Michelangelo, God's Architect: The Story of His Final Years and Greatest Masterpiece - Hardcover

Wallace, William E.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691195498 ISBN 13: 9780691195490

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2019

Synopsis

The untold story of Michelangelo's final decades-and his transformation into one of the greatest architects of the Italian Renaissance As he entered his seventies, the great Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo despaired that his productive years were past. Anguished by the death of friends and discouraged by the loss of commissions to younger artists, this supreme painter and sculptor began carving his own tomb. It was at this unlikely moment that fate intervened to task Michelangelo with the most ambitious and daunting project of his long creative life. Michelangelo, God's Architect is the first book to tell the full story of Michelangelo's final two decades, when the peerless artist refashioned himself into the master architect of St. Peter's Basilica and other major buildings. When the Pope handed Michelangelo control of the St. Peter's project in 1546, it was a study in architectural mismanagement, plagued by flawed design and faulty engineering. Assessing the situation with his uncompromising eye and razor-sharp intellect, Michelangelo overcame the furious resistance of Church officials to persuade the Pope that it was time to start over. In this richly illustrated book, leading Michelangelo expert William Wallace sheds new light on this least familiar part of Michelangelo's biography, revealing a creative genius who was also a skilled engineer and enterprising businessman. The challenge of building St. Peter's deepened Michelangelo's faith, Wallace shows. Fighting the intrigues of Church politics and his own declining health, Michelangelo became convinced that he was destined to build the largest and most magnificent church ever conceived. And he was determined to live long enough that no other architect could alter his design.

About this title

Review:

"Authoritative, innovative, imaginative, and beautifully and passionately written, this is an important book by the major scholar of Michelangelo of the past several decades. Wallace skillfully communicates the small details of Michelangelo's life and the larger significance of his achievement."--Roger J. Crum, coeditor of Renaissance Florence: A Social History

"Utterly superb. This is a richly synthetic book, written in graceful, often witty, prose, from the most distinguished scholar of Michelangelo now working. Wallace provides an unsurpassed account of Michelangelo's work on St. Peter's."--Paul Barolsky, author of Michelangelo and the Finger of God

"This terrific study of old age and genius mixes deep research and expertise with the imaginative touch of a novelist to bring alive a complex and troubled Michelangelo, already a superstar in his own time, as he struggled with his final artistic mission impossible."--Sarah Dunant, author of The Birth of Venus

"This is a book that only a lifetime of study and a talent for expression could produce--rich in detail, historically evocative, and exquisitely attuned to the intricacies of Michelangelo's achievements in his final years."--Deborah Parker, author of Michelangelo and the Art of Letter Writing

"A fascinating new Michelangelo emerges from this account of the last two decades of the artist's long life. William Wallace expertly guides us through Michelangelo's years as an 'old man in a hurry, ' proving that his enormous late projects, especially St. Peter's, were every bit as successful, distinctive, and spectacular as anything he achieved in his youth. A remarkable feat of scholarship and storytelling that overturns many myths and misconceptions, and shows the real story to be even more astonishing."--Ross King, author of Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture

"William Wallace has produced a book that is poignant and enlightening. By looking at Michelangelo's life from the perspective of his later years, Wallace offers a reflection on the artist's sense of his legacy, mission, and the God's work he was meant to do. This book not only helps us understand Michelangelo and his work on St. Peter's Basilica, it allows us all to reflect on how we hope to fathom the meaning of our own lives."--Walter Isaacson, author of Leonardo da Vinci

About the Author:

William E. Wallace is the Barbara Murphy Bryant Distinguished Professor of Art History at Washington University in St. Louis. His books include Discovering Michelangelo: The Art Lover's Guide to Understanding Michelangelo's Masterpieces; Michelangelo: The Artist, the Man, and His Times; and Michelangelo at San Lorenzo.

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 0691195498
• ISBN 13: 9780691195490
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 328