Michelangelo's Mountain: The Quest For Perfection in the Marble Quarries of Carrara

Book Description

No artist looms so large in Western consciousness and culture as Michelangelo Buonarroti, the most celebrated sculptor of all time. And no place on earth provides a stone so capable of simulating the warmth and vitality of human flesh and incarnating the genius of a Michelangelo as the statuario of Carrara, the storied marble mecca at Tuscany's northwest corner. It was there, where shadowy Etruscans and Roman slaves once toiled, that Michelangelo risked his life in dozens of harrowing expeditions to secure the precious stone for his Pietà, Moses, and other masterpieces.

Many books have recounted Michelangelo's achievements in Florence and Rome. Michelangelo's Mountain goes beyond all of them, revealing his escapades and ordeals in the spectacular landscape that was the third pole of his tumultuous career and the third wellspring of his art. Eric Scigliano brings this haunting place and eternally fascinating artist to life in a sweeping tale peopled by popes and poets, mad dukes and mythic monsters, scheming courtiers and rough-hewn quarrymen. In showing how the artist, land, and stone transformed one another, Scigliano brings fresh insight to Michelangelo's most cherished works and illuminates his struggles with the princes and potentates of Carrara, Rome, and Medici Florence, who raised intrigue to a high art. He recounts the saga of the David, the improbable masterpiece that Michelangelo created against all odds, of the twin Hercules that he tried to erect beside it, and of the Salieri-like nemesis who snatched away the commission, turning a sculptural testament to liberty into a bitter symbol of tyranny and giving Florence the colossus it loves to hate.

Scigliano plumbs the Renaissance archives, uncovering previously unpublished and untranslated documents, and trolls the earthy cantinas of Carrara, where old cavatori who wrestled giant blocks from the mountains by hand recount the miseries and glories of a vanishing heroic age. He takes readers along with another sojourner, the exiled poet Dante Alighieri, who drew his visions of Hell and Purgatory partly from the surreal panorama of Carrara's quarries. Interweaving art, architecture, science, politics, folklore, and even quarry cuisine, he traces the mystique of marble and the magic of the stone carver's art from prehistory to the present, and shows how they culminate in the triumph and tragedy of Michelangelo's Pygmalion-like quest to bring life out of stone.

Customer Reviews:

Genre-crossing, discipline-crossing masterpiece.......2005-09-13

All of the people who think "Michelangelo" when they think of the Renaissance should read this work by a "Renaissance man" himself, Eric Scigliano, environmental journalist, humorist, art aficianado, and regular contributor to Harper's, Discover, and other magazines. I read his last book, "Love, War, and Circuses," which brought the world and land of the Asian elephant so alive I felt as if I were on his harrowing adventures with him, and have been seeking out his articles ever since. Both the layman and the expert alike will be fascinated by one of the few real prose stylists in journalism to write a part-biography, part-"reporter's notebook" account of Michelangelo, the city of Cararra (the third pole of Michelangelo's artistic endeavors, and no less important than Florence in the development of his masterpieces), and the rare, wondrous, "living" marble from that fascinating source of masterpieces the world over. Don't be distracted by the geological sidenotes or short discussions of the artists' tools; in Michelangelo's first appearance it is as if he walked up to a group of wiry, spry stone carvers and this journalist/artist/poetry translator, said hello, and joined them, as alive as ever, to admire the "mountain," a glistening white cliff of fossilized sea shells (you can't get much more alive, for stone, than being made out of the backs of ocean-dwellers, as marble is).

A passionate writer on a passionate subject, Scigliano's love for the artist and his sunlit-snow-like inspiration is "alive" on every page (and I learned enough about the Renaissance to wax intelligent at parties on neoplatonism, Michelangelo's own poetry, and the Umberto-eco-like intrigues of the patronage system, just in the first 50 pages!). You will never look at the "David," or a marble bathroom counter, in quite the same way. Scigliano is a huge talent.

