The untold story of Michelangelo's final decades--and his
transformation into the master architect of St. Peter's Basilica
As he entered his seventies, Michelangelo despaired that his productive
years were over. Anguished by the death of friends and discouraged by
the loss of commissions to younger artists, this supreme Renaissance
painter and sculptor began carving his own tomb. It was at this unlikely
moment that Michelangelo was given charge of the most ambitious and
daunting project of his long creative life--the design and construction
of St. Peter's Basilica. In this richly illustrated book, William
Wallace tells for the first time the full story of Michelangelo's final
two decades--and of how the artist transformed himself into one of the
greatest architects of the Renaissance.