Robert Mapplethorpe and the classical tradition

"Through scholarly essays and sumptuous reproductions, this catalogue examines the obsessive themes of beauty, love, and classical art. The photographer Robert Mapplethorpe's relationships to sculpture - namely, the study of the human body - and the elongated, elaborate forms of Mannerist art illuminates the underlying classicism evident in the clarity and sensual potency of all his subjects, as well as their explosive energy."--BOOK JACKET.