The Sistine Chapel as only Michelangelo himself had seen it, in a book that costs 18,000 euros

In the words of

: "My soul does not find a stairway to heaven unless it is through the beauty of the earth."

He was referring to his work on the barrel vault of the

, which occupied almost five years of his life (from 1508 to 1512).

“After four years of torture, and more than 400 life-size figures, I felt as old and exhausted as Jeremías.

I was 37 years old and even my friends no longer recognized the old man I had become, ”he said after finishing the job.

In a space of more than 1,000 square meters and at a height of 20 meters, Michelangelo created a series of frescoes of simulated architecture where he included the development of the stories of Genesis with those more than 400 life-size figures.

A monumental creation, commissioned by Pope Julius II, which broke the foundations of Renaissance art, but which no one has been able to observe with the level of detail with which the artist created them, if not by taking his own stairway to heaven.

The Callaway Arts and Entertainment publishing house, in collaboration with the Vatican Museums and the Italian publishing house Scripta Maneant, has climbed that

in a photographic project that has required more time to work than Michelangelo's own work, five years, and that offers an unprecedented look at the entire Sistine Chapel.

After selling all units in Italian, now launch the English version.

Thanks to the latest technology in digital photography,

distributes in three volumes the high resolution images, in real scale and with a color precision of 99.4% of the Michelangelo vault and the frescoes that they painted on the sides from the altar Sandro Boticelli, Perugino or Ghirlandaio, among other Renaissance artists, by order of Pope Sixtus IV.

One of the most extravagant quirks in the publishing world, costing $ 22,000 (17,965 euros), including shipping and handling.

"We believe this is an impulsive purchase, possibly the most expensive in the publishing world," acknowledges Callaway founder Nicholas Callaway in a statement.

Although he justifies it: "It is safe to say, without exaggeration, that it is the definitive book on the Sistine Chapel."

The publication can be booked through

Callaway's

own

, with proceeds going in part to the Vatican Museums.

With typographic design by Jerry Kelly, the texts are written by Antonio Paolucci, former Director of the Vatican Museums and former Director General of Tuscany Cultural Heritage, who recounts the behind-the-scenes story of

or

But it is the more than 270,000 images that have been taken to reproduce the works that make

in the opinion of its creators, of conservation value.

"The digital capture of the frescoes will outlive the books themselves," Callaway predicts in the briefing.

In its printed format, "it is a work aimed at art historians, students, collectors and curators, who will be able to study the works presented in unprecedented detail."

Examine, for example, the deep knowledge of human anatomy denoted by Michelangelo's figures: gigantic architectural, robust, energetic and very elegant, which in turn evidenced the historical moment that Italy lived at that time.

“Readers,” adds Callaway's editorial director, Manuela Roosevelt, “can see the frescoes like no one has been able to since they were painted, as visitors to the Chapel view the works from a distance of more than 20 meters by on top of them, and on walls where you can hardly appreciate the details ”.

Thus, the real scale allows us to appreciate from the play of light on the face of the Delphic sibyl, to the use of pointillism on the nose of the Virgin, represented in the scene of the Last Judgment.

So up to around 220 details of the frescoes by Michelangelo and the Umbro-Tuscan masters of the 15th century.

"We believe that books can be and are objects of art in and of themselves," says Callaway.

And this is how they treat this edition of three volumes of 60 x 17.78 centimeters, totaling 822 pages bound in silk covers with prints in silver, gold and platinum foil.

The Vatican Museums have limited the circulation to 1,999 copies (1,000 in Italian, 600 in English, and the rest in Russian and Polish).

"If you place it in the realm of unique things, or if you put it in the context of the art market, 20,000 euros is not an expensive work of art."