Michelangelo: A Life in Six Masterpieces

Miles J. Unger traces the life of Michelangelo through six of his greatest masterpieces. Michelangelo mastered painting, sculpture, and architecture, and fundamentally transformed artistic practice. Known for his ambition, ego, and difficult temperament, he insisted on answering only to his own artistic vision, often clashing with patrons. Unger examines six major works that each expanded the expressive possibilities of their medium. These include the Pietà, created when Michelangelo was twenty-four; the Last Judgment; the David, depicting human youth; the Medici tombs, which explore themes of death and the afterlife; the Sistine Chapel ceiling, which depicts the Creation; and finally St. Peter's Basilica, completed late in his life when his hands could no longer hold brush or chisel but his mind remained sharp. The book presents Michelangelo as a tormented genius whose work continues to influence and inspire centuries after its creation.