Michelangelo and the English Martyrs

Anne Dillon is a member of Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge.

'Dillon's study should be of interest to specialists and non-specialists, alike. It offers clear analysis and is incredibly detailed, systematically explaining every strand of her argument and how each piece fits together.' Sixteenth Century Journal Volume ’Michelangelo and the English Martyrs is a stunning piece of detective work. Anne Dillon’s impressive research unlocks the secrets of an extraordinary broadsheet and reconstructs in compelling detail the overlapping religious, intellectual, political and cultural worlds from which it emerged. In the process, she transforms our understanding of the connections between English Catholicism, the European Counter Reformation, and the artistic Renaissance that flowered in sixteenth-century Rome. To read this remarkable book is to be taken on a fascinating journey that starts in Henrician London and ends in Michelangelo’s studio.’ Alexandra Walsham, University of Cambridge, UK 'This is a beautifully crafted book in every sense, from its scholarship to its gorgeous illustrations. It casts new, scintillating light on a wide array of subjects, from early modern Catholicism and its interaction with the Renaissance to the fate of Roman cadavers. Above all, this book shows just how eloquently artistic imagery could speak, and continues to speak, about politics, science and faith. You may never regard a picture in the same way again.' Lucy Wooding in The Tablet 'Unquestionably deep and complex, Michelangelo and the English Martyrs is a fine achievement. For all its tangled web, Dillon patiently carries the reader throughout the book and convinces with a number of her assessments. With an array of characters from Reginald Pole to Philip of Spain and Michelangelo this intriguing book further places English Catholicism in the European scene from which it has too long been isolated.' The Catholic Times 'Dillon describes a fascinating network of connections among Spanish kings, artists, great physicians of the age, theo

• Contents: Introduction; Three cardinals and a pope; The martyrdom of the English Carthusian fathers; The broadsheet images; Reginald Pole and the broadsheet; Michelangelo and the Cappella Paolina: the final frescoes; Ecclesia viterbiensis; Reginald Pole and the Cappella Paolina frescoes; Michelangelo in the broadsheet images; Postcards of Rome; English martyrs in a Roman landscape; Prints, cartoons and drawings; Anatomists and artists; The cardinal and his physician; A demonstration of a dissection; Anatomical research and the archconfraternity of San Giovanni Decollato; The case of Michael Servetus and pulmonary circulation; The artist; The recipient; Coda; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.