Matthias Wivel – författare

The first publication to consider the relationship between these two major artists of the High RenaissanceThrough most of Michelangelo’s working life, one of his closest colleagues was the great Venetian painter Sebastiano del Piombo (1485­–1541). The two men met in Rome in 1511, shortly after Sebastiano’s arrival from his native city, and while Michelangelo was based in Florence from 1516 to 1534 Sebastiano remained one of his Roman confidants, painting several works after partial designs by him. This landmark publication is about the artists’ extraordinary professional alliance and the friendship that underpinned it. It situates them in the dramatic context of their time, tracing their evolving artistic relationship through more than three decades of creative dialogue.Matthias Wivel and other leading scholars investigate Michelangelo’s profound influence on Sebastiano and the Venetian artist’s highly original interpretation of his friend’s formal and thematic concerns. The lavishly illustrated text examines their shared preoccupation with the depiction of death and resurrection, primarily in the life of Christ, through a close analysis of drawings, paintings, and sculpture. The book also brings the austerely beautiful work of Sebastiano to a new audience, offering a reappraisal of this less famous but most accomplished artist. Published by National Gallery Company/Distributed by Yale University PressExhibition Schedule:The National Gallery, London(03/15/17–06/25/17)

An exploration of Parmigianino’s greatest Roman painting, illuminating his dynamic process of invention and the dramatic story around its creation.  Parmigianino (1503–1540), whose nickname means “little man of Parma,” was the leading painter in Parma after Correggio, and is celebrated as one of the originators of Mannerism. The Vision of Saint Jerome is his first, and only, major public undertaking from his brief period in Rome.  This book explores the artist’s time in the city until the dramatic events of the Sack of Rome in 1527, and places The Vision of Saint Jerome in the context of Parmigianino’s career and legacy. Featuring a selection of key surviving preparatory drawings for this altarpiece, the publication reveals Parmigianino’s inspired artistic process.  Tracing the history of Parmigianino’s masterpiece after its arrival in England, the texts also provides an illuminating account of the painting’s conservation and of the artist’s reception in nineteenth-century Britain.Published by National Gallery Global/Distributed by Yale University Press