Reviews

“This book deals with a topic that seems, on first glance, inconceivable: the signatures of Michelangelo – a study, over a number of years, of the signatures themselves and of the wordplay Michelangelo devised when signing his name, but one that also says much about Michelangelo’s thoughts, his verse, his identification with St. Michael the Archangel, and about his associative way of thinking…

“The book is especially to be appreciated for its splendid English prose and a style that recalls the essays of E.M. Forster.” (translated)

Enrico Mattioda, Università degli Studi di Torino, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici
review from: Giornale Storico della Letteratura Italiana, 2015

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“The 450th anniversary of the death, at 88, of the great Renaissance sculptor, architect, painter and poet, Florentine Michelangelo Buonarroti, has produced a flurry of new books about him and his work. One of the best and most unique among these is Carl Smith’s What’s in a Name? Michelangelo and the Art of Signature.

“Through the lens of research on Michelangelo’s signatures, Smith opens a window onto the complexities of the mind of a genius. Given the stature of Michelangelo and his art, his book is not only a valuable tool for experts and students of the Renaissance but also, because of its graceful yet easy style, a fascinating read for anyone who wants to know more about the great maestro as a man and about his life and heritage.”

Dierdre Pirro, The Florentine (December 2014 Holiday Issue)

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“What is in a name? A whole lot more than we ever realized, as Carl Smith reveals in this fascinating study of Michelangelo’s multiple, autobiographical signatures.”

William E. Wallace, Barbara Murphy Bryant Distinguished Professor of Art History, Washington University in St. Louis; author of Michelangelo: The Complete Sculpture, Painting, Architecture

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“Written by a musician with a fresh perspective, this highly original book is filled with insights into the mind of Michelangelo and the play of his imagination. Michelangelo’s signatures are a point of departure for Smith’s probing portrayal of the artist. In many ways Smith’s book is a revelation. It explores aspects of Michelangelo’s poetry and art with a keen awareness of his myth-making; indeed no one before Smith has pondered so deeply Michelangelo’s identity with Saint Michael. I strongly recommend this book to all scholars of Michelangelo, indeed to all students of Italian Renaissance culture.”

Paul Barolsky, Commonwealth Professor of Art, University of Virginia; author of Michelangelo’s Nose and Michelangelo and the Finger of God

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“Meticulously researched and beautifully written, Carl Smith’s study explores Michelangelo’s habit of playing with his signatures, but the seemingly small details of variant spellings and breaks in his name reveal the artist’s habits of mind, methods of working, and ways of being in the world. Smith’s careful attention to detail leads him to a view of the artist that is both joyously and painfully human. This is one of the most provocative books in Renaissance studies to emerge from the last decade of scholarship. A must-read for Renaissance scholars and art lovers alike.”

Cynthia Cyrus, Professor of Musicology and Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education, Vanderbilt University; author of Music Education in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance

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“The reader might wonder what a signature, a graphic gesture executed in just a few seconds, can reveal about a great artist that cannot be found elsewhere. Carl Smith has identified the factors that influenced Michelangelo to change both the spelling of his name and the style of his writing, and he brings to the reader a fascinating story of the art and practice of writing in Renaissance Italy, one whose legacy is still felt today.”

Lieselotte Regen, calligrapher, Watkins College of Art and Design