The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo's Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican
by: Benjamin Blech, Roy Doliner
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Five hundred years ago Michelangelo began work on a painting that became one of the most famous pieces of art in the world—the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Every year millions of people come to see Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling, which is the largest fresco painting on earth in the holiest of Christianity's chapels; yet there is not one single Christian image in this vast, magnificent artwork.
The Sistine Secrets tells the fascinating story of how Michelangelo embedded messages of brotherhood, tolerance, and freethinking in his painting to encourage "fellow travelers" to challenge the repressive Roman Catholic Church of his time.
Blech and Doliner reveal what Michelangelo meant in the angelic representations that brilliantly mocked his papal patron, how he managed to sneak unorthodox heresies into his ostensibly pious portrayals, and how he was able to fulfill his lifelong ambition to bridge the wisdom of science with the strictures of faith. The Sistine Secrets unearths secrets that have remained hidden in plain sight for centuries.
Five hundred years ago Michelangelo began work on a painting that became one of the most famous pieces of art in the world—the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Every year millions of people come to see Michelangelo's Sistine ceiling, which is the largest fresco painting on earth in the holiest of Christianity's chapels; yet there is not one single Christian image in this vast, magnificent artwork.
The Sistine Secrets tells the fascinating story of how Michelangelo embedded messages of brotherhood, tolerance, and freethinking in his painting to encourage "fellow travelers" to challenge the repressive Roman Catholic Church of his time.
"Driven by the truths he had come to recognize during his years of study in private nontraditional schooling in Florence, truths rooted in his involvement with Judaic texts as well as Kabbalistic training that conflicted with approved Christian doctrine, Michelangelo needed to find a way to let viewers discern what he truly believed. He could not allow the Church to forever silence his soul. And what the Church would not permit him to communicate openly, he ingeniously found a way to convey to those diligent enough to learn his secret language."—from the Preface
Blech and Doliner reveal what Michelangelo meant in the angelic representations that brilliantly mocked his papal patron, how he managed to sneak unorthodox heresies into his ostensibly pious portrayals, and how he was able to fulfill his lifelong ambition to bridge the wisdom of science with the strictures of faith. The Sistine Secrets unearths secrets that have remained hidden in plain sight for centuries.
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Interesting But Flawed
This book explores the interesting thesis that Michelangelo's ceiling is an intricate work of transgressive art that expresses the artist's disdain for the Vatican and papacy.The thesis is not without plausibility and is supported with intriguing observations.However, the discussion of other works of art and Renaissance culture call into suspicion the credibility of the authors.For example, they claim that the great Laocoon sculpture in the Vatican Museum was "commissioned" by Greeks at the ... Read More
Rating: 
- TIMNOW
This book was very disappointing.The writing is simple-minded and the scholarship amateurish.If you know anything about Michelangelo and his times, you will laugh out loud at some of the assertions made by the authors.They never let the facts get in the way of their thesis that Michelangelo was secretly a Jew who hated the Church.A mean-spirted book.
Rating: 
- A masterpiece for the Curious
Not everyone is a history buff, let alone an art history buff, but if you are then this book is for you.The authors' research and insight are a treasure for anyone interested in learning more about Michelangelo's hidden meanings or great Renaissance art in general.An exciting read, I couldn't put it down.
Rating: - Nothing but speculation and jewish proselytism
This book, while seemed somehow interesting about the proposed argument, is quite subjective and speculative about the supposedely jewish influence on Michelangelo's beliefs and artwork.
The Vatican frescoes (all of them) cannot be truly understood but by analyzing them in a context of Renaissance thinking, and above all, the christian theological guidelines they are based on. So, simplifying Michelangelo's work as a mainly jewish-supported artwork and even proposing that many of those ... Read More
Rating: - Silly, hypocritical, and bigoted
There are plenty of excellent one-star reviews, I like most the one by T. Sweeney. There is no need to add to the critics on the topic of the dubiousness of the authors' claims. So I will add some points that have been overlooked.
The authors' insufferable politically correct moralism is mostly turned against the Catholic Church. Somehow they think Michelangelo's homosexuality is not immoral but when the popes engage in the same practices they are self-righteously condemned. Rather inconsistently, ... Read More
- Interesting But FlawedThis book explores the interesting thesis that Michelangelo's ceiling is an intricate work of transgressive art that expresses the artist's disdain for the Vatican and papacy.The thesis is not without plausibility and is supported with intriguing observations.However, the discussion of other works of art and Renaissance culture call into suspicion the credibility of the authors.For example, they claim that the great Laocoon sculpture in the Vatican Museum was "commissioned" by Greeks at the ... Read More
- TIMNOWThis book was very disappointing.The writing is simple-minded and the scholarship amateurish.If you know anything about Michelangelo and his times, you will laugh out loud at some of the assertions made by the authors.They never let the facts get in the way of their thesis that Michelangelo was secretly a Jew who hated the Church.A mean-spirted book.
- A masterpiece for the CuriousNot everyone is a history buff, let alone an art history buff, but if you are then this book is for you.The authors' research and insight are a treasure for anyone interested in learning more about Michelangelo's hidden meanings or great Renaissance art in general.An exciting read, I couldn't put it down.
- Nothing but speculation and jewish proselytismThis book, while seemed somehow interesting about the proposed argument, is quite subjective and speculative about the supposedely jewish influence on Michelangelo's beliefs and artwork.
The Vatican frescoes (all of them) cannot be truly understood but by analyzing them in a context of Renaissance thinking, and above all, the christian theological guidelines they are based on. So, simplifying Michelangelo's work as a mainly jewish-supported artwork and even proposing that many of those ... Read More
- Silly, hypocritical, and bigotedThere are plenty of excellent one-star reviews, I like most the one by T. Sweeney. There is no need to add to the critics on the topic of the dubiousness of the authors' claims. So I will add some points that have been overlooked.
The authors' insufferable politically correct moralism is mostly turned against the Catholic Church. Somehow they think Michelangelo's homosexuality is not immoral but when the popes engage in the same practices they are self-righteously condemned. Rather inconsistently, ... Read More
