Michelangelo: His Epic Life

There was an epic sweep to Michelangelo's life. At 31 he was considered the finest artist in Italy, perhaps the world; long before he died at almost 90 he was widely believed to be the greatest sculptor or painter who had ever lived (and, by his enemies, to be an arrogant, uncouth, swindling miser). For decade after decade, he worked near the dynamic center of events: the vortex at which European history was changing from Renaissance to Counter Reformation. Few of his works—including the hu...