[MICHELANGELO]/SCULTORI, Adamo

Michael Angelus Bonarotus pinxit. Adam Sculptor incidit

      Rare first edition of the complete suite of engravings of Michelangelo's frescoes for the Sistine Chapel by the Mantuan engraver Adamo Scultori, the earliest comprehensive graphic record of this ceiling. Of art historical interest on two counts, the series was an important means for the dissemination of designs that revolutionized Renaissance painting. It also includes the only iconography of the Prophet Jonah and surrounding figures (nos. 62-65), which Michelangelo had destroyed in 1535 in order to make room for the Last Judgement.