understanding of the artist. Overall...fascinating!
    One person found this helpful
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  • AB Reader
    5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely amazing book. So many facts I had no idea ...
    Reviewed in Canada on May 24, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Absolutely amazing book. So many facts I had no idea about. Will plan my trip to see it all in real life. Highly recommended book.
    One person found this helpful
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  • J. Laing
    5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable
    Reviewed in Canada on July 21, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I was captured by the first words. I did extensive research on my own while reading this book. Why? Because this book opened up new worlds for me. To read and be able to visualise the renaissance in a more inclusive framework is fascinating.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • J. Brami
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!!! Good source to get it from!
    Reviewed in Canada on January 23, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Thank you Mr. Blech for the enlightening experience! Like most books, I don't necessarily believe everything the author says as fact but the delivery is very enjoyable, which makes for a pleasant experience overall. I would absolutely recommend to a friend or a brother!
    One person found this helpful
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  • A C MOGENSEN
    5.0 out of 5 stars Truth is Found in Strange and Surprising Places
    Reviewed in Canada on December 15, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Oh my, what a revelation to unsuspecting readers. Michelangelo was as smart as they come.
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Luisa
    5.0 out of 5 stars illuminante
    Reviewed in Italy on November 17, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Un libro che svela molti segreti ed evidenzia dettagli che mi erano sfuggiti durante le mie visite alla Cappella Sistina.
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  • Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars for scholarship and readability
    Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2008
    Verified Purchase
    The authors have produced an important work of art historical scholarship that is also a delightful book to read. They take their readers on a tour of the intellectual and social world in which Michelangelo's attitudes were formed. They explain that he had "a very special education" that gave him great sympathy with freethinking, even heretical, writers. They also reveal his knowledge of the Midrash, the Talmud, and Kabbalah.

    Michelangelo and other Renaissance artists embedded coded messages into nearly all their works. It delighted European elites who gained enormous social cache from their ability to interpret complex images. It also served as a way to express "censored" ideas.

    In the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo took the opportunity to fill the space with "hidden messages of his passionate loves and his righteous rages, along with mystic symbols of divine justice and divine mercy" (306). His motives remain difficult to discern. But there can be no doubt that he intended his work to be read--not hidden from posterity.

    The authors help us to "read" Michelangelo's images by providing the tools used by sixteenth-century humanists. They walk us through the chapel as if they were tour guides, pointing out some very extraordinary features, for example, the depiction of two putti "giving the fig" to Pope Julius's portrait (136). They also show us details that recently came to light after the Sistine ceiling was cleaned, a process that started in 1980. Most notable is the figure of Aminadab (a distant ancestor of Jesus Christ) wearing the yellow badge of shame required by the Fourth Lateran Council. He makes the "devil's horns" with his fingers and points towards the ceremonial canopy over Julius's papal throne (154).

    Wow.

    This book is so much fun to read.

    PS-I recommend the hardcover version because the dust cover opens up into a mini-poster of the Sistine ceiling.
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  • 麻豆区 Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars my favorite read on the subject
    Reviewed in India on March 10, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    Hands down, my favorite read on the subject!
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  • Video master
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good read showing great details never seen before!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 24, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Great read plus very surprising revelations not seen or even noticed before most surprising on how much of a chance Michelangelo took in his quest to outdo and ultimately shame a pope!
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  • htk
    5.0 out of 5 stars バチカンに行くなら必読
    Reviewed in Japan on March 4, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    ミケランジェロの作品は见たことがあるが、ここに书かれていることは全く知らなかった。キンドルでは作品の详细が分からないので、美术全集を见ながら読んだ。书かれていることが全て着者たちの言う通りなのかは知识のない私には判断できない。キリスト教の土台としてのユダヤ教の重要性はもちろん认めるが、ややうるさいと感じてしまうこともあった。しかし、これを知ったうえであの天井画を见たかったと思った。ルネッサンスを生きた人々が身近に感じられたし、「ダビンチ?コード」」のような作品ももっと楽しめたと思う。
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