A MEMORABLE WORK.......2005-09-08

Of the millions of people who have stood in line waiting at Florence's Galleria dell' Academia di Belle Arte to see the incomparable statue of David by Michelangelo, I wonder how many thought about the marble with which the artist worked. Very few, I'd imagine. Yet the story of the marble quarries of Carrara is as dramatic as many of the beautiful pieces wrought from their stone. Eric Scigliano, whose ancestors were quarrymen and stone carvers in Carrara, relates the fascinating story of Michelangelo's search for the stone he wanted, his continuing relationship with the city where he found it, and that city today.

Only recently the 17-foot-tall statue of David was restored, and the world was reminded of its beauty. Scigliano reminds us of the risks taken by quarrymen and by Michelangelo himself as they worked together to find the perfect stone, one that would do justice to Michelangelo's vision. The artist's quest is set among the machinations and maneuvering of Renaissance Rome, Florence, and Carrara, a compelling story in itself.

Readers will learn that there is over 2,000 years of "extractive industry" in Carrara, and it continues today. During his lifetime, Michelangelo probably spent two years there, first arriving in 1498 to find the stone for the Pieta. In regard to the San Lorenzo Church facade, there was all but open warfare between the Carrara marble masters and the Medici rulers in Rome and Florence.

Author Scigliano researched assiduously, laboriously searching Renaissance archives and often deciphering documents that had not been translated before. The result is a memorable work, one that will fascinate not only art lovers and historians but all.

- Gail Cooke

MICHELANGELO'S MOUNTAIN: THE QUEST FOR PERFECTION IN THE MARBLE QUARRIES OF CARRARA

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MICHELANGELO'S MOUNTAIN: THE QUEST FOR PERFECTION IN THE MARBLE QUARRIES OF CARRARA
Eric Scigliano
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J3YM5W

Book Description

Hazel's grandfather promised to whip up a love potion to help Hazel get Almond's attention, and now he says he'll do the same to help Bulbasaur charm Pistachio.

Book Description

How to play with your office supplies! Includes 75 tricks and stunts with pencils, business cards, paper clips, rubber bands, copy machines, fax machines, calculators, paper, and neck ties. Relieve occupational stress with... Credit Card Buzzing, Letter Opener Swallowing, The Endless Fax, The Disappearing Pencil, and the Invisible Elevator. 128 pages. 208 photos and illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

Best for Those Who Like to Be the Life of the Office.......2003-01-07

This is a very funny book. I recommend it for anyone who wants to bring a little life into his/her office. Best of all, the tricks listed inside the book really work!

College Enhancer.......2001-10-17

As a college student, I don't do much work anyway, but this book increased my fun about 1 million fold. I can now "amaze" my "friends" with manuvers like the "Credit Card Buzz"! A must have for the serious procrastinator.

Work .. Play .. What's the difference?.......2000-03-22

I swear 99% of my users have read this book. As a LAN Administrator, my users are famous for skirting work. This is their Bible.

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Nashville Country Lead Guitar (Book and CD) (Red Dog Music Books Country Guitar Series)
Larry McCabe
Manufacturer: Red Dog Music Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

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GUITAR CLUES BK/CD OPERATION PENTATONIC

Red Hot Country Guitar

Country Pickin': The Don Rich Anthology

ASIN: B000MUTY2I

Product Description

This book/CD set features 25 twangy intermediate-to-advanced solos in the classic honky tonk style. If you love the sound of a twangy Telecaster guitar, you will enjoy learning the solos in this book. It is the best classic country solos book available! This is an intermediate to advanced book for players having basic skills. However, a brave and ambitious beginner might be able to tackle the slower solos. The solos contain many great LICKS and IDEAS that can be used by a creative onstage country guitarist. All solos are written in TAB and standard notation, and recorded on the companion CD. Few styles of music have enjoyed the widespread and enduring popularity of country music. Through the years, country music has developed from the rural Southern string band sound to the raw honky-tonk of the postwar period, the Nashville pop sounds of the late 50s and 60s, and finally the overly slick commercial sound of today. The solos in this book sound like the breaks one might hear on classic recordings by Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Lefty Frizell, George Jones, and similar artists who defined the exciting honky-tonk sound of the 50s to late 60sbefore rampant commercialism eliminated virtually all originality and feeling from popular country guitar solos. Several hundred popular country recordings were researched to come up with the 25 chord progressions in this book. Each progression was found to be common to several popular songs. A solo incorporating various concepts and techniques was composed to each progression. The result is an authentic sounding collection of country guitar solos through which various ideas can be analyzed.

