Les sculptures de Michel-Ange : le vrai, l'incertain et le faux

The significance of Michelangelo's sculptural work is often overshadowed by his frescoes, paintings and drawings. While The Slaves, David, the Pietà in the Vatican and Moses are familiar to the general public, other sculptures by the master are neglected or ignored: the fact that Michelangelo, as a sculptor, often called on collaborators, the highly publicised “rediscovery” of lost or overlooked works, and hypothetical or justified attributions too often confuse and discourage art history enthusiasts, researchers and aficionados.

This book, the result of fifty years of research and observation, attempts to answer their questions by approaching Michelangelo's sculptures from a new angle. It sets out to recount the history of each sculpture, its genesis and vicissitudes, and its technical characteristics, specifying what is known about the interventions of collaborators, but also pointing out the influence exerted over the centuries on other sculptors, giving rise to copies, demarcations, and unconscious or deliberate imitations. He offers a new, more concrete and clearer approach to the genius of Michelangelo Buonarroti, who considered himself first and foremost a sculptor.