Three Worlds of Michelangelo

An incisive study of the shaping influences on Michelangelo's creative and personal life: his father, Lodovico Buonarroti; his first patron, Lorenzo di Medici; and his greatest patron, Pope Julius II. Michelangelo Buonarroti was an unparalleled artist-painter, sculptor, architect, poet-who was regarded even in his own lifetime as divine. Here James Beck reveals how Michelangelo's interactions with three men determined his path from early childhood to the completion of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. His father, Lodovico, a stern man, instilled a powerful work ethic in Michelangelo, yet his criticism of his son's artistic calling left his son deprived of approval and love. Lorenzo di Medici, the forceful ruler of Florence, took the teenaged Michelangelo under his wing, raising him almost like one of his own sons in the artists' colony he established on his palace grounds. Already one of the most respected sculptors in the world and still in young manhood, Michelangelo was then sought out by Pope Julius II. Although Julius originally commissioned him to create his tomb, the artist's greatest project under his patronage was the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican. Rich in unusual details such as an unprecedented account of the sculpting of David, Michelangelo's most famous work, and the creation of the Sistine ceiling, Three Worlds of Michelangelo presents Michelangelo in fresh and vivid terms.