First published in 1953, this book remains a classic of the literature on Michelangelo. It continues to be the only volume that contains 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 opinions of the leading Michelangelo scholars and provides a commentary with 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 of the colour plates show some of the paintings in their restored state.