Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling by Ross King

Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling by Ross King

Ross King takes on one of the greatest works of art made by one of the greatest artist's of all time. The book covers Michelangelo's life. Mostly focused on his time working on the Sistine Chapel, but covering other times as well as the work going on around him at the time. It also delves into a lot of the work being done by Raphael in the Pope's Apartments at the same time.

King does a wonderful job of bringing you into the time and feel of Rome in the late 1400's and early 1500's. In 1508 Pope Julius the 2nd commissions Michelangelo to make a fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine's Chapel. This is much to the dismay of the accomplished artist for many reasons. He had been focused on making a masterpiece of a sculpture for the pope that was set to take many years. Although he had some experience in painting it was not what he wanted to work on. Fresco was even more of a troubling medium and Michelangelo was not interested in learning it. At first he avoided it, but eventually "the terrible pope" got what he wanted. Over the next four years Michelangelo would devote much of his time to this grand work.

King intermixes stories, letters and quotes from the time to make the book come alive. Of course it is a work of non-fiction, but the interplay of the characters, the wars and relationships make it read like a work of fiction. As the artist is reluctantly working on the artwork, the pope is waging war across Italy, other artists are vying for attention and plague spreads through Rome. All of these elements make it a fast paced and interesting book.

As an artist my self I have looked at Michelangelo at the greatest artist to capture the human body. I studied his techniques for a number of years and to see what he went though to make this masterpiece was very thrilling. Anyone who finds interest in art would find this an interesting book. If art isn't your thing, the accuracy of the time and what was going on can interest many. I found the beginning of the book to be somewhat slow. There were many issues in getting things started, but once the book gets into the meat of the story it really starts to fly. Its importance in the long term is tremendous. The work was made 500 years ago and stills stands as one of the greatest ever. The book will stand with it.

3 Readability
4 Long-term Impact
3 Engagement
Overall a 10. I could see this not being a great read for some people, but anyone who thinks it would be interesting I am sure would enjoy it.
Keep turning pages!