Rodin and Michelangelo: A Study in Artistic Inspiration

Hardcover and softcover
236 pages, 8 ½ x 6 in.
56 color + 87 b/w illus.
Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1997
Hardcover ISBN 9780876331101
Softcover ISBN 9780876331095

Published to accompany an exhibition of sculptures and drawings by two of history’s greatest artists, this book examines the pivotal career of Auguste Rodin (1840–1917) and his acknowledged debt to Michelangelo (1475–1564). Texts by prominent scholars discuss Rodin’s early departures from the idealized figures of traditional academic sculpture as well as his 1876 visit to Italy, where for the first time he was confronted with the full force of Michelangelo’s work. Discussions of individual works are accompanied by full-color illustrations.

Flavio Fergonzi is professor of art history at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan. Maria Mimita Lamberti is professor of contemporary art at the Università Statale, Milan. Pina Ragionieri is the director of the Casa Buonarroti, Florence. Christopher Riopelle is the Philadelphia Museum of Art associate curator of European painting and the Rodin Museum.