| |
Michelangelo: Sculptures & Paintings
Click For Prices
Does the name Michelangelo conjure up images of exquisite white-marble sculptures and breathtaking frescoes? This CD-ROM showcases the artist's work (sculptures, frescoes, and all) and tells the story of his life as it unfolded in the Italian Renaissance. The program is divided into four areas: Narrative, Work, Places, and Characters. Narrative, the only spoken portion of the package, allows users to select a year and listen to a summary of the artist's life during that time. Work presents the artist's architecture, drawings, sculptures, paintings, bas-reliefs, and frescoes. Places--divided between Bologna, Florence, and Rome--features locations that were significant in the artist's life and those spots where his work is set. (The one glaring error is a button for the "Sixtine" Chapel.) And Characters offers short biographies of some important figures from the Italian Renaissance who influenced Michelangelo. The featured characters come from all walks of life--the worlds of art, politics, religion, and philosophy, all of which mingled more closely than today. This CD-ROM takes just minutes to load and is easily navigated, perfect for casual art lovers as well as students in junior high or older who want an in-depth introduction to the life and art of a Renaissance genius. --Matt Kohut
|
Reviews
Rating 5/5 You can in general expect high quality productions from Montparnasse Multimedia. "Musee d'Orsay", "The Louvre Museum" and the "Hermitage Museum" supersede this one in the wealth of data, versatility and technical designs. But "Michelangelo" is a very satisfying CD for art lovers. From the entrance summary chart you can select four routes: the life story, the works, the places and the characters. It is best to first follow the "life story" with expert narration by David Gasman, on a sequential basis from his birth in 1475 to his death in 1564. You get animated scenes related to the life story and small icons of "work", "places" and "characters" for you to click into the particular area of your interest. The section of "work" gives you the choice of: paintings, sculptures, architecture, bas-reliefs, frescos or drawings. You can zoom in on any portion and can also pivot freely to admire the sculptures from different angles. This CD greatly enriches one's appreciation of Michelangelo, the man, his times and and his genius. You get great pleasure from the quality of the pictures, the erudite narration and the angelic musical background.
Rating 5/5 Museum-goers and art lovers will find hours of fun and learning in this program; the quality of the graphics is spectactular, and one truly realizes the sheer genius and scope of Michelangelo's work by seeing much of it collected in one reference. A great, interactive complement to books on the subject, and though it's no substitute for seeing the works in person, if you're like me, this may be the closest you're likely to get for awhile. Highly recommended.
|
|
