Young Michelangelo: The Path to the Sistine—A Biography

By: John T. Spike

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Synopsis: Truly in a class of its own, Young Michelangelo is the most definitive and eye-opening study of the artist’s early life to come along in a generation. In this compelling account, renowned art historian John Spike paints a vivid portrait of one of the world’s greatest artists and the places and people—Lorenzo de’ Medici, Leonardo, Machiavelli—that inspired and defined his early life and career. Spike’s masterful text probes the thinking, evolution, and desires of a young man whose awareness of his exceptional talent never wavered. Michelangelo’s complex personality is revealed through lively examinations of the Pietà, the David, and all other major works. Drawing on a rich background of Italian Renaissance politics and culture, Spike deftly navigates the fiery Florentine master’s struggle to surpass da Vinci’s artistic mastery, and his troubled relationships with Julius II and other key figures of the era.