The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican
by Benjamin Blech, Roy Doliner
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Book Summary Information
Author: Benjamin Blech, Roy DolinerEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-05-01
ISBN: 0061469041
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: HarperOne
Book Reviews of The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican
Book Review: Michelangelo's Jewish agenda? Reference, please . . .
Summary: 2 Stars
This book describes many of Michelangelo's high Renaissance artworks in the Vatican City, Florence and elsewhere and claims Michelangelo was directly influenced by Jewish religious teachings of the Talmud, Midrash and Kabbalah in his subject matter as well as deeper symbolic messages of Christian religious art, particularly in the Sistine Chapel.
The authors note that Michelangelo was virtually adopted by Lorenzo de Medici and educated in an intellectual environment of the de Medici court that included Renaissance scholars and philosophers who were proponents of ideals of unity of religious and philosophical thought. Among other sources, the authors claim these studies included Jewish teachings and philosophical works based on Jewish teachings. The authors argue that the Jewish component of those intellectual discussions at the "School of Athens" in the de Medici family palace must have been picked up and internalized by the young Michelangelo as a lifetime intellectual influence and a sympathy to Jewish religious and mystical thought. This tenuous speculation about his early education is the basis of the central claim.
In order to accept the theme, one has to accept the central speculation about Michelangelo's alleged fascination with the Jewish teachings.
Several detailed observations, subjective interpretations and speculations about the artworks in the Sistine Chapel and elsewhere are then provided in the book to validate these claims. These interpretations of the artworks are the strength of the entire argument. The authors provide skimpy evidence of this alleged fascination in Michelangelo's letters and poetry, his known associates, or in any accounts of his contemporaries.
More conventional Christian scholarship could have provided the Old Testament subject matter and many of the subtleties revealed in the authors' observations.
The authors' theme that Jewish teaching was as central and profound as they propose, and claims of Michelangelo being directly influenced by the Jewish teaching are not well established.
Some of the observations and speculations of the book are interesting. The book has provided me with previously unfamiliar insights in the history and symbols in the Sistine Chapel. Some of the speculations the authors provide seem plausible, others are open to various interpretation, while others strain credibility or contradict my own observations.
I cannot validate or invalidate the authors claims, however, because I have been frustrated by a lack of reference in dozens of places in the text when I had a question regarding an extraordinary or even an uncontroversial statement of fact, history, observation, theory or speculation. There are other places where the authors disagree with other writings I have read on the subjects.
The book is woefully lacking in annotation and reference. I cannot assess how common or how unique the themes and subtleties of Michelangelo were in the context of wider Renaissance religious art or how common or unprecedented are the observations and speculations the authors provide.
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence that the authors do not provide. What we get instead are speculations, subjective interpretations and conspiracy theory.
The result is a book that is neither fish nor fowl; neither scholarly treatise nor popular guide accessible to a larger naive audience.
I can suggest this book to readers with a particular interest in the Sistine Chapel or Michelangelo's life for its unconventional viewpoint, but I would caution the reader to read it with a critical mind.
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