Unrestricted Views: Christoph Brech Photographs the Vatican Museums

Christoph Brech has enjoyed a privilege unlikely to be granted to anyone else any time soon. For three years he was allowed to photograph the halls and galleries of the Vatican Museums unhindered by the never-ending throngs of visitors. On his day - and night-time - excursions through the countless exhibition spaces and the Sistine Chapel, he captured images of extraordinary tranquility. His photographs show one of the most famous museums in the world as no one else has seen it: suites of rooms devoid of people, artworks on dignified display, hidden corners. In this superb-quality picture book, Brech's photographs are presented alongside historical images from the Vatican archives. Arnold Nesselrath, director of the department of Byzantine, medieval, and modern art at the Vatican Museums, provides a stimulating introduction to the history of the institution. A beautifully illustrated publication that offers new perspectives on the many attractions of this magnificent world-class museum.

Christoph Brechwas born in Schweinfurt, Germany, in 1964. From 1989 to 1995 he studied painting with Franz B. Weisshaar at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. He has been awarded major prizes and grants, including the Will Grohmann Prize from the Academy of the Arts in Berlin, the Rome Prize 2006 from the German Academy Rome at Villa Massimo, and the Franz Ludwig Catel Prize, Rome, in 2009. His works can be seen in famous museums and art collections including the MMK Museum fur Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt am Main, the Goetz Collection in Munich, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, the Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich, and in the Vatican Museums in Rome. - See more at: http://www.accdistribution.com/us/store/pv/9783944874210/unrestricted-views/christoph-brech?layout=popup#sthash.10hgvFWi.dpuf