The Vatican Frescoes of Michelangelo, Deluxe 1st Edition with Portfolio

The Vatican Frescoes of Michelangelo by Takashi Okamura

Deluxe First Edition, 1980, Limited to 600 Copies

Includes Separate Portfolio of 18 Prints by Takashi Okamura

This is a very rare deluxe first edition of Takashi Okamura’s photographic masterpiece “The Vatican Frescoes of Michelangelo” published by Abbeville Press, New York and Kodansha, Tokyo in 1980 with a limitation of 600 (200 in Japanese and 400 in English). The first copy of the book was presented to Pope John Paul II in the Vatican by Harry E. Abrams in an elaborate ceremony. Much like Michelangelo, photographer Takashi Okamura worked on scaffolding every day, but his had to be disassembled and rebuilt daily. His close up photography also provides details that only Michelangelo would have seen: brush strokes, cross hatching, and shadows. There are also many things Michelangelo did not see: later restorations and repainting, algae growths, and grime. Yet this is the way millions of people have seen the ceiling for hundreds of years and Okamura's photography is the only comprehensive record of its appearance during that time. It took Okamura six months to photograph the frescoes and the photography alone is estimated to have cost $250,000. The frescoes have since been restored and were photographed again by Takashi Okamura after completion of the restoration process. The frescoes of the Sistine Chapel after the restoration are contained in a beautiful book entitled, “The Sistine Chapel” which is also available with a signed photograph under the Photography category elsewhere on this site. You can view this listing by clicking on this link The Sistine Chapel by Takashi Okamura  that will take you to the listing.

Over my career, I have had an opportunity to handle numerous spectacular book productions. “The Vatican Frescoes of Michelangelo” is by far the most elaborate and a well deserved winner of the prestigious Carey-Thomas Award for Creative Publishing. Designed by Tini Miura, the drop back box that houses the contents measures 2 feet by 1.5 feet and is wood reinforced with dark blue scivertex cloth embossed in gilt, white and vermilion to match the colors of the Sistine Chapel floor. Commenting on the box design, Tini Miura wrote in “A Master's Bibliophile Bindings: Tini Miura, 1980-1990”. Tokyo: Kyoiku Shoseki, 1990. p. 186-187, “The importance of [the dark blue color] during the Renaissance when Michelangelo (1475-1564) flourished, was that in the field of painting artists broke with the tradition of the symbolic gold back-ground, and began to use blue as the realistic color for the sky. Gold stamping outlines the red and white strapwork, which is another typical element of the Renaissance and is found on many marbled floors. The total design is reminiscent of the beauty of antiquity."

Included in the box are two elephant folios measuring 20” x 16” that contain 360 hand-tipped plates with 99 reproductions to scale and a triple-page spread reproducing the entire vaulted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The spines of the folios are done in wine red leather with gilt titling and they are bound in white textured cloth covers with decorations in gilt, red and blue. The books also feature handmade marbleized endpapers. Also included in the box is a separate book that is recessed in the deep red velvet lining that contains a list of the plates.

Accompanying the two elephant folios and book of illustrations is a separate portfolio that contains 18 large scale prints many of them double page that is housed in blue cloth covered boards. Included in the portfolio are selected images from The Sistine Chapel (The Ceiling and The Last Judgment) and The Pauline Chapel (The Conversion of St. Paul and The Crucifixion of St. Peter).

The books are in FINE condition. The drop-box case is in FINE- condition with a small bump to the top front left corner edge. The contents of the portfolio are in FINE condition with the portfolio case having some discoloration. Overall, this is an exceptional copy of an extremely scarce edition that is rarely available.  Upon release, most editions were purchased by museums and universities with only a few finding their way into the hands of private collectors. There are currently no other copies available in the market.

Several photographs of the case, books, and portfolio as well as a close-up of the bumped edge on the case appear below. Please note that although the photographs appear digitized as thumbnails, they are viewable in the photo viewer clicking the thumbnail.