Michelangelo

A boy absorbed in drawing grows into an artist whose ambition reaches across painting, sculpture, architecture and poetry. Romain Rolland follows Michelangelo from his childhood and training in Florence through his later work in Rome, treating his varied creations as parts of one life. The opening considers both his family's resistance to an artistic career and the disputed influence of his teacher, Domenico Ghirlandajo.

Later chapters place the artist amid demanding patrons, rival architects and religious commitments. In the account of St. Peter's, Michelangelo accepts responsibility for the building as a sacred duty and defends Bramante's design against changes made by others. Rolland combines biographical narrative with judgments about style, temperament and artistic influence. Readers interested in how personal conviction shapes public work will find a study that connects individual artworks with the pressures surrounding their creation.