Michelangelo, God's Architect The story of his final years and greatest masterpiece

Wallace (Washington Univ., St. Louis) is a distinguished scholar of Michelangelo, and in this engaging book he focuses on the final two decades of Michelangelo's life. Though Michelangelo worked on disparate projects during this time, Wallace argues that the artist's most important accomplishment was the architectural work for St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Wallace's knowledge of Michelangelo is immense, and he takes pains to craft a narrative that is readable rather than a study that is scholarly and dry. The effort pays off for the reader, who is introduced to myriad colorful characters who populated Michelangelo's world, from popes and aristocrats to the stonemasons and household servants Michelangelo interacted with on a daily basis. Widely referencing Michelangelo's art, poetry, and letters, the author documents and humanizes Michelangelo's activity in these later years. Wallace debunks the fictional image of a brooding, reclusive artist and presents a more convincing portrait of a dynamic master committed to artistic accomplishment in his old age (he died in 1654 at the age 89) while navigating a precarious world surrounded by both friends and foes. Including ample illustrations of Michelangelo's many works of art, this book reveals the active and inimitably creative life of the artist during his final years. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. --A. Victor Coonin, Rhodes College

Best known as a sculptor and painter, Michelangelo (1475--1564) spent his last years working on a half-dozen architectural commissions including as chief architect of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Following the work of other architects, 71-year-old Michelangelo received the St. Peter's commission from Pope Paul III, and worked on it for 17 years, serving under a total of five popes. Wallace (Barbara Murphy Bryant Distinguished Professor of Art History, Washington Univ., St. Louis; Discovering Michelangelo) presents a biographical treatment of Michelangelo's later works, as opposed to design histories such as Giulio Carlo Argan's Michelangelo or James S. Ackerman's The Architecture of Michelangelo. Based primarily on the artist's own letters, Wallace's study frequently ties together both sides of the correspondence. The resulting volume is a scholarly work written in a style accessible to general readers. By delving into his day-to-day life, the author presents Michelangelo as a creative genius but also as a businessman, engineer, and entrepreneur, as well as touchingly human. VERDICT This surprisingly engaging treatment of Michelangelo's later, but no less influential work, will appeal to readers seeking a more personal insight into the man.--Megan Farrell, Central Michigan Univ. Libs., Mount Pleasant