Michelangelo

by Wallace, William E.

• ISBN13: 9781107673694
• ISBN10: 1107673690
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-07-25
• Publisher: Cambridge Univ Pr

Summary

Michelangelo is universally recognized to be one of the greatest artists of all time. In this vividly written biography, William E. Wallace offers a substantially new view of the artist. Not only a supremely gifted sculptor, painter, architect, and poet, Michelangelo was also an aristocrat who firmly believed in the ancient and noble origins of his family. The belief in his patrician status fueled his lifelong ambition to improve his family's financial situation and to raise the social standing of artists. Michelangelo's ambitions are evident in his writing, dress, and comportment, as well as in his ability to befriend, influence, and occasionally say "no" to popes, kings, and princes. Written from the words of Michelangelo and his contemporaries, this biography not only tells his own stories but also brings to life the culture and society of Renaissance Florence and Rome. Not since Irving Stone's novel The Agony and the Ecstasy has there been such a compelling and human portrayal of this remarkable yet credible human individual.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Note to the reader

Rome, 1496

Aristocrat of artists

Rise to prominence

Papal summons

Rome, 1508-1516

Florence, 1515-1525

A week in the life

Florence, 1525-1534

Rome, 1534-42

Rome, 1542-45

Papal architect, Rome, 1546-49

New friends, diminishing family

St Peter's

Late work, long life

Final years

Return to Florence

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