Art historian Miles J. Unger (Magnifico and Machiavelli) describes his subject as the "first truly modern artist," a man who emancipated himself from the grip of patrons and social norms. Unger focuses on six of Michelangelo's greatest works in order to reveal the inner workings of this "more than mortal man, angel divine" (as Ariosto described him in his epic Orlando Furioso).
After an apprenticeship in Florence for painting, 21-year-old Michelangelo went to Rome to sculpt. Four years later, he finished his Pietà. Michelangelo's contract stipulated that he would use the "most beautiful marble" to create the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Christ in her arms and "no other living master will do better." Unger slowly, lovingly walks us through the piece, pointing out its intricacies, its high degree of finish, its genius.
Homesick, Michelangelo returned to Florence to take on "the Giant," a massive piece of stone on which several artists had already attempted work--the perfect commission to sate his thirst for glory. With the installation of David before he was even 30, he became the "most celebrated sculptor in Europe."
During the early part of a commission he never finished (Pope Julius II's tomb), the artist took on another: nothing less than a depiction of Creation itself, for the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Unger completes his story with Florence's Sagrestia Nuova (a mortuary chapel intended for the Medicis), The Last Judgment fresco and the rebuilding of St. Peter's Basilica. In no small way, Unger has created an innovative, stimulating and wise masterpiece of his own. --Tom Lavoie, former publisher