Lead Licks: Over 200 Licks in All Styles Hal Leonard Guitar Method

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Great Learning Tool
200 Killer licks by Greg Koch
Disappointed

Lead Licks: Over 200 Licks in All Styles Hal Leonard Guitar Method
Greg Koch
Manufacturer: Hal Leonard Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0634048473

Book Description

Are you tired of playing the same licks over and over again? Or maybe you just don't know what to play during your solo? Lead Licks is a unique book designed to increase your improvising vocabulary by taking a short phrase, or "lick," and morphing it into different styles! This book/CD pack covers rock, blues, jazz, country, and "outside" styles. It gives you major, minor and dominant 7th licks (12 of each!) plus a special "exotic" section. You'll have a lick for nearly any musical situation. The CD includes each lick played at full speed and at a slower practice tempo. Written by Greg Koch, Hal Leonard Guitar Method co-author, Fender clinician, and Favored Nations recording artist!

Customer Reviews:

Great Learning Tool.......2007-01-05

A great resource for any guitarist looking to breathe some fresh air into their lead playing.

200 Killer licks by Greg Koch.......2006-11-17

A treasure trove of fine licks by master guitarist Greg Koch. These licks are challenging and not for the beginning guitarist even though it looks like a companion to the Hal Leonard Guitar Method. He plays 44 licks and makes variations of those in Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country, and Outside to come up with 200 licks. The book only lists for $9.95 and includes a CD and will give a lot to work on for a while. A great value compared to the cost of private lessons. The licks sound great and the CD sounds great also. A winner from Mr. Koch.

Disappointed.......2006-02-05

Mr. Koch is a fine guitarist with a unique raunchy flavor[this is a compliment]but the book and cd are a disappointment.His selections I feel don't represent his best abilities and many are far too similar pehaps in his quest to reach "200" licks as stated in the title.I have many titles in this genre--the best is by a major talent by the name Guthrie Govan"Creative Guitar"Book 1 and Book 2 Subtitle-Cutting-Edge Techniques.

Blues Lead Guitar Method (Progressive Young Beginners)

Average customer rating:

Buy this Book
Great for beginner or intermediate
Good Tool for Learning Blues Scales and Technique
IF YOU DON`T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MUSIC THEORY...
its rockin

Blues Lead Guitar Method (Progressive Young Beginners)
Peter Gelling
Manufacturer: Progressive
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1875726454

Customer Reviews:

Buy this Book.......2006-05-25

I bought this book a few weeks ago (along with a few others) to learn how to progress from a rhythm player (just open chords) to actually being able to use all the frets in lead style. It is a very easy to understand book, it teaches you scales that every guitarist should know, shows you how you should sound like, and makes music theory relevant to a casual guitarist. Excellent Book!

Great for beginner or intermediate.......2005-09-24

I'm a player that hacked around for 10 years before really making an effort to improve. This book and CD really helped. No lesson system is pure magic, much of what is taught in terms of technique obviously takes a lot of practice to master, so be prepared to put in the work. My only knock on this product is that the CD is not subdivided enough. I bought the Rhythm Blues book in this series and each example was a track on the CD. For the Lead CD, each track is a whole lesson that may have up to 5 examples on it. It's not the end of the world, but I found it to be a pain that I couldn't loop a single example very easily.

Good Tool for Learning Blues Scales and Technique.......2002-10-23

I bought this book to learn the technique used in rock. Peter Gelling takes you through the 5 patterns, shows the relationship of each pattern to a chord rather than pattern 1 through 5, and teaches you a song in each pattern. He also presents some mixing of the patterns. The techniques hammers, pull-offs, slides, bends, etc. are all covered. He likes to incorporate blues licks in his songs from the old blues masters. I ran into a few of these licks while learning some of my favorite guitar solos.

