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Description of  Michelangelo: The Artist, the Man and his Times

Michelangelo is universally recognized to be one of the greatest artists of all time. In this vividly written biography, William E. Wallace offers a substantially new view of the artist. Not only a supremely gifted sculptor, painter, architect, and poet, Michelangelo was also an aristocrat who firmly believed in the ancient and noble origins of his family. The belief in his patrician status fueled his lifelong ambition to improve his familys financial situation and to raise the social standing of artists. Michelangelos ambitions are evident in his writing, dress, and comportment, as well as in his ability to befriend, influence, and occasionally say no to popes, kings, and princes. Written from the words of Michelangelo and his contemporaries, this biography not only tells his own stories but also brings to life the culture and society of Renaissance Florence and Rome. Not since Irving Stones novel The Agony and the Ecstasy has there been such a compelling and human portrayal of this remarkable yet credible human individual. Subscribe to William Wallace's podcast on individual works of the master! Read more