"William Wallace has produced a book that is poignant and enlightening. By looking at Michelangelo's life from the perspective of his later years, Wallace offers a reflection on the artist's sense of his legacy, mission, and the God's work he was meant to do. This book not only helps us understand Michelangelo and his work on St. Peter's Basilica, it allows us all to reflect on how we hope to fathom the meaning of our own lives." --Walter Isaacson, author of Leonardo da Vinci "A fascinating new Michelangelo emerges from this account of the last two decades of the artist's long life. William Wallace expertly guides us through Michelangelo's years as an 'old man in a hurry,' proving that his enormous late projects, especially St. Peter's, were every bit as successful, distinctive, and spectacular as anything he achieved in his youth. A remarkable feat of scholarship and storytelling that overturns many myths and misconceptions, and shows the real story to be even more astonishing.

"-- Ross King, author of Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture "This terrific study of old age and genius mixes deep research and expertise with the imaginative touch of a novelist to bring alive a complex and troubled Michelangelo, already a superstar in his own time, as he struggled with his final artistic mission impossible."-- Sarah Dunant, author of The Birth of Venus "Utterly superb. This is a richly synthetic book, written in graceful, often witty, prose, from the most distinguished scholar of Michelangelo now working. Wallace provides an unsurpassed account of Michelangelo's work on St. Peter's." --Paul Barolsky, author of Michelangelo and the Finger of God "This is a book that only a lifetime of study and a talent for expression could produce--rich in detail, historically evocative, and exquisitely attuned to the intricacies of Michelangelo's achievements in his final years."-- Deborah Parker, author of Michelangelo and the Art of Letter Writing "Authoritative, innovative, imaginative, and beautifully and passionately written, this is an important book by the major scholar of Michelangelo of the past several decades. Wallace skillfully communicates the small details of Michelangelo's life and the larger significance of his achievement.

" --Roger J. Crum, coeditor of Renaissance Florence: A Social History.