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A review by ronald_schoedel
Michelangelo: A Life in Six Masterpieces by Miles J. Unger
5.0
A very good biography of Michelangelo told through the sometimes decades-long stories of six of his masterpieces. I began reading this as preparation for my trip to Rome and Florence, to better appreciate the works I would be seeing. I ended up with not only a better appreciation of his art but of the times he lived in and the challenges he faced, as Unger explains a lot about the political intrigues and wars that characterized Italian and European lives during the time of Michelangelo. It’s amazing that Michelangelo was able to so deftly navigate the turmoil and live to such an old age, always managing to win over this or that Duke or Pope who could just as easily have ordered his execution.
I came away with a better understanding of Michelangelo the man, as well as being sad that he experienced social difficulties due to his very prickly personality. But under the rough surface and lofty genius was a good but tormented soul who treated the poor and other outcasts of society with generosity and respect. He was a man of faith, who saw art as being a godly calling, and his own art as the expression of his faith, his doubts, and his relationship with God. And miraculously, he convinced the rest of the world that artists are not merely technicians completing colour-by-number assignments but vessels through which the divine could manifest itself, forever elevating the painter, sculptor, and architect to a more deserved and higher reputation.
I came away with a better understanding of Michelangelo the man, as well as being sad that he experienced social difficulties due to his very prickly personality. But under the rough surface and lofty genius was a good but tormented soul who treated the poor and other outcasts of society with generosity and respect. He was a man of faith, who saw art as being a godly calling, and his own art as the expression of his faith, his doubts, and his relationship with God. And miraculously, he convinced the rest of the world that artists are not merely technicians completing colour-by-number assignments but vessels through which the divine could manifest itself, forever elevating the painter, sculptor, and architect to a more deserved and higher reputation.