IF YOU DON`T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MUSIC THEORY..........2001-09-19

...but you want to play Blues, this is the right book for you. I wanted to play blues, but I never studied any music theory, so I thought it would be impossible. But this book is great: it just teaches you the most important concepts of music theory, introduces you to the most famous blues rhytms, teaches you the blues scale... To those who start like me without knowing anything about theory I suggest to first start with the section about Rhytm and then to go on to the Scales ( in the book the two sections are in the opposite order ).
"From beginners to advanced guitarist..." also is true: there are really simple licks up to some solos I can't yet manage to play sound even after a year.
I hope you'll enjoy this book!

its rockin.......2000-12-29

wow, pow it's a good book. This book will help you with the blues lead guitar method.

It goes pop.. it goes pow... it goes wow wow wow.

Average customer rating:
You're in the Band - Interactive Guitar Method : For Lead Guitar / Book 1

Manufacturer: Willis Music Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0877180024

Product Description

This method starts simple and gradually increases in difficulty while students enjoy the music they're learning to play. It includes an authentic-sounding play-along CD so the student feels like he/she just joined a band! Includes 25 songs.

Jazz Lead Guitar Method (Progressive Young Beginners)

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Jazz Lead Guitar Method (Progressive Young Beginners)
Peter Gelling
Manufacturer: L.T.P. Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1864691743

Complete Rock Guitar Method: Rock Lead Guitar Solos (Complete Rock Guitar Method)

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Complete Rock Guitar Method: Rock Lead Guitar Solos (Complete Rock Guitar Method)
Glenn Riley
Manufacturer: Alfred Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Blues Lead Guitar Method
Steve Griffin
Manufacturer: Mel Bay Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

One of the all-time best selling books on blues lead guitar playing. Playing lead blues-rock guitar depends on mainly two things: 1) what you can hear in your mind, and 2) getting your fingers to the proper sounds on your instrument. This book was written with emphasis on the second idea. There are four blues-rock finger patterns used in this book utilizing all six strings of the guitar with each pattern. These four patterns connect with each other enabling the lead player to use the entire fingerboard and range of the guitar to express his musical ideas. Charts are used to show you how to place these four patterns at the proper place on the neck for improvising in any key. Great rock solos can be played in any one of these for patterns or in any combination of the patterns. Written in box diagram and tablature form (notation also included), this fine text takes the beginning guitarist into solid, funk/rock lead solo playing. Play-along CD included.

Complete Rock Guitar Method: Beginning Rock Guitar: Lead & Rhythm (Complete Rock Guitar Method)

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Complete Rock Guitar Method: Beginning Rock Guitar: Lead & Rhythm (Complete Rock Guitar Method)
Paul Howard
Manufacturer: Alfred Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Guitar Method Lead (Progressive Guitar Method)

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Guitar Method Lead (Progressive Guitar Method)
Gary Turner
Manufacturer: Koala Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1864690704

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Lead rock guitar
Jimmy Stewart
Manufacturer: Dick Grove Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Book Description

This is the tale of the insalubrious and utterly failed life of the notorious nineteenth-century thief, murderer, professional impostor, and would-be philologist Edward Rulloff, who was condemned to die and hanged for his crimes. The life of Rulloff is a sordid account of misguided genius and abysmal consequences. Those who loved him courted disaster, and, in every case, the courtship flowered into catastrophe.
Richard Bailey's narrative, calm and impartial yet spiked with wit and suspense, captures perfectly the slightly haunted and overwrought air of Victorian rural America, calling on newspaper accounts, interviews, and eyewitness reports of the day. Inevitably, the quiet accumulation of details builds to a story that transcends its individual events to touch on the universal themes of any age.
Rogue Scholar is about the evil of one man who lived a life of deception and crime. Yet in a larger sense it is also the portrait of a condemned soul in its final hours, an examination of the death penalty, and a reminder that media sensationalism is nothing new.

