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Michelangelo: A Life in Six Masterpieces Hardcover – July 22, 2014

by Miles J. Unger (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars 62 customer reviews
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 448 pages
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster (July 22, 2014)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1451678746
  • ISBN-13: 978-1451678741
  • Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.3 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #591,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsNot Perfect, But Close Enough
By Timothy Haugh VINE VOICE on August 20, 2014
Format: Hardcover
In nearly every field there are numerous practitioners who are competent and some who might even be termed great; however, there are never more than a handful that are geniuses so far above the norm that nearly everyone will have heard of them. (Actors: Olivier, Brando. Golfers: Palmer, Nicholas, Woods. Presidents: Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt.) There are some who are so influential that their names live on even centuries after their death. (Shakespeare, for example. Or Isaac Newton.)

Asked to name a sculptor, how many names would the average person be able to come up with? Rodin? Maybe. Michelangelo? Certainly. I mention sculpting for a couple reasons. First, despite his varied achievements in art, Michelangelo considered himself primarily a sculptor. Second, though as a painter and architect Michelangelo was superior, in these fields he had competition. As a sculptor, he had no equal. With his paintings, he would be mentioned in the same breath as Leonardo and Raphael. Add in the sculptures, and Michelangelo stands alone.

As such, Michelangelo continues to be written about often over 500 years after his birth. We continue to wonder about him and try to understand his genius. The latest attempt in this endless process is this biography by Mr. Unger.

Subtitled “A Life in Six Masterpieces”, Mr. Unger sparks discussions of various periods in Michelangelo’s long life with certain achievements: the Pietà as the triumph of his youth, the Giant (usually referred to as the David) as his ultimate masterpiece, the Sistine Chapel Ceiling as his mastering of fresco, the Medici Tombs as the facility of a master sculptor, the Last Judgment as a late masterpiece, and his work on St. Peter’s Basilica as the drive in the decline of his later years.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsCaution: Genius at Work
By David Wineberg TOP 500 REVIEWER on July 30, 2014
Format: Hardcover
I can honestly say I've never read a biography as gripping as Michelangelo. His life was a constant controversy. He made enemies, he dodged (metaphorical) bullets, and he made art. He was an unpleasant misogynist who ironically adored nothing more than portraying the human body. He was universally recognized as the greatest, within his own lifetime. He lied and embellished, but his art speaks for itself. It all makes for a great read.

He was doubly cursed; he lived in interesting times, and was an interesting character. Michelangelo's greatest achievement was to fuse the artist and his work. That is a huge transition point, centered on Michelangelo in this warts and all biography. Because in addition to taking art in a whole new direction, complementing rather than being subservient to religion, Michelangelo turns out to be arrogant, obnoxious, self-centered, narcissistic, antisocial, overbearing and uncaring about any of it. Despite it all, he was the first superstar of art.

He never married, and there were of course questions about his sexual preferences, what with all those nude males he clearly preferred. He deflected them all by saying his art was all the wife he could handle. Later in life, he risked having close relationships with younger men. He was a drama queen; his favorite tactic was to threaten to quit unless he got everything he wanted. And he quit often anyway. He was a notorious abandoner, starting projects and never completing them. There are far more of them than completed works.

Despite abusing his body with little food, minimal rest, and zero care, he lived into his eighties. He outlived nine popes, and worked with five of them.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsa superb and detailed lesson in art appreciation of the great Michelangelo
By John E. Drury VINE VOICE on August 21, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition
Miles Unger skillfully weaves the history of Michelangelo with a studied art critique of six of his masterpieces; the Pieta', David, the Sistine Chapel, the Medici Chapel and Sacristy, the Last Judgment, and Saint Peter's Cathedral. With the exception of David, the first two of these great works are unapproachable in detail for the layperson as the Pieta' sits behind glass far from the eyeballs of "the madding crowd" and one's access to the Sistine Chapel is far distant and mostly hurried along by the Vatican crowd chasers. One really needs time and patience to appreciate it (and "The Last Judgment" in the Chapel). Unger's book will be a fine companion to any visitor to the Vatican as this book is an extraordinary lesson on art appreciation.

Unger's scholarly observation on sculpture enlightens; "[t]he paradox of carved sculpture is that form and matter are in conflict; the more there is of one, the less there is of the other." The languid body of Jesus of the Pieta' is compared in delicacy to when "the priest at Mass holds up the consecrated host, miraculously transformed by ritual into the flesh of the Redeemer." Catholics know this is a holy moment for them.

Michelangelo's David is the new man celebrated by the Renaissance; "the abstract notion of Man as the architect of his own destiny." And yet, he is not pleased with the present placement of this most recognizable statue inside the Florence's Accademia; "plucked from its original setting [in front of the Palazzo Della Signoria], function gave way to pure form." David is now in a "bland, climate-controlled conceptual bubble." The steadfastness of Unger's opinions is undeniable.

On the Sistine Chapel, he is equally opinionated; "it is as much allusion as illusion ...Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsMust read if you are planning a trip to Italy

This is an excellent book and a must read if you are planning a trip to Florence and/or Rome. The descriptions of the masterpieces get a bit wordy at times, a picture being worth a... Read more

Published 21 days ago by J. Wagner
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Outstanding history!

Published 4 months ago by MJT
5.0 out of 5 starsBewitching read

Couldn't stop reading!!

Published 5 months ago by Charles Anker
4.0 out of 5 starsHeroism in a heroic age

This is a good biography on Michelangelo, viewing his life through a detailed look at six of his most famous works, The Pieta, David, the ceiling frescos of the Sistine Chapel, the... Read more

Published 7 months ago by M. A Newman
5.0 out of 5 starsA Masterful Biography

Beautifully written, with an insightful portrayal of the pressures, personal and political, this great artist suffered throughout his life. Read more

Published 8 months ago by William Blackburn
4.0 out of 5 starsWho was Michelangelo?

This was a selection for our book club. An interesting story--probably not one I would have sought out but certainly a must for someone into art history. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Classy Grandma
4.0 out of 5 starsThe Man and His Art

Michelangelo was the first tortured artist. He created the mold. When a project took hold of him, he pushed himself to the edge of human endurance. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Mark R. Brewer
5.0 out of 5 starsAmazing Renissance Perspective

Great book that led to further research into all of the other amazing characters that pinballed around Italy during this time period.

Published 11 months ago by Mark
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

A satisfying and novel approach to his biography.

Published 11 months ago by eric l.
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

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Published 14 months ago by Edward Bruning

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