The Faun in the Garden: Michelangelo and the Poetic Origins of Italian Renaissance Art

Category: Books,Literature & Fiction,History & Criticism

The Faun in the Garden: Michelangelo and the Poetic Origins of Italian Renaissance Art Details

Review “In The Faun in the Garden, Barolsky offers a new reading of Vasari, Condivi, and Michelangelo which substantially enlarges our understanding of Renaissance biography, autobiography, and the ideas and attitudes about artistic creativity. Barolsky’s view of Vasari as a writer of fiction is far more sophisticated and consequential than anything else written about this crucial figure in the history of Renaissance art. Moreover, Barolsky has intelligently and sensitively revealed how artistic biography and autobiography are historical-poetic-imaginative constructs which, if read with care and learning, can reveal much about the fundamental nature of Renaissance art. All this is done in spare prose of considerable lucidity always free of opaque theoretical jargon. This is a stimulating, thought-provoking book.”—Bruce Cole, Indiana University Read more About the Author Paul Barolsky is Professor of the History of Art at the University of Virginia. He is the author of several books, including Giotto’s Father and the Family of Vasari’s “Lives” (Penn State, 1992), Why Mona Lisa Smiles and Other Tales by Vasari (Penn State, 1991), and Michelangelo’s Nose (Penn State, 1990). Read more

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