Customer Reviews

A Journey into Michelangelo's Rome (ArtPlace series)

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In January 2008 a few friends and I had the good fortune to meet Angela (the author) and some members of her delightful family in Italy at Ostia Antica where we learned of the publication of this fine book. I've been to Rome twice in the past year and Angela's book is acccurate, informative--and best of all--interesting. The author's text, photos, and maps combine to make "A Journey into Michelangelo's Rome" a pleasure to read, to carry as a resource while visiting Rome--and in my case a book of memories and treasures and regrets...regrets only in the sense that this book did not exist prior to my visits to Rome. More than just an exposition of Michelangelo and his work, she captures the historical personalities of the period and brings the "rinascita" to life. Like taking a tidy course in Humanities, reading Angela's book will help anyone to become more learned in a pilgrimage to achieve the worthy status of being called "l'uomo universale."

I recently traveled to Rome and Florence with Angela Nickerson, the author of "A Journey into Michelangelo's Rome". The experience was both tremendously enjoyable as well as deeply educational. Ms. Nickerson has filled her book with passion for art, history and the great beauty of Rome through the lens of Michaelangelo's life and artistic triumphs. While visiting Rome is one of the greatest trips you can take, it can be truly enhanced by taking this book along as companion reading. The photos, sidebars, diagrams and insets all serve to make this book a treasure-trove of fun facts and delights to devour while in one of the world's most beautiful cities. Happy travels and happy reading!

This book is informative and very fun to read. I chose it to help prepare me for an upcoming trip to Rome, and, WOW, was it great for that! It gave me an anchor -- Michelangelo's life, art, and times -- to get a great sense of how to approach visiting Rome. It increased my enthusiasm about the trip and really helped me understand and appreciate what I saw.

The author also provides some delightful insights about life in Rome today, such as mentioning the San Giovanni dei Fiorentini church in the heart of historic Rome that welcomes well-behaved cats and dogs to attend services! I not only took the book with me on the trip, but have reread numerous passages since returning.

As I journeyed through the pages of Michelangelo's life, I couldn't put this wonderful book down. The photography is beautiful, and the sidebars give little glimpses of life during the Renaissance and also in present-day Italy. I'm ready to sign on for a tour to Rome with Angela!

"A Journey into Michelangelo's Rome" combines intriguing, enlightening details about Michelangelo's life with historical facts about Rome. It also brings Italian culture and history alive and transported me back to our amazing first visit to Rome and Florence. We were fortunate to travel with the author, Angela K. Nickerson, on that first trip to Italy and I can truly say it was the best travel decision we ever made. Angela's book is accurate, exciting and a great read whether you want to learn more about Michelangelo or Rome, the city where he spent most his life. It's also the perfect book to have before and during a trip to Italy, enhancing every experience. You can read hundreds of travel books on Italy but nothing compares to traveling with this author, seeing Italy through her eyes and benefiting from her years of travel and research.

I love the concept of this book and read it in preparation for an upcoming trip to Rome. The photography and maps are terrific. The information presented is generally very good, although I did notice a few surprising errors. For example, the author explains that the term "Il Duomo" describes the dome over the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. Actually, Italians in most cities use the term "Il Duomo" to describe their particular cathedral. The author also cannot seem to hide that fact that she is not a fan of the Catholic Church. While an understanding of Michelangelo's view of religion is important to this subject, knowledge of the author's view of religion is not.