Michelangelo’s (1475 1564) Taddei Tondo, in the collection of the Royal Academy in London, offers a fascinating insight into the master’s technical and experimental skill. Joshua Reynolds, the Academy’s first president, considered that Michelangelo represented everything that an artist should aspire to, combining technical brilliance with sublime poetical imagination, and the Tondo shows this in scintillating relief. Expertly researched and written by the renowned Renaissance art historian Alison Cole, this book moves through the life of the Tondo, from Michelangelo’s rivalry with Leonardo to the marble’s arrival at the Royal Academy and its use in the RA Schools. Finishing with a fresh look at the Tondo’s role in revealing Michelangelo’s technical experimentalism, Cole explores the importance of finish and what constitutes a finished work of art. Lavishly illustrated and including new photos of the Tondo, this is an enriching exploration of a lesser-known side of the great Renaissance. AUTHOR: Alison Cole is a Renaissance art historian who currently works as a writer and strategic consultant in the arts, digital and cultural sector. She has served on the executive boards of institutions such as Arts Council England, the Southbank Centre and The Art Fund. She is the author of ‘Virtue and Magnificence: Art of the Italian Renaissance Courts’ (1995) and has written several books on art history in association with major galleries. Her latest book, published by Laurence King, is a revised and expanded edition of ‘Art of the Italian Renaissance Courts’. SELLING POINTS: . A new examination of the Taddei Tondo, the only Michelangelo marble in Britain . Authoritatively written by the renowned Renaissance art historian Alison Cole . Accompanied by new photographs of the tondo taken at its home in the Royal Academy Collections 50 colour images