Customer Reviews:

True Crime!.......2003-10-03

It isn't often that you find a book that's credible history and can't-put-down reading, but this tale of upstate New York murderer Edward Rulloff is both. If you liked The Professor and the Madman or The Devil in the White City, you'll love this one.

Rogue Scholar: The Sinister Life and Celebrated Death of Edward H. Rulloff.(Bibliographia): An article from: Verbatim

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Rogue Scholar: The Sinister Life and Celebrated Death of Edward H. Rulloff.(Bibliographia): An article from: Verbatim
Michael Adams
Manufacturer: VERBATIM
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Verbatim, published by VERBATIM on September 22, 2003. The length of the article is 1422 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Rogue Scholar: The Sinister Life and Celebrated Death of Edward H. Rulloff.(Bibliographia)
Author: Michael Adams
Publication: Verbatim (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 22, 2003
Publisher: VERBATIM
Volume: 28 Issue: 3 Page: 26(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Rogue Scholar: The Sinister Life and Celebrated Death of Edward H. Rulloff

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Rogue Scholar: The Sinister Life and Celebrated Death of Edward H. Rulloff

Manufacturer: University of Michigan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HYVE4K

Book Description

If you think you know everything about Lucille Ball, think again! Lucy A to Z, is a unique encyclopedic guide to the life and career of Lucy, the most beloved comedian of our time.

This second edition of Lucy A to Z is filled with newly discovered archival research and updated information, plus exclusive interviews; a new foreword by Lucy’s Number 1 Fan, Michael Stern; and details of the stage careers of the four “I Love Lucy” principals. A special treat: information on a “lost” Broadway play from 1963 in which one of the major characters was based on Lucille Ball: “Nobody Loves an Albatross.”

Since its initial publication in May 2001, Lucy A to Z has found acceptance in the hearts of Lucy fans everywhere, from the Lucy-Desi Museum in Jamestown, New York, to the “Loving Lucy” convention in Burbank, California, and all points in between.

The public has loved Lucille Ball for more than 50 years. This book is for those millions of fans.

Download Description

If you think you know everything about Lucille Ball, think again! Lucy A to Z is a unique encyclopedic tribute to the life and career of Lucy, the most beloved comedian of our time.

This third edition of Lucy A to Z is filled with newly discovered archival research and updated information. Author Michael Karol obtained exclusive interviews, like the chat with Lucy

Customer Reviews:

Very valuable but don't buy it first.......2003-06-25

I enjoyed this book and was very informed by it. I doubt you can find more detailed background data about Lucille Ball's work (from the beginning of her career to the end, from stage to the big and small screens) and her (lesser known) co-stars and co-workers anywhere else. The problem is, I'm a new fan to Lucy and I wanted to read about her life in a more conventional way (where she was born, raised, her influences, her marriage, children, etc). Those types of books got such mixed reviews from fans that I thought I'd start with this one, which had only positive reviews. There is some basic bio in this book, but it assumes you know that type of information about Lucy. So I would just say: make sure you don't start with this book if you're a new fan. It's like getting to know her backwards (everyone around her instead of the star herself). This is definitely a book for seasoned fans who want to know "more."

A must read for any Lucy fan!.......2001-11-04

Great format, easy to read. Every coffee table must have one!!

Lucy A-Z Gets A 10+.......2001-08-14

This book was recommended to me by a friend and I couldn't put it down. I loved the format, the authors perspective and views were interesting and unique and you could tell he was a real Lucy fan (who isn't). Add this book to your cart and you won't be disappointed. You can read it again and again because of the unique way it is written. A must for Lucy fans. Enjoy!

Unique.......2001-08-14

A thoroughly enjoyable read on Lucy. Learned some things I never knew - and loved that way you could navigate from one section to another.

Cool Lucy Bio.......2001-08-14

This new paperback biography of Lucille Ball is something different, an "A to Z" run through her life, sprinkled with the author's opinions. I actually agreed with most of them, and the breezy style and content is the perfect antidote for a depressing day. Read it and love Lucy all over